Democrats vs. Republicans - The Great Debate

In recent years, one of the most controversial topics has undoubtedly lied in the debates between democrats and republicans. It's a way that some people connect with their peers, and others discover a dislike for those that oppose their political views. Once we find out someone has our opposing political views, we automatically discard that person from being a human being and look for ways to demean them.

For example, yesterday I was sitting in the student center on-campus reading a book when I overheard an alarming conversation going on next to me. This student was talking to a peer about how he had been placed into a group to work on a project. He said that he would go out of his way to annoy a member of his group, just because that member was a liberal. He was specifically targeting him, and using scare tactics to intimidate the guy just because of his political views. He even went so far to say "I wish I could beat him up."

What country are we in again? I couldn't believe what this guy was saying. I don't agree with all liberals, but then again I don't agree with all conservatives. Both tend to be too extreme in my opinion, which causes strife among the American people. Extremists of any type tend to cause a lot of problems for the majority. Conservative and liberal extremists are both guilty of committing hate crimes when pushed beyond their limits, which we all know aren't very broad limits.

After California's Proposition 8, many homosexuals were very disappointed with the democratic outcome of the vote, and insisted on calling out specific LDS (Mormon) donors who contributed to the opposition and helped pass the Proposition by targeting their families, homes, and businesses. Some acts of vandalism on specific supporters' homes, cars, churches were committed, causing thousands of dollars of damage. The homosexuals used the slogan "No H8" to oppose the proposition, claiming they were being hated because they were gay. So in return to losing democratically (yes, the majority of California voted for it), they committed 'H8' on those who voted and supported the proposition.

Conservative extremists aren't innocent either. Growing up in the Bay Area of California provided me with a unique political experience. I grew up in a very liberal area, easily the majority. In high school though, the majority tend to lean more conservatively because anything else may seem out of the norm and weird. Not surprisingly, there were quite a few gay people at my high school. These people were targeted with verbal attacks from other kids. Sometimes these attacks would turn into a fist fight.

Extremists aren't good for anyone. We should be preaching tolerance to political views, and not acts of violence and hate that intimidate our fellow citizens. When I say we should be implementing tolerance, I don't mean we go with the flow and learn to silence our opinions and beliefs on what actions should be taken politically. We have the right to expression, and should hold to that. We just shouldn't take to the extreme.

I don't really identify myself as a republican or democrat. I guess I am more of a moderate of some sort. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what I am because I don't know if there is a name for such a thing. There are some things that the democrats do that I like, and there are some things that republicans do that I also like. I'm not a fence sitter by any means. I know where I stand on political issues. I just think that some political parties views on an issue is better than the others.

Being LDS, and growing up in the Bay Area, I grew up in a very balanced environment. LDS tend to lean more conservative, while the Bay Area tends to lean more liberal. Many members of the church cannot comprehend how you can be liberal, and be a member of the church. A very prominent leader in the LDS church was a pronounced Democrat, which many members of the church don't know about. I think that if many knew this tidbit, they would express more political tolerance.