Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Which Way Lies Your Bigotry?

In the name of discrimination, why would a people vote a man into the presidency solely because he is black?
In the name of discrimination, why would a people refrain from voting a man into the presidency solely because he is a Mormon?

I think that people fear racial prejudice and want to pay penance for the injustices done by our forbears. But I think that to vote a man into office in the name of not being a bigot is the worst type of bigotry. In essence, to do so is voicing the opinion that this person could not be voted into office on his own merits; it is saying that the person is somehow still deemed inferior, and we owe it to him and to his race to elevate him because of earlier subjugation.

I think that people fear a religion that speaks of personal righteousness. They want to be justified for following the whims and the thinking of the day and then point to Mormons and say that they are the ones who have deviated from traditional Christianity because Mormons are holding onto the traditional Christian values as taught by the Savior and His Apostles and recorded in the New Testament. These people seek to condemn the very principles of Christianity that the Savior held most dear: fidelity in family relationships, love for our neighbors as ourselves, repentance that brings a change of heart.

While no one should vote for someone based solely on his race, and no one should vote for someone based solely on his religion, it is important to look at the merits of the candidates, at their leadership skills, and at their personal integrity and fidelity to themselves, to their families, and to their country.

To those who don't like either candidate, it becomes important to weigh your own values against theirs. Who supports your America more? To leave off voting for either, may in essence be casting your vote to the lesser of your two choices. Think about it! Weigh it out. Pray about it. We all may have some personal biases, but let us learn to be discriminatory in our own discrimination.

Note: I will always lean strongly to American values: faith, family, life, and integrity. Those values will aid me in my judgment whenever I vote for a person or a policy.