{"id":6184,"date":"2016-05-05T06:12:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T10:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6184"},"modified":"2016-05-05T06:24:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T10:24:02","slug":"nothing-short-of-scary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6184","title":{"rendered":"nothing short of scary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1432164245265-ab19a48c3d09\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What if during an election season, there was a candidate described as follows:<\/p>\n

\u2026 one who tell lies\u2026<\/em>
\n\u2026 one who is malicious\u2026 <\/em>
\n\u2026 one with a clear lack of character\u2026<\/em>
\n\u2026 one no reasonably intelligent person could support\u2026<\/em>
\n\u2026 one who preys on our ignorance\u2026<\/em>
\n\u2026 one who lacks integrity\u2026<\/em>
\n\u2026 one who is nothing short of scary\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

And what if during an election season, you knew that wasn\u2019t true?<\/p>\n

We all get it. We\u2019ve all seen it. Those descriptions are all around us.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what too many candidates do\u2026 even, perhaps, what good<\/strong><\/em> candidates do.<\/p>\n

But sometimes\u2026 what they say, is not true.<\/p>\n

People don\u2019t know what they don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Many times over the last seven and a half years on the Intramuralist, we have tackled tough angles in regard to how the American political system seems so broken\u2026 it\u2019s too big, too controlling, too financially imbalanced\u2026 there\u2019s too much arrogance, too many attacks, too much self-servingness\u2026 too much money involved.<\/p>\n

It seems, too, that one of America\u2019s biggest political problems is what it now takes to get elected\u2026 utilizing a misrepresentation of truth.<\/p>\n

No longer is an election a rational attempt to discern between two (or more)<\/em> people in which each presents themselves honestly and authentically, clearly representing their policy stances and perspectives, letting us know how strongly they feel, respecting their opponent\u2026 And saying at the conclusion of their campaign, \u201cWe wish each voter and candidate well. Win or lose, we trust you will make a good choice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

No. Elections have seemingly instead become a manipulative attempt in which each candidate presents themselves in the perceived most positive light, hiding policy stances and perspectives that they know are not popular, dampening how strongly they feel, denigrating their opponent\u2026 And saying at the conclusion of their campaign, \u201cGod forbid my opponent should win. I am<\/strong> the only good choice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been asked by many: \u201chow do we fix this?\u201d<\/em> If we want to fix what\u2019s clearly broken in the American political system, we can\u2019t fall prey to left or right talking points. We can\u2019t embrace solely the notion that the insertion of term limits or the repeal of the high court\u2019s Citizens United decision, that then all will be good and true and right. No. The system will still be broken. Those are more rhetorically, good-sounding, political-party-pleasing Band-Aids… as if they alone can retract the embedded arrogance and disrespect.<\/p>\n

The American political system will remain broken as long as there remain too many people who think too highly of themselves. The American political system will remain broken as long as there remain too many people who refuse to humble themselves, pray, and love their neighbor more than self. The American political system will remain broken as long as too many people refuse to love all people well.<\/p>\n

…Most…\u00a0only love…\u00a0some.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, most only love some<\/em> people well \u2014 typically\u00a0only those who agree with us. We then denigrate those who disagree, justify looking down on others\u00a0\u2014 even\u00a0calling them ignorant or something worse. Thus,\u00a0the American political system will remain broken as long as we, the voting public, continue to support that less than virtuous mentality.<\/p>\n

Again, we need to humble ourselves, pray, and love our neighbor more than self. Anything less remains sadly, nothing short of scary.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What if during an election season, there was a candidate described as follows: \u2026 one who tell lies\u2026 \u2026 one who is malicious\u2026 \u2026 one with a clear lack of character\u2026 \u2026 one no reasonably intelligent person could support\u2026 \u2026 one who preys on our ignorance\u2026 \u2026 one who lacks integrity\u2026 \u2026 one who is … <\/p>\n

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