Voting Values

It occurred to me this morning that adults often disappoint other adults by doing what they think is right.  And the reason is free will.  We have the intellect to make our own decisions and each of us has a clear idea of what we believe is best for ourselves and usually for those around us.  So, we end up disappointed or disappointing ourselves and others.  

UNLESS, and here's the big chance we all have, unless we are willing to accept that we each have free will and that everyone is entitled to make their own choices.  Because disappointment only happens because one person has an expectation of another person.  And just because someone makes a different choice than I would, doesn't alter any of my choices.  I hold fast to the spiritual principle of choice. 

The principle of freedom of choice is the one I feel the most pride in as an American.  In the America I grew up in, I watched freedom of choice played out in every arena.  I believe in the principles of the Constitution because I saw it demonstrated through the women’s movement, the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement.  I have seen changes in equality and human rights that only happened because people spoke up and took responsibility for defending our freedoms. 

There are so choices we take for granted: religion, education, location, opinion, vocation, political party, speech, and assembly.  I don’t always agree with everyone else’s choice or how they live their lives and I don’t always approve, but I live in the United States of America where we have a bill of rights – where people rebelled and fought and died to preserve our freedoms. 

For instance, personally I support having more stringent background checks for gun ownership and more rigorous records to enable law enforcement to track guns used in crimes.  That is an opinion – an opinion that I am guaranteed by our constitution to be free to express.  It doesn’t mean that my opinion will be adopted or put into effect. 

That is the other great thing about this country.  It is safe for me to have that opinion and express it as a minority and the majority safeguard that right for me.  Things are put into effect here by consensus and voting. So when I hear people talk about voting their morals or their values with the implication that can only be true if you vote the same, I want them to know I vote my values too.  It's just our opinions about what we value are different.  I vote for freedom of choice.