I'm Tired

The last couple of weeks have been particularly busy, and I'm tired. And I stayed up too late last night, which didn't help. (I was watching baseball. Can you believe it? Me, voluntarily watching a baseball game on television! Yay, Cubs!)

My fatigue has little to do with a busy schedule or an extra-innings baseball game. My weariness goes far beyond being physically tired.

I'm tired of political ads and insults and tweets.

I'm tired of dirty tricks and October surprises.

I'm tired of media who want to control what I think instead of merely reporting facts and letting me decide for myself.

I'm tired of a political ruling class who wants to overrule the will of the voting public.

I'm tired of the animosity.

I'm tired of this election season.

This has been a particularly contentious election season. Certainly it is to be expected that people will disagree about candidates and about issues, but this time around, the disagreements seem more disagreeable. Social media plays a part in that, to be sure. People will tweet or post things that they would never say to or about another person face to face. The anonymity and lack of accountability that social media brings to our world has brought out the worst in us.

Even beyond that, there's an ugliness about this election season that is heartbreaking. Christians are accusing other Christians of compromising their faith or of selling out their convictions, depending on which candidate they have chosen to support. And those insults are coming from both directions. It's an ugly political world out there. And I am weary of it all.

This has not been an easy political season for me. I used to enjoy politics, but no more. I can barely stand to listen to news broadcasts any more. As I have said before, neither of these major party candidates was my first choice. Or second. Or third. But there is a process in place to choose candidates, and these are the ones we are left with.

Certainly as Americans we are free to support whichever candidate we choose and for whatever reason. Or we are free to support none of them. We are free to express our opinions about our candidates and our reasons for supporting them, and our reasons for not supporting other candidates. Free speech is a right guaranteed to us by the First Amendment.

But does our right to free speech give us the right to insult and demean and belittle? The level of vitriol and rhetoric in this election season far exceeds anything I have seen in my lifetime. What saddens me most about it all is the way Christians are at each other's throats. Flinging insults at one another. Accusing those who support a different candidate of compromising their faith, or of selling their souls, or of losing their salvation, or of things far worse. That sort of behavior wouldn't be particularly surprising coming from the unbelieving world, but it is heartbreaking to see how Christians are turning on each other.

Is this the way we are modeling Christ to the world? Is this how we are to be salt and light?

I do not mean to say that all who are Christian should line up behind one particular candidate. Each of us must make an individual decision as to which candidate we will support after a careful examination of all the issues and of each candidate's platform and positions on those issues. Then, having thought about it and prayed about it, we must vote.

We won't all agree. But we don't need to be so disagreeable!

I will be glad when next Tuesday is behind us. But my fear is that the ugliness is here to stay.