Wasting time reading this - Part II

So Sarah and I have had some good discussions about politics and some of the big issues that we are voting on or that we immediately look at to see where a candidate stands on the issue. Why is an issue an issue? How can two individuals who profess the same faith, go to the same church, read the same holy writ and pray the same way have totally opposite political views? Not only similar religious views do they hold, but seemingly similar cultural, social and economic upbringing. Same town, same middle-class standing, same High School, same type of friends…
So what causes different political viewpoints? To me, when speaking to Sarah about it, it seemed an issue was an issue because of how we looked at it on a moral standpoint. Without the moral value, there didn’t seem to be an issue. It seemed wrong with allowing the government a certain right for a certain group. Neither Sarah nor I could come up with a ‘really good’ argument against the other. No analogy really made the other stop and think. Both of us certainly could see the others’ viewpoint though. We definitely aren’t a marriage where politics gets in the way. Only recently have I even raised the issues, and that is because I have gone exploring. Here are the basics between Sarah and I. I argue that even though these are morally wrong things, it is more important to leave the freedom of choice intact. Even though we should all basically agree what is right and what is wrong, it should still be an individual’s choice to make. Sarah counters with an emphasis on other freedoms that we give up in society, or choices that have legal consequences, and argues that those are the same. I disagree but cannot offer a good rebuttal except that there are laws that affect others more significantly and as such, are more obvious to have to obey. So far, I seem to be alone in the thinking about the war in heaven and what we actually fought for. We didn’t fight for righteousness.

We didn’t fight good versus bad as the world likes to portray it down here. We fought for freedom. We fought for the freedom to act and not to be acted upon. We fought for the individuality and personal right to choices. It wasn’t the mundane, seemingly insignificant choices that we fought for, it was a fight for the ability to win back heaven on our own, for mortality was not worth it if we had a free ticket in our hands. We had to fight for the ticket everyday of our mortal lives, making choices that defined us. We knew the consequences of Father’s plan. We knew we would lose family and friends here in mortality, not to mention the ones we lost in the war in heaven. What a significant loss! Father seemed to have lost more than we did, as right from the beginning, He lost a third of all His children. After that, He watched as His only begotten died in vain for many individuals who chose morally wrong choices time and time again until they reached the point of no return. But without that proof that we offer each day of our lives, God cannot condemn nor reward us. We are not proving anything by obeying a government who practices immediate legal action against us for breaking the law. It is easy to obey the law if you know a cop is watching, or if you know you won’t get away with it.
These are some of our thoughts, yet we can’t get past our own feelings of right and wrong. I want there to be political harmony in my house, but I realize that the ultimate political harmony exists. We are living with necessary evils, democracy being one of them. As I am reading Hugh Nibley’s ‘Approaching Zion’, I realized again that this church isn’t doing what it should be as individuals mostly: taking giant strides toward establishing Zion here on earth. With Zion comes the law of consecration. With that law and Zion comes perfection. No need to argue over which political viewpoint is right or wrong. No need to waste hours maybe even weeks of our lives each election year deciding who to vote for. No need to ‘settle’ for a lesser of two evils in an elected official.
But who am I to say? My viewpoint is skewed and I obviously haven’t been praying or reading my scriptures enough. Even though I am not alone in my thinking, all those that think like me are going to Hell and there is nothing I can do about it. There is no thinking for ones self in this regard, there is no need to worry about how to vote for all that is taken care of right? Even though the church stays neutral politically, certain implications lead over 90% of all Saints to vote a certain way, which is sad, it really really is. There aren’t enough ‘thinking’ mormons out there. They rely on a neutrality to pick a side. But again, my viewpoint is skewed and I am going to Hell.
On another note. Being mildly ostracized is a small side story to my life. Everywhere I have gone, I have experienced it at least on some small degree. I was a bit different at school, no matter how hard I tried to fit in. I was a bit different at church, scouts, with friends, anywhere. Now I come to face the fact that all my life I was a bit different at home as well. Yes we are all individuals and have our own quirks and do our own special things, but with me not fitting in anywhere else, this snubbing or exclusion finally got to me in Junior High. After I hit that wall and decided to avoid hitting it again, I have come to realize that I cannot ignore it. Even though that aspect of my life is little, and I can live without hitting it head on, every once in awhile it will pop up in my line of sight and I seemingly cannot avoid it. I even tried telling myself ostracism isn’t a bad thing, it is good. My individuality and I can live life without anyone else. Forget all you meanies! But that is all part of the wall that I cannot avoid being part of my life. I cannot escape the truth that it hurts. Walls hurt no matter how you look at it. If you avoid direct collision, you still have to alter your path to go around, or take significant time to climb over, interrupting your life and affecting it for good.
When I met Sarah and grew to have a spousal love for her, I came to know my eternal companion. I have come to realize she is the most important person in my life, and that wall of ostracism became smaller and smaller. Here is someone who will love me no matter what. Even when I mess up there is no snubbing or ignoring. She loves me for who I am and who I am becoming. So everyday, when I go out into the world, I know I can come home to someone who understands me and accepts me. No matter where I go, what I do or who I talk with, she listens and tries to understand everything. For that I believe she will be truly blessed.