Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
– Abraham Lincoln
I’m tired of it. I bet you are too. I’m tired of the screaming and name-calling that is happening in the public square. I’m tired of people afraid to speak truth because they know they’ll be flayed for it. Frankly, I’m tired of people within the GOP who haven’t figured out why the party has a problem attracting women voters. The cognitive dissonance or deliberate tone-deafness required to even go there is mind-boggling.
There is far too much grand-standing and far too little work. Too many people are left feeling unheard in the public square. Loud voices drown out those who would also speak. Shame and blame seem to be the order of the day. True leaders don’t need to resort to bullying and intimidation to get buy-in for their ideas. They don’t hide behind rhetorical bomb-throwing and threats toward those with a different opinion.
And let’s be clear: no true leader treats women as objects, playthings, second-class citizens or targets for their unwanted advances, open scorn and scathing derision.
Character matters!
Character and integrity are the fundamental foundations of a civil society.
Sheri Dew, CEO of Deseret Book, shared this:
“Anything that lacks integrity is unstable, as any engineer will tell you. A bridge or skyscraper that has structural integrity simply does what it was built to do. It isn’t necessarily perfect. It could have flaws. But, under stress, pressure and repeated use, it does what it was built to do. Even in extreme circumstances it will do what it was designed to do. If, on the other hand, a structure does not have structural integrity, it will at some point fail.”
As this election cycle has played out, I have been amazed at the brazen lack of integrity I have seen on full display in candidates running for public office. And, even more dismayed at the many, many voters who dismiss it, discount it, or worst of all, celebrate it. What has become of us as a nation that we have become so coarse in word and deed?
I have seen people commenting that “we are not electing the Pope.” It’s true, we are not electing a spiritual leader, but it is also true that elected officials are expected to have and adhere to basic moral standards.
As a woman, a wife and a mother, I am deeply offended by Donald Trump’s campaign. I am disgusted at his objectification of women, of his “locker room talk,” which, as the Deseret News pointed out, does a disservcice to locker rooms everywhere, at his assumption that he can grab women and do whatever he wants, his wanton talk about his own daughter as a sex object and his bragging about marital infidelity.
As the mother of immigrant children, adopted from countries including Guatemala and Ethiopia, I am outraged at his racist comments directed at immigrants.
As a deeply religious person, I am offended and dismayed at his willingness to undercut the First Amendment and deny freedom of religion to any religious group, let alone to one of the world’s major faiths.
Neither can I support the Democratic nominee. Her policies are not ones I can support and her history as a career politician, with all that entails, gives me significant pause.
So, this election cycle I will vote for…
To read more of my thoughts, access HER Magazine’s November Election Edition in the APP stores for FREE.
