This is one of those situations where something got my hackles up. (I’m not sure what a hackle is, but they’re definitely up…)
I read an op ed article (which I won’t name or link to here) which, on one level, seemed fairly well-written and thought out. It was on politics, and was discussing whether Evangelical Christians should support Trump at this point.
A few disclosures here:
- I have attended Christian churches for much of my life and have been involved with Christian organizations, many of which could be categorized as Evangelical.
- I no longer identify as a Republican, nor do I identify as a Democrat.
- I’m halfway through beer #2 while watching a bowl game, so please forgive any faux pas, typos, or linguistical slips…
You may love or hate Trump, that’s not the point here.
You may be Christian (Merry Christmas to you…), Jewish (Mazel tov to you), Muslim (starting to go outside my cultural knowledge), Hindu, Sikh, Atheistic, Humanistic… ok that’s gone too far… It doesn’t matter your belief system.
The problem I had with this article is that the author identified, without realizing it, a huge issue in today’s politics – which, incidentally, could be stretched beyond politics (in another post, of course.) The issue is the “lemming problem”.
Lemmings have a reputation for a “herd” mentality. Apparently that reputation comes from a 1958 Walt Disney documentary called White Wilderness, and is actually a myth. Or, to keep with the tone of this post, “False News”. Another rather gruesome myth about lemmings is that they explode. They do not. Ewwwwww! (By the way, I’m still not sure what a group of lemmings is called, but I”m going to stick with “herd”.)
Since the collective Western consciousness understands the idea of lemmings, though, I’m going to stick with it.
Here’s the link: When it comes to voting and political support, people are like lemmings. They tend not to create their own opinions. Instead, they identify with a political party, socioeconomic group, religious group, or some other “herd” and make their decisions and opinions accordingly.
Jumping back to the article, the premise was that Evangelical Christians need to, as a group, support or oppose Trump.
This, to me, is ridiculous.
Trump is who he is. But everyone perceives him, his behaviors, and his presidency differently. Even those in the same “herd”.
The same goes for every other political candidate out there. For each, there’s often talk about who has which “herd’s” vote. (Still wishing I knew what a group of lemmings is called.) So and so has the Hispanic vote. Another candidate may have the Evangelical vote. As if they all perfectly agree on everything.
While this post may just be an excuse to vent, I’d just like to take a moment to urge all half-dozen of you (cheeky, right?) to think for yourself. You’re all reasonably smart, have access to good information, and can make a decision on your own.
Being part of a “people-group” according to race, belief, geography, political leaning, or other slicing and dicing should not dictate your vote, your opinion, or your beliefs.
My name is Matt McCarthy, and I endorse this message.