We\u2019ve heard the binary juxtapositions. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s add a few more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or better yet\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe still most fascinating\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friends, I get it. We are a principled and passionate people. We believe what we believe for a reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we cannot reason for another. To be respectfully but truthfully bolder, we are not capable<\/em> of reasoning for another, as each of us experience the world differently, and those individualized experiences shape our view of the world. Our view of the world shapes our vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while it makes total sense we\u2019d have difficulty comprehending many of the above combinations, it makes far lesser sense to craft such simplified, binary conclusions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Simplified binary conclusions are the result of seeing another person\u2019s life through our own lens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing then how tempted each of us is to view another through \u201cmy\u201d lens, so-to-speak, I\u2019m left wrestling with three aspects in regard to voting, reason, and what I can’t comprehend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, as we acknowledge the significance of suffrage in a nation that embraces freedom, I\u2019m struck by the wise words of Chief Justice Earl Warren in Reynolds v. Sims<\/em> (1964): \u201cThe right to vote freely for the candidate of one\u2019s choice is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government.\u201d I think of the right to vote freely; who am I, therefore, to judge how another should vote?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, there is much in this world I don\u2019t understand. There are indeed many ways people behave that make absolutely zero sense to me. But when that happens \u2014 especially when it\u2019s a person I know, love, or simply one God\u2019s allowed in my path \u2014 I prioritize the following: (1) ask sincere, respectful questions, (2) recognize individual life experience is different, and (3) resist making conclusions that are clearly based more on my way of thinking than on theirs. Most often, when I feel capable of constructing simplified conclusions, it\u2019s more because I don\u2019t want to take the time and do the hard work to understand someone who thinks differently than me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And lastly, when I take that time and do the hard work and still don\u2019t understand,<\/em> I walk away with a singular wonder \u2014 about self, not another\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some things I am incapable of understanding. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s ok.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR We\u2019ve heard the binary juxtapositions. For example: You can\u2019t be pro-life and vote for Biden. You can\u2019t really be black and vote for Trump. You can\u2019t be Catholic and vote for Biden. You can\u2019t love someone who\u2019s gay and vote for Trump. Let\u2019s add a few more\u2026 You can\u2019t vote for Biden and believe competency … <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"