Here’s a brief intro to what is hopefully my next project or one of the next, Lord willing.
Introduction: How Did We Get Here?
Why? Why write this book? That’s the question I’ve had. Truthfully, the only answer I have is because. Because the way people engulf themselves into political fodder is taxing? Because people need one more thing to convince them to contemplate politics? Because politics equals life? No.
I’m writing this because it’s important that we as a society contemplate how we have idolized politics. What used to be a topic to somewhat avoid, is now openly welcomed for discussion and unfortunately not in a good way. Many watch the news or read the news only to hurriedly share the next headliner on their most “reputable” social media page, whether the news is true or false. Or worse, many share the latest news from social media and believe it to be a “reputable” source.
As the share button is clicked, we welcome the monsoon of debates and comments that will soon follow. And based on those responses, we glean who belongs to said political parties, by their like or dislike of our post. We will in fact change our entire perspective of a person based on their political affiliation, won’t we?
Is this wrong to promote your cause? No. Of course not. We have our own social media platforms and right to support another platform as we so choose. The problem for me lies in the fact that said posts have taken precedent over major aspects of our lives, in particular religious affiliation.
While many of us will admittedly die for our religious cause, we won’t post for it. We won’t put the same energy into it as we have for politics. We will embark on many political debates, but few religious conversations. We will gather a group of people to go to a church to vote, but won’t likely do the same for Sunday service. Which in turn begs the question, is politics the new religion?
My question is, how did we get here? In this book, I’d like to note things that I have seen over the course of time. Some things aren’t a surprise and others are just sad. Admittedly, to my own shame, I have committed many of the same acts I will describe in this book. So the goal isn’t to browbeat anyone or myself, the goal is to acknowledge this problem and work to form a solution as a whole.
When we think about it, many of our choices stem from influences or learned behaviors. So, how do we begin to create more positive influences and behaviors? We hopefully can start by changing the narrative of the role we’ve allowed politics to play. But first, let’s dive in and see just how big its role really is.