Serious Issues Deserve Serious Voters

The United States is a group of widely diverse individuals. As such, one would expect to find different thoughts and beliefs among a nation as large and varied as ours. When election time comes around, I expect to hear those varying thoughts from individuals. We each have different ideas about who we think the country should be run, different thoughts on whom we think is most qualified to lead or is most in tune with our beliefs, and go about that in different ways. The very freedom to say how we think the country should be run is one of the fantastic things about our country.

However, this year, more so than any  other time I can remember, people are going beyond talking about their political beliefs and how they think the country should be run. We’ve gone past respectful and thoughtful discussion and debate and have entered a dangerous area rife with violence and hate. From racism to sexism and crude jabs to name calling, putrid vile is pouring out of the mouths and keyboards of millions of Americans.

Name calling and jokes don’t belong in the serious realm of our lives. Those are things we find in the school yards, from people young enough that they are still learning how to deal with their fear and anger. When children resort to bullying, most parents step in to help them learn better ways of expressing themselves. Yet over the past few months, I’ve seen many of these same people not only spread the hatred, but escalate in it. In just over a couple of weeks, we have a very important election coming up. This election in particular holds some very serious issues for both individuals and our country as a whole. These serious issues deserve serious voters. So, please, I beg of you, please put the name calling aside. Step away from the fear and hate. Remember that we are a nation united, and let’s act like the adults we claim to be in order to work together for the good of everyone.