Leaving Our Legacy

I don't usually discuss politics in this blog unless it's relating to something else. I try to just stay away from it altogether on here, simply put- because it tends to alienate people. People automatically assume you are a certain kind of person based on your political affiliation. I want this blog to be helpful, encouraging, edifying. Not a sounding board for politics.

However, with the current events that have been unfolding with this shooting in Tuscon, I think it's important, and I'll explain why in a minute. First, I want to be completely upfront. That way those who are going to shut me off because of my beliefs can do so without wasting their time by continuing to read. I am a 26 year old female conservative. I am not a republican. I am not a democrat. I am an independant and always vote according to issue and candidate. Always. However, I am both a social and fiscal conservative.

I'd like to think I'm a fairly easy person to get along with. I'm a mother of three...soon to be four. I have a bachelor's degree in Communication. I grew up blue collar, married white collar and can relate to just about anybody. I love my God, my family and my country. So that pretty much sums me up.

When elections rolled around last November, I was only too happy to get out and vote for individuals that I thought would actually represent me. Last time I checked, that was the whole point of democracy. I don't care if the person who is elected is white, female, or young...I don't care if they LOOK like me...I just want them to represent my values and defend the things that are important to me.

When Gabrielle Giffords and several other individuals were shot this past weekend, I was stunned. Just like everyone else in America. Then, sadly, I turned to my husband and said, "How long do you think it will take for conservatives to start getting blamed?" As it turned out, it had already started. They didn't even wait for the dust to settle. They didn't have any idea who the guy was who had done this or what his motives were. It didn't matter. It was an opportunity to push an agenda. "It's all those crazy right wing conservative's fault...obviously since it was a democrat who was shot."

The ignorance in making statements like these while completely uninformed is profound. A wounded group of politicians with a vicious hatred for an empowered right was only too happy to begin mudslinging in an attempt to "not let a crisis go to waste."

We later find out that the man was a wacko. Just plain and simple- a wacko. He was not a right-wing conservative. In fact, quite the opposite. He was a "philosophy" junkie. He was probably further left than Gabrielle Giffords in all actuality. But regardless of his political affiliation, there is NO evidence that politics had ANY part in his motive. His friends have said he never watched TV, he never listened to talk radio. So why the accusations against these media outlets? The man had a personal issue with Ms. Giffords. And he was mentally disturbed. The end.

Is it devestating? Yes. Tragic? Yes. A reason for the country to get all up at arms over right vs. left? No. Not even close. At a time when the country should be uniting to support these families, instead they're trying to pass new policies, "remake" the President, show Barack Obama's "magic" as one reporter referred to it. The American people are sick to death of the game playing and name calling. You can be passionately for or against something without inciting violence or doing anyone any harm whatsoever.

Obviously those who are leading America are unable to do so without acting like a bunch of junior highers. Was it wrong for people to come out right after the incident and baselessly blame the right? Yes. Was it wrong for the right to get caught up in defending themselves (as if it matters, they already hate you, you're not going to convince them otherwise) and play the politics game? Yes. Is it absolutely ludicrous that those who are accusing the right of inciting violence with their vitriol are making death threats to those individuals? Hypocrisy that boggles the mind. 

Here's where I stand. I'm a mom. A mom lost her nine year old little girl that day. She let her go to a political rally because the little girl loved politics. She had just gotten elected to student government in her third grade class. What a precious, smart, wonderful little life that was needlessly snuffed out by a lunatic. From what I can see, families who lost loved ones in that accident did just that. Lost loved ones. They need love. They need support. They need to be able to grieve. They need someone to come alongside them, to show them that the nation mourns with them.

When I've lost loved ones, I didn't need a pep rally. I didn't need a Presidential Cabinet Member reading a piece of Scripture. I didn't need more controversy in my life. And I'm pretty sure they don't either. It's time to step away from the political fray and be human for awhile. We're all just human. We all hurt, we all bleed the same. It could have been any one of us. I hope that we can all be a little more compassionate toward one another. Especially those who have lost so much in this.

As mommas, let's try to look deeper this year. Let's try to meet people where they are, instead of talking about them as if they're a number. Because a whole crew of mommas is a lot more powerful than congress could ever hope to be. The government doesn't get to determine the kind of country our kids grow up in...we do. We are raising the next generation of leaders who can either see a need and meet it, or pass the buck in favor of personal gain. Our children are watching us. They're watching how we react to these and all other situations.

For instance, when I was a child I knew my parents were not fans of the current welfare system. They thought it inspired people to do absolutely nothing with their lives. According to some, that would make them calloused and uncaring. And perhaps, had they done things differently, someone could have convinced me that they were. But I knew better. I had seen over and over when my parents had helped someone who truely needed it. I distinctly remember sitting in a Pizza Hut on a Friday night. It was near closing time and a homeless man came into the restraunt to ask for the food they would be throwing away. They told him they didn't have anything, and he quietly left. Without saying a word, my dad packed up the rest of our pizza and followed the man out the door. That moment of watching my dad hand that pizza box to that homeless man was a make or break moment in my life. I saw compassion in action. No, it wasn't a big gesture. It didn't have to be. My father saw a need and he filled it, and I've been trying to do the same my whole life.

That's what we're supposed to be doing. Leading by example. If we start taking care of each other, meeting the needs of those in our communities and our nation- all the while pointing to the God who enables us to love extravegantly, we'll be on our way to rewriting history for our children's children. Throughout the year as I see a need arise, I'll let you know on here and we can do our best to meet that need together. I won't be equipped to meet every need. You may be better fit to do some things. But for goodness sakes, Mommas, we have a legacy to write. Let's get going.