Why We Need to Look Past Labels (Republican vs. Democrat) pt. 1

     Religion and politics are similar in that, for extremists, they are extremely divisive (think "Islam is a religion of VIOLENCE!!" or "Christians are all HYPOCRITES!!"). Note: I don't believe either of those things, but I've seen the idea bandied about ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. For the rest of the population, though, there's the nice, wiiiide range of space between the extremes that we can occupy. In religious folks, this could look like people who try to live by example, make their regular appearances at the church/mosque/synagogue, and/or are welcoming of newcomers to the religion without pushing it on them. How does this apply to politics? Unfortunately, I think more people than ever are painting others with a political paint brush that's just too general (and, oftentimes, inaccurate).
     Welp, this one gets heated really quickly. Just to point out a few:

• Democrats:
•  are okay with killing babies
• want to shelter rapists
• plan to make the country Communist/Socialist 
• Republicans:
• are racist/hate Mexicans
• believe that guns are more important than kids
• don't believe in women's rights
• Russian COLLUSION!! (I like this one the most because [somehow] it's used against both Hillary and Trump, lol)

     Again, though, those are just the extremes. Not only that, but people confuse their own views with their perceived views of others. What am I talking about? Let's take 2 examples, one from each side, to be fair:

• On abortion: Democrats want to kill babies. I think people (conservatives) fail to understand that an abortion isn't something anybody is happy to do. Granted, I'm speaking without the benefit of experience, but I'm just trying to use my brain as best as I can. & something tells me that the majority (if not the entirety) of women that are compelled to abort a pregnancy do so for a variety of reasons*:
• financial hardship
• not being ready to raise a baby
• not being in a stable relationship
• following their parents' or partner's desires

      You don't see "likes to kill babies" or "hates life" on there, do you...? This doesn't even take into account the different definitions (medical/scientific vs. religious) for what constitutes a baby, and that's on purpose. It doesn't matter what your definition of a baby is - if a woman isn't going or is unable to raise a baby "right" (y'know, with all the basic needs for a healthy baby), then why force her to? What if she's another Casey Anthony? (For full disclosure, Casey Anthony was found not guilty) Would you want someone to hold off on abortion just to actually commit a gruesome murder because they hate their kid? What if a hypothetical mom subjected their child to a lifetime of abuse? The easy way to consider it is: if you wouldn't want to be the kid in that position (born to a mother that doesn't want you), why would you want someone else to be?

I know there are women who are happy that they decided not to abort, but that's not the point - not all women will end up that way, and there are also women who are unhappy that they didn't abort. So what's the deal if we can't have a one-size-fits-all solution? Welp, we leave the choice open. There are those who will choose to abort and those who will not. There are those who might regret it and those who might not, but that's just life, isn't it? Let's move on to the next example.

• On building the wall: Republicans must hate Mexicans. Again, I think people (liberals) fail to understand the concerns that some Americans bring to the table. (Granted, they are concerned about what amounts to a non**-issue***) Just humor me, though. Imagine if we took a population of 200,000 people and dropped them off anywhere in the world. Let's continue to imagine that these 200,000 are all in perfect nuclear family units of 4, and will require accommodations (whether apartments, condos, or houses) as such. Well, you'd need 50,000 units of housing for that. Where's that going to come from? Who will pay for this housing, and how? How about schools? Healthcare services? If half of the population is kids and we assigned a 30:1 ratio for educators, we'd need 3333 educators. With a 1,000:1 ratio for doctors, we would need 200 doctors (not to mention nurses, support staff, etc. etc.). Where are those going to come from, and on whose dime? 

     While I personally do not consider this an issue since the majority of Mexican immigrants are already here (and contributing), that doesn't mean people's concerns aren't real. Granted, in this case they seem to be invalid, but that still required some digging on my part (and I guarantee that most folks on either side of the "issue" haven't done even 2 minutes of Googling, let alone 5-10) to find out. 

     PHEW. With all that out the way, what am I trying to get at? Whatever your political stances are, try not to buy into the strawmen that abound in this political landscape. When you do, you fall into the thought trap of thinking that all Republicans are racist/moronic/misogynistic or that all Democrats are baby killers/rapist sympathizers/Socialists. & whether you think Russians gave Hillary $400 million (false) or that they influenced on behalf of Trump (true), the truth is that these divisive tactics by Russians are sowing division to the point where Americans can't engage in politics with the people that they need to the most - each other. So keep your head on straight, talk it out with the people you know, but do not overgeneralize. Otherwise, you've failed your country (and by extension, yourself)!

*International study on abortion

*US study on abortion

**"As of 2014, 78% [of illegal Mexican immigrants] had lived in the US for 10 years or more"

***Inflows of Mexican immigrants have already gone through a dramatic decline since the early 2000's.