My Beliefs Can't Be Summed Up on a Bumper Sticker

If you had asked me in high school what political party I ascribed to, I would have answered firmly, proudly, and adamantly: Republican. If you asked me the same question today, I would likely pause thoughtfully, and then reply, “I tend to vote for policies that more closely align with the Republican Party’s agenda.”

Why the change? There are a lot of answers to that. There was no lightning strike moment when I realized that everything I had ever believed was flawed, no monumental discovery that shattered my world view. But small events over the past six years have served to broaden my perspective.

Screaming Like Children

It started when I grew old enough to pay attention during presidential elections. I started really listening to what the candidates and their supporters said. I analyzed their propaganda, something I had learned all about in my marketing class junior year. I was often disappointed by what I saw on both sides. Slander, vague answers and insubstantial promises made up the brunt of the campaigning. In the most recent presidential debates, I didn’t see professional politicians or even scheming crooks. I saw two screaming children determined to get in the last word.

But there was more. Increased tension regarding racism, police relations, and immigration all created an ever-growing gap between certain groups of people. It seemed that each group was more interested in disagreeing with their opposition than they were in actually demonstrating their own opinions. They pushed each other away like magnets. But unlike magnets, the further away they pushed, the stronger the repulsion grew.

On a hot day last summer, I was at my grandma’s house making dinner. She, as usual, had Fox News turned on and blaring at about 1.5 billion decibels. Thus, it was impossible to miss the hateful, accusatory words coming from the speakers. I can’t rightly remember what the man was saying, only that it bothered me deeply. He wasn’t defending his opinion or giving facts to discredit the opposing side. He resorted to name-calling, insults, and basically called upon a mob-mentality to sway people to his cause. Unfortunately, this petty use of ad hominem has grown to be the norm rather than the exception.

Polarization

It is ironic that, in a world screaming for tolerance, no one is willing to budge an inch to the left or right to look at, let alone consider, someone else’s viewpoint. Everyone will claim that there is no black and white answer, that we live in shades of grey, but they will scream until their lungs give out to convince you just which shades of grey are acceptable and which are not.

I suppose I shouldn’t try to speak for the whole world. I can’t really even speak for the whole USA, just for my own experience. But what I have seen and lived has given the distinct image of increasing polarization, with a growing chasm down the center. No one is building bridges to the other side to create discourse because they are too busy seeing who can throw the biggest rocks. Democrat vs Republican, Black Lives Matter vs law enforcement, anti-maskers vs maskers, etc. Everyone is so determined to plant their feet firmly on one side of the chasm and prove, once and for all, that they are ‘right’. They proudly slap on a cheap bumper sticker and drive around as if they held the answers to all the world’s problems in their trunk.

Bumper Sticker Beliefs

Gone are the days, if they ever really existed, when two bumper stickers proclaiming: “Pro-Life” or “Pro-Choice” could adequately distinguish between a Republican and a Democrat. The same voice that claims a woman has a right to kill her unborn child also denies that same woman the right to potentially endanger an elderly man by not wearing a mask indoors. The disgusted father who looks down upon the man living off government aid feels violated when the government says he cannot take his family to Disneyland without becoming part of a nationwide clinical trial (as he sees it) and getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

My beliefs can’t be summed up by a bumper sticker. I would like to believe that no one has such simplistic philosophies. Sadly, mob mentality and increasing polarization of viewpoints has created a world where there seems to be no middle ground, no moderate choice, no voice of reason.

But perhaps that is simply because only the most fanatical, the most stubborn and irrational, are speaking out? Perhaps these bumper sticker beliefs only seem to be the norm because everyone in the middle simply watches, shaking their heads in mockery, resignation, or perhaps worry. Or worse, that everyone in the middle has been swallowed in the chasm created by the voices of the far left and far right.

Balance and Bridges

In general, I still vote Republican. I can’t compromise on some issues: I will never believe that a woman has the right to abort a baby, or even a ‘potential’ baby. On the other hand, I have been horrified by the extreme stances some people have taken in regards to the expulsion and restriction of immigrants. In some cases, I see both sides (supporting only Black Lives Matter or* the police) as flawed. I think we are all a little like this: a complex mixture of beliefs and philosophies. Perhaps, then, we should spend a little more time trying to find where we can compromise, and perhaps even where we already agree. We can start trying to find the balance and build bridges across the chasm. Eventually, we may even be able to throw enough dirt into the chasm to recreate the middle ground.