Dub-ya

I was surprised to learn recently how many people actually read this blog. I received a lot of responses to my Obama rant. The most interesting thing was that some people who contacted me were people who I either barely knew, or didn't know at all. It's kind of creepy for me to think that people are reading this, and I don't know some of them! I guess that's kind of cool, too. Getting to my point, many people asked me what I think about George "Dub-ya" Bush. My answer is "I'm not sure." Allow me to elaborate.

I feel like one thing that I'm very good at is taking a neutral stand on an issue before deciding on what I think is the right answer. Some of you might disagree with that because I am very opinionated, and stubborn with my opinions. But the reason I'm so stubborn is usually because I have looked at both sides of the issue, and I sincerely believe in the decision I've made. I very rarely make a hasty decision before thoroughly analyzing both perspectives. So, when I finally make a decision, I feel like I have the right to stand up for it.

The biggest factor in my decision making process is my religion. Some of you might think (because I've been told this before) that relying so heavily on my religion completely nullifies what I just said about taking a neutral stance, and actually causes me to be more close minded than ever. But how do you think I've learned to rely so heavily on my religion? Read the above paragraph for that answer. Call me brainwashed, close-minded, cultist, whatever, I've already heard all those names and worse as people threw rocks at me when I was a missionary.

I wasn't old enough to vote in 2000. I can honestly say that even though I thought I was politically informed as a teenager, I really wasn't. In the 2004 election, I was on my mission and couldn't vote, nor did I feel like I should because I had no exposure to a newspaper, t.v., or any other news source except for the church members whom I was serving. Our nightly dinner conversations would go something like this:
"Are you Elders going to vote?"
"No, we don't know enough about the issues to make an educated decision."
"Oh, well I'll just tell you who to vote for; George Bush."
"Oh, that's funny because the members we had dinner with last night told us to vote for John Kerry (which wasn't always a lie)."
"Who did you eat with last night?" But, we wouldn't tell them because we didn't want to start any unnecessary tension in the ward. It was conversations like that that made me realize that partisanship is completely absurd. But that's just me, I tend to shy away from anything that tries to put me into a category.

I don't consider myself either Republican or Democrat. Admittedly, most of the political views and principles that I hold would fall under a conservative/Republican rationality, but I have voted Democratic before (in local elections). As you know, I'm very young in the political world and have not had much experience in a voting booth, but in any election that I have taken part in, locally or nationally, I try to completely avoid categorizing the candidates into parties. Instead, I look at what the individual stands for, and what the individual brings to the table. This is also where my religious views come in. The LDS religion has repeatedly stated that it does not take a political position one way or the other, and encourages it's members to vote for whomever they think is best qualified. However, the LDS church has also taken a stand on 2 major issues: Abortion, and Same-Sex Marriage. More recently, the latter. That names a couple of the reasons I did not vote for Obama. Not only does he accept abortion, he also advocates partial birth abortion. Obama also advocates gay marriage, an issue in which the First Presidency of the LDS church wrote a letter to be read in sacrament meetings to all the members in California stating that we should do all that we can do to maintain marriage the way that is was intended, between man and woman. For those of you who don't know, the First Presidency consists of a Prophet, and 2 counselors. And, yes, we believe that the prophet is just like the prophets of old (Moses, Noah, Abraham, etc.) who speaks to God directly. So, a Prophet of God has told us what we should do concerning these two major moral issues (that somehow became polical issues, go figure). To me, doing all that I can do to uphold such morality would include keeping a man who would stomp on such morals out of the presidential seat. I know that there are members of the LDS church who voted for Obama, so please don't think that I'm condemning you, judging you, or that I think less of you. I realize that my opinion is only an opinion, and truthfully, McCain also did things that I morally disagreed with, but I voted for him still. I don't think that a vote for Obama is a one way ticket to hell, or an automatic revoke of a temple recommend, ok? Anyway, there are other political issues that I have taken a stand on based on my religious views, even though the church has not said one way or the other.

So, what does all of this have to do with George W? He was a religious man. He took so much flack for doing things like opening his meetings with a prayer. It's funny that the only flack Obama got for the prayer at his inauguration was for the person he chose to do it. Bush got flack just for doing it, regardless of who it was that offered it. After the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush rallied together religious leaders from around the world to ask their opinion about what he should do. Present at that meeting was a Prophet of God, Gordon B. Hinckley. My greatest memory of Hinckley was being present at a General Conference session in SLC. I was complaining a little at first because we were up in the balcony, and it seemed like the podium was a mile away, and I wanted to be closer. That room was HUGE! But as soon as the Prophet walked into that room, the spirit came in like a rushing wind. It felt like that gigantic room was tiny. I thought it was going to burst because it could not contain the spirit that Gordon B. Hinckley carried with him. I know that that spirit was with Hinckley when he met with Bush and other religious leaders. And I'm not the kind of person that totally disregards all other religions. Those other leaders are good, righteous men who are only trying to do the right thing. They all put their differences aside to supplicate a higher source in that desperate time. I have no doubt at all that the spirit was there during that meeting. And with the Lord's chosen Prophet there, I would even venture to say that the Savior was in their midst. And Bush handled that situation very well. I personally believe that that is what bought him his re-election. And because of Bush's strong belief in the power of God, I don't doubt that he spent much of his time in prayer. Sure, I don't believe that Bush has access to ALL of God's blessings (meaning Priesthood), but he was the leader of a country that was founded on the principles of God. A country that was foreordained to be a land of religious freedom in order for the true church of God to be restored, and grow without restraint. Sadly, a land that is trying to deny God's existence. Why wouldn't God give the president of that country the proper direction?

I didn't form many opinions of Bush during his last four years. I'm not sure why. I think it might have to do with the fact that I couldn't vote for him, and I felt almost as if I didn't have any right to either praise him or criticize him, so I just sort of watched the political scene from a distance. That's why my answer is "I don't know what I think about George W. Bush." But this much I do believe: He is a righteous man who called on the power of God constantly. He was unfortunate enough to be the president when the economic recession finally hit after it had been seen coming for decades. He got a lot of flack for things that just weren't his fault (like the recession I just mentioned). The media made it appear as though NOTHING he did was right. And, finally, I feel that if either Al Gore or John Kerry were the president during that time, our country would be in even worse shape than it is now. Seriously, it makes me shudder to think about it.

I don't think I'm going to do many more political blogs. If you read my very first blog, I said that I don't want to start a revolution, or "open your eyes to the truth." I also said that if there is anything that I want you to get out of this blog, it would be a few laughs. While it felt good to release some of those feelings about Obama and Bush, it didn't produce many laughs! I also felt like I was trying to open someone's eyes. Talking politics just doesn't serve the purpose that this blog was created for. The only time that you will read anything political here again is if it is something completely absurd that will make you laugh.