Teaching my American teen to not judge a politician or a snippet of news before understanding the truth of it, has been more and more prevalent in our conversations these days. I never bring up politics with my kids, but I do question when they repeat what they’ve heard, or worse, claim it as fact without knowing much about it. I hate politics. And when I put anything to do with current events on social media, it’s not out of allegiance to a party (far from it), but in hindsight, it’s a useless attempt to stand up for what is right in the broadest sense of the word. Honestly, I hate politics.
My teen knows what’s right and wrong. So much of her instinct is correct when she discusses these squirmy topics, but I still need to help her understand the underlying reason WHY we should take care when scrutinizing political news. It’s not about hating one and loving the other.
That’s just childish.
It’s about justice and liberty and the American way.
Lately, it appears that many adults, when faced with shocking news, don’t consider these pillars anymore. They scramble to their preferred side of the aisle with little scrutiny, even if what is being reported holds so much at stake. Even if the news has nothing to do with politics or parties but blatant misconduct. If a red flag is raised for the sake of goodness, and it reveals an ugly side of a politician, there is nothing but label-slapping and dismissal by that politician’s constituents. And that is a very scary, undemocratic response.
They’ve saddled up on the donkey or the elephant, and blindly go wherever they’re taken. I typically don’t trust either. They are brutes with agendas. However, when the whole herd is blindly following, redefining what is good along the way, we must realize we are ALL in this together as We, The People, and it is up to us to unify for the survival of our country.
Being American is the only reason I speak up these days—for liberty and justice for all. And that’s what I will teach my kid about political discernment, too. AMERICAN is the label to fight for—all political parties are inferior and to be rebuked at one time or another. And that’s the truth.
