Somewhere in the Middle

First let me introduce myself. I am 48-year-old mom of five boys. I was born in Virginia to a Navy sailor who served his country with honor. My mother was from Florida and my dad from Missouri. When I was about 2 and a half, we moved to the Missouri Ozarks. I was raised to respect everyone regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion or political beliefs. I have fought a mostly silent battle for many years. It seems my beliefs that fall into the political realm do not fit with either of the major parties. This leaves me stuck in some very uncomfortable positions. Most people of my acquaintance fall rabidly one way or the other.

To explain this further let's examine some of the major issues of the day. Starting with the lightning rod that is abortion. I believe it should be safe legal and exceedingly rare. I also believe there should be limits. My beliefs would allow late term abortion ONLY in the case of risk of death to the mother. I do not believe this should be government funded.

The next lightning rod issue is "Obama Care." I am very much in favor of this type of system to provide healthcare for the whole population. I do believe there could be improvements made but I do believe it is definitely a start in the right direction.

A third area where I have noticed a distinct difference between my views and those of the two major parties is in the area of gun ownership rights versus the need to protect society from those who would use guns in ways that endanger lives. I believe there should be some gun control for instance any mental health issues should require some sort of review before ownership can be approved, and this should extend to household members. There should not be restrictions on the types of guns as this was intended as the people's way to defend against the tyranny of a government out of control.

There is a myriad of issues that have me asking "where do I fit?". I find myself marveling at the sorry state of our nation's political systems as well as the lengths people will descend to for the sake of being right. I have stopped posting on social media about my views and refuse to comment on other people's posts. I don't discuss politics with anyone, which frequently leaves me feeling like I don't have a voice. I fall in the middle in the grey area where my opinions are unpopular with both sides of the fence. I have been verbally attacked on social media for not holding a certain opinion.

Fear and hatred run rampant in the” land of the free and the home of the brave”. I don't believe this is what the founding fathers had in mind when they penned “all men are created equal.” Men who served in government were not afforded a salary and certainly not lavish enough to place them above the people that they are supposed to govern.

This all comes down to how do we fix a very broken system. I firmly believe that the right to vote is a very powerful thing however it must be an informed vote. The next key to this is being able to look across the aisle at those who have the opposite position as well as those like myself who hover in that no man's land in between and be human enough to say “we may not agree but I see you, I acknowledge your right to your stand on this issue, and finally be willing to work together with everyone for a much brighter future.