Political Soap box

Normally, I try to steer clear of all things political. I don't like to talk about my views and in most cases, I don't want to hear about yours either. It's all so controversial and the arguments can go either way. However, today I shall discuss a little bit of politics and a whole lot of other issues. Let me preface by saying that I did not vote for Obama. I did not vote for McCain either. Given the choice, I opted out. So this is in no way motivated based on personal feelings.

As everyone on earth knows, the president gave a speech a few days ago to air in classrooms, encouraging children to stay in school, work hard and make something of themselves. AS I understand there was also a bit of health care reform/political agenda thrown in there. There were many schools that chose not to show it at all. My issue is just this: he is the President of the United States. He is our nations first African-American President (even though, according to my mother, he wasn't born in the US). Regardless of what he is saying, it was an historical speech. And I don't think that ANY child can hear enough encouragement when it comes to making smart choices and doing something with their lives, even if it was laced with political agenda. 10-year-olds don't care about health care reform, but may need to hear the other stuff.

Flash forward to last night's Presidential Congressional address. Will the representative from South Carolina please not make a fool out of himself and all those who voted for him? All this teaches our children is how to be disrespectful. I don't care if Obama was standing there calling the sky green-you can't just yell at him! He is our president, in the highest position of authority in the land, and a grown man interrupts him (rude) and yells over him (rude again) and tries to degrade him in front of others (more rudeness) because he didn't like what Obama had to say. So now children think that it's okay to be disrespectful as long as it's done under the correct circumstances. Are you kidding? I taught high school and it was hard enough to get kids to respect my authority without them having an adult as the worst example imaginable.

I think that more and more, we are only presenting one side of every story, be it politically or elsewhere. We are trying not to expose our children to too many varying opinions. But I think that what we are keeping them from, in most cases, not all, is forming an opinion of their own. This is true especially where it comes to Christianity. I am not saying that it is okay to expose them to all the craziness of the world, but sheltering them from everything breeds ignorance. I want to teach Luke how to think for himself, how to defend his ideas and morals and beliefs. I think that a great opportunity has been missed and will continue to be missed when it comes to all this Presidential controversy. We are presented every day with chances to talk to our kids and teach them something based on what they see and hear, and those chances are passing us by. Reality is that if we don't teach them or use these moments to help shape them into respectful, responsible adults, someone else will get to our children first. They will see and hear plenty that we aren't aware of so these things that we know they are exposed to must me taken advantage of. I don't want Luke to walk into any situation blindly. I want him to know what he believes and why he believes it and to stand behind his convictions with pride, be it political or religious or just why the Red Sox are the best baseball team ever.

I am preparing myself as I post this to hear a backlash from anti-Obama folks and that's fine. I will stand by my blog proudly and defend my words. You know why? Because I have an opinion that I consider educated. Someone let me hear both sides.