Are We Voting Like Kids?

I'm ashamed of the way things are going in this election right now. I don't think there's a single candidate out there who can claim to be completely innocent or free of childish actions and behavior thus far in this election and I think the public is catching on to this trend as well. The latest bit of nonsense coming up these days is the controversy brewing over a sign put up outside a church in Jonesville Church of God in Jonesville, South Carolina. I think the intent of this sign is rather clear and though it is a cheap shot, Pastor Roger Byrd of the church doesn't see anything wrong in it.

According to Byrd, the sign isn't meant to be racial or political but rather meant to make people think. In this case, the message or idea that Byrd wants people to think is that Barrack Obama is related and in league with Osama Bin Laden. While this isn't the first time this arguement has come to the forefront, I think this is the first time it's been spelled out with such undisguised implication. Now arguements have already erupted across the country and on blogs everywhere about how by making this bold statement the church has violated the concept of separation of Church and State and how supporting a particular candidate goes against what gives a Church or other religious organization the freedom from tax status. Whatever they may be in violation of, they are at the very least in violation of common sense and sanity.

Anyone who has been following the news these days knows that Obama has come under fire for the ravings of his former pastor in Chicago. Obviously if Byrd intends to imply that Obama is in any way shape or form related to Osama then the implication should be that his entire church there in Chicago should be the same shouldn't it? I think this type of mudslinging by the public now in addition to the candidates is childish and inopportune. The congregation had the choice of taking the sign down this past Sunday when the Pastor put it to vote. Apparently the congregation voted unanimously to keep the sign up. It should be noted that there is not a single African American member of the congregation in the Jonesville Church of God. That is not meant to imply that all white Americans are such racist and vile people but as the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch.

I think the biggest problem in this election is the fact that all this campaigning began more than a year ago. People are so familiar with what they perceive to be the issues and problems with each candidate that now they and the public have resorted to name calling in order to get support for their candidates of choice. I think it's utterly ridiculous that grown adults are doing things that children are normally chided for. Even if Obama was of the Muslim faith, is it fair to call out people for their supposed connection to a particular religion that has some fanatics? What then is the difference between this church and the terrorists who hijacked an Air France plane back in 1976 and released all passengers but the Israeli and French Jew passengers on the flight? Some of these people were held only because of their names. The hostages shouldn't have been held in the first place but others were stigmatized for nothing more than having a different name.

Aren't we all a bit old to be arguing over names? The voting age in our country is 18 and the assumption is that if you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to understand some of the reasons why you should or shouldn't choose someone. Living in a political town like Washington I think one gets over-exposed to the issues and topics surrounding candidates but out in the rest of the country where these issues may not take as much presidence as local news stories, it's distressing to think that messages like these are rekindling old hatred and misguided ideas. It's statements and blind foolishness like this that led to the beating and death of so many people in the days after September the 11th. Members of the Sikh community were often attacked simply because they wore a turban. I can understand this kind of gut reaction in the wake of something like that but Pastor Byrd and his congregation are a bit too old to be carrying on this type of false association even after it's been established that there is no association between Obama and Osama.