Happy Leap Day everyone!
If you don't care to hear about my spiritual or political beliefs, that's great. Just stop reading here.
Up until now I've tried to leave some more personal beliefs off of social media, but as this is a year for changes I'm going to break from tradition and try to make clear some of the things that are important to me and that I give a great deal of thought to.
Spiritually I consider myself a progressive Catholic. I support a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. I support marriage equality. I think that Pope Frances is an important historical figure who is helping to usher the Catholic Church into the 21st century. I also believe in Darwinian evolution and hard science and I don't think that conflicts with my spiritual beliefs. I believe in an afterlife (let's call it "heaven" for the sake of argument) and I think that if you are a good person who does their best to make the world a better place for yourself and others than there is a place for you there, irregardless of your spiritual beliefs or your gender or the color of your skin. I believe that the Bible is an important book filled with many parables that can be interpreted in many different ways, and there is a lot of good in there if you know where to look, but it is not a living history or the infallible word of God. I believe in prayer and when I do pray I feel connected to something greater than myself. I believe in ghosts and spirits and other supernatural phenomenon as well. As the bard wrote:
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
I have certain beliefs about how the universe works, but I can't prove them nor can I say for an absolute certainty that they are true. I am a fallible human after all, and I leave myself opened to change or amend these beliefs as new information becomes available to me. I suppose this is faith.
Now to politics. I am a registered Democrat and I tend to lean heavily towards liberal ideology. This does not mean that I hate anyone with differing viewpoints. In fact, I have many close friends who are quite intelligent and vote Republican and who hold a more fundamentalist view of spirituality than I do. I welcome their thoughts and opinions on all matters as long as they don't get rude, insulting, or racist. The same goes to my left leaning friends, by the way.
I believe that currently Bernie Sanders is the best candidate available to be the next president of the united states. I don't agree 100% with Bernie or with any of the current crop of candidates for that matter, but I truly feel in my bones that Sanders has the best chance to change the toxic political landscape that is dividing this country. Will he have an easy time doing this? Hell no! No one will. But he's my guy. Should Bernie not capture the Democratic nomination, I will happily support Hillary Clinton. Although I have some serious issues with Hillary, I think she is an able politician and a better choice than any of her Republican counterparts, many of whom genuinely scare me.
I am a supporter of Barack Obama. I don't believe that he has been a perfect leader, but I do believe that he is a good man who has done his best for the country and who has a great deal of personal integrity. Yes, he has make mistakes. Some really huge mistakes at times. But the country is absolutely a better place than it was when he first took office and I am grateful to have had such a cool headed, intelligent, measured leader to represent us. His accomplishments, in my opinion, far outweigh his failures and I think that history will remember him positively. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been especially helpful to me personally.
I am far from perfect myself. I've made quite a few mistakes in the past two years, many of which have hurt people I am close to, but I've done my best to correct them in the best way I know how. I am working hard every day to become a better person and to live with integrity. I'm still going to make mistakes, but that won't stop me from trying. One thing I've done that is absolutely not a mistake is my decision to become Tessa Flannery's life partner. She is my compass. My guiding star. Having her in my life makes me a better person and I am grateful every day that we found each other. I look forward to the many adventures that we will have together. 2016 so far has been about learning to let go of the things that no longer work in my life. I suppose part of the reason I'm writing this is to make clear to myself where my center is.
That's all for now. If you've read this far and you want to comment, I welcome it, as long as the conversation doesn't get nasty or divisive. I support free speech and welcome all opinions, even those that differ from mine. It is my hope that 2016 is a great year for my nearest and dearest.
