I’m not sure exactly what I believe about the role of the government. I haven’t worked that out yet. What the U.S. government is currently doing doesn’t seem to be working. I am interested in change, but I’m not interested in “Yes we can” change. I’m interested in less government. I think it used to be that less government meant you were a Republican. However, the Republicans today are largely the ones making abortion and gay marriage illegal. In doing so, they are promoting “big” government.
Very often political views in our country are thought of in a linear way. There are those on the left, those on the right, and those in between. I always thought I was in between.
I have a new theory. What if it’s more circular? Could it be true that the extreme conservatives and extreme liberals have more similarities than they care to admit? I think that if I had to place myself somewhere, I’d be outside the circle. Currently, I don’t think that the government should be in charge of practically anything. Do I care about social justice? Yes. Do I care about education? Very much. Do I have an opinion about gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research, and our military strategy? Yes. However, I don’t think that all of these are things that I want my government to have control of.
I believe we should take care of the poor. I’m just not sure if you should do so through mandatory taxation. Every time we go to a wedding we hear, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Maybe we forget what this means. I think a whole bunch of laziness on the part of the Church has allowed for the government in the U.S. to become bigger than it should be. And now, it appears, it’s not going back.
Leslie Gates 