Politics

So why is it that people in general try to make you feel bad about your political beliefs if you don't believe the same way they do.

Just because I am not a republican Mormon I am not immoral or on the dark side. I am a moderate and an independent. I choose not to be part of a political party because I do not like either of them fully. I care about issues like welfare, education, healthcare, immigration etc. Democrats are not all bad and Republicans are not all good. It is the truth. I have voted for democrats and republicans. I do not try to push my ideas on you so don't try to push yours on me--or maybe you just think I agree with you because I often remain silent. I often sit and listen to how awful you think people I voted for are. Crazy how you probably don't even know I voted for them. Or if you did---are you trying to make me feel bad? I remain silent on many issues because I know I won't change your mind and you do not respect my point of view. I do talk to some friends about issues and they have different opinions, but they will listen and be respectful even when we disagree. I do the same for them. The beauty about being part of this nation is that we do have the right to freedom of speech where we have a right to have our own opinions about politics.

I talked with my students a few days ago about this since it talked about Romney and Obama in Scholastic News. I told them this applies in this class as well as throughout their lives. You should be respectful of the candidates even if you do not agree with them. You should know what they stand for and build your reasons to vote for them or to vote against them on that. You should be respectful of others beliefs and listen politely to what they have to say and also respond politely. You can believe the same or different as people around you including friends, neighbors or parents. You should study the issues and not rely on others to make the decision for you. Just because someone is of the same religion, state, ethnicity, gender etc. as you are is not the only reason to vote for them. Mostly we need to be respectful of people in this process. I believe this is true for me, my students and everyone else.