Who do you believe?

[hyphenate]

I'm curious about something. Let's say there is a hypothetical family, of which the father is a blue collar worker who is in a union, and his wife, the mother, works out of their home in addition to trying to raise their two children, a young boy of about 8, and a daughter who is 6. In addition, the family is a church going family in the "heartland" of America, with an annual income of about $50,000, with a mortgage on a three bedroom home.

They're pretty intelligent--both attended college, but only the wife finished, and they watch a fair amount of television, including some CNN, some Faux, the Daily Show and MSNBC. They also read the local newspaper, which happens to be conservative leaning, but also read online sources of information as well, but none of the really intense liberal or conservative sites.

This election season finds them wondering who to vote for. Their church and their hometown newspaper endorse GWB, but by their own leanings, they are more true moderates than to the far right. They don't have any interest in GWB's foreign policies, and aren't really sure whether they support the invasion of Iraq.

Here they have two main sources, their church and their home paper, supporting GWB, but Dad's union endorses John Kerry, and the mother's support group for her home business supports Kerry as well. In their minds, they can't choose one or the other, and they are finding conflicting information from both sides. They know that politicians often lie, and that has been going on for centuries, and is not an invention of the 20th century.

So, who do they believe? How is an average family in this country, who is intelligent, articulate and aware, supposed to decide who is the right candidate for them, when they have different venues that they trust giving them conflicting choices?

This is just a hypothetical example, but I thought it could illustrate that there are many people out there who are disconnected from the internal workings of a presidential campaign, and then people who aren't involved in all the stuff that most of us are involved with might not have a clearcut choice that suits their temperament. We are lucky in that respect, because we've been involved for a good amount of time, and have focused a lot of energy on this campaign. But for the "Smith" family in America, how do they reconcile their choices when they are given conflicting opinions from both sides?

[Ravenseye]

1. Make Up Their Own Minds

Look at where the parties and candidates stand on issues, and determine which ones are important to them, and that they agree with. For the incumbent look at what they promised 4 years ago, and what they delivered on.

People need to stop listening to their churches and unions and actually use that thing inside their skull. If I ever hear someone actually tell me they are voting because their church/union/knitting circle told them it was the best way to vote, I'm going to just go off.

How hard is it to be a citizen these days and actually participate in our democracy?

[tech3149]

2. It's pretty much a split decision

From the example stated, it could go either way. I would expect the husbands decision would be toward the financial well being of the family. There is now way you can support the relationship if it isn't physically sustainable The wife would decide on the ideological interest and the concept of safety/protection. If the wife finished college, I would expect her to be processing the information more completely. She would also be more capable of processing complex ideas. Unfortunately, I have friends that fall into this category. As it stands right now, the decision is to follow the long term financial interest of the family. There is no compromise on faith-based beliefs, but long term health and welfare are important. They won't subject their children to moral, mental, or physical hardship unless un-avoidable. Unfortunately, the importance is in the the order described. As a Liberal Christian, I would do the opposite of order described. I would expect the greatest growth would be gained by challenging moral, mental, and physical in that order.

To descrbe my interpretation of GWB, I can refer to Proverbs 6: 16-20. As an additional caution, I would advise to be wary of the Scribes. Those who transcribe the Word of God are still mortal servants of the Lord. It is not possible to understand the Word of God as heard by the Scribe.

I don't want to go on all night. My Father-in-Law studied at Moody Bible and Bob Jones. He died a couple of years ago, but we had many discussions about the Scriptures and His training and education. I have never met a more informed Teacher. I miss him dearly and my wife as well.