Politics and Family

Recently an acquaintance of mine posted a link to an article written by a girl who attended a Tea Party rally with her father. In it she discussed how despite the fact that her father is a Libertarian she is a liberal and that the experience was very eye-opening for her. While I can’t say I see completely where both sides are coming from (and honestly, who would be dumb enough to wear a t-shirt saying “Don’t hate me because I’m a liberal” to a Tea Party rally??), it was interesting to read things in her article that kind of resonated with me.
For those of you who do not know, I am a registered Democrat. While I can’t say I agree completely with the Democratic Party, it is the party I agree with the most when it comes to different issues today. For those who do not know my father, he is a registered Republican. Given our somewhat tenacious attitudes and tempers, this issue has come up once or twice. I specifically remember an evening in the Fall of 2008 when over dinner my dad and I got into a relatively heated argument over the presidential elections. Finally after my mom and cousin sat in awkward silence for a bit (I think a bit appalled by the situation) my mom finally raised her voice to put an end to the confrontation. She told us to both be quiet, stated her reasons for why she would vote the way she would, and then told us not to talk about politics again. It wasn’t the first time my political views have been brought up by family and friends, but it was definitely the most heated situation. I’m embarrassed to say things got so heated. I guess my frustration got the best of me.
The majority of Mormons in the United States tend to vote Republican (while many Mormons outside of the States, interestingly enough, would be considered socialist by American standards)and being from the South, there are A LOT of Republicans. In my family’s close circle of friends, they’re all Republican. I think the first people I ever met who were both Mormon and Democrats were my sister-in-law’s parents. So needless to say when I came out of the closet as a Democrat, people were a bit miffed. I don’t blame them. It’s understandable. But I didn’t really appreciate the treatment I received like, “How can you be Mormon and a Democrat?” “You’re just young, naïve and impressionable” “You’re too dumb to think something other than what the liberal media tells you” “You obviously haven’t read anything about history or politics to know otherwise” (and yes, I have heard the last two). While I had my own decent answers to all of those questions and more I just felt frustrated that I felt my answers were getting brushed aside or not really listened to. But whatever; I guess that Fall evening I had just gotten tired of the Winston Churchill quote about being a liberal when one’s young because you have a heart and being conservative when you get older because you have a brain.
But the aforementioned article did make me think about the role politics play in my family relationships, specifically with my dad. My father is an extremely intelligent man. I’m not saying you have to get a degree (bachelor, masters or otherwise) to be well-read on something, but it usually doesn’t hurt (having to read numerous articles, books, etc on a certain topic tends to help you get a better knowledge of it than, say, someone who gets their information regurgitated to them via the news channel with their various slants and biases). Despite the fact that my dad didn’t go to college, I find he is probably the most well-read individual I know. It’s not uncommon for people to ask his opinion on different issues because of his breadth of knowledge and growing up I loved how our dinner table conversations often included a brief history lesson of some sort (I blame those on my decision of major) because the man voraciously read (again; I think it’s genetic) about all sorts of things. So what went wrong with me that I chose to go down the other path politically?
I won’t say I’m the most well-read person I know, but I am my father’s daughter. My love of reading anything and everything has fed me continually. I pride myself at looking at both sides of an issue and then doing what my individual conscience tells me I should do and how I should vote. Am I saying everyone should vote the way that I vote because my conscience told me to vote that way? No. One of my favorite principles taught by the Church is that of personal revelation. What may be right for one person may not be right for another. And, as stated in an editorial by the Church’s official Public Affairs director (no, not Glenn Beck) Michael Otterson, political choices are not purely theological, but really are based more on your personal experiences and how you interpret the world around you.
My father grew up in communist Cuba. I grew up in the lively and eccentric city of New Orleans. My father had to sneak away in the night, leaving his parents and other family members behind to escape to the United States. I grew up in a house where gospel principles, patriotism and the ability to think for oneself were highly valued and encouraged. My father had to provide for himself from the time he came to the States and has worked every day since to make life comfortable for my mom, brothers and I. I was fortunate enough to go to a great university and study the subjects I wanted. My father was taught the gospel by sister missionaries after looking elsewhere for religion. I was a sister missionary in Belgium, partly because of the gratitude I had for those sister missionaries and the hope that I could find someone as amazing as my father to share the gospel with. As you can tell our lives have obviously been a bit different. Because of our different experiences and even the different books we’ve read on the same topics, we know different things and have interpreted said things differently. Because of our different lives we vote differently. But the fact remains the same that I am a product of him. I am his daughter.
I do not want political differences to divide my dad and me; my love for him and the hope that my family ties will last long after everything is said and done push me to want to avoid political talk with family members. So we don’t see eye to eye on every minute thing. Variety is the spice of life. Besides, in my opinion, when I am judged on how I lived my life, I think that how I loved and respected my family and those around me will be held in great balance than how I fought for my political ideals.