Cookie Compromises

Today it came to light that some politician from Moore, Oklahoma has been saying that gay people should be stoned to death, like they were in the Bible. I could write the whole post about how this man clearly didn't read the part later in the book when Jesus talks about how only people who haven't sinned should be casting stones, but I won't. Instead, I'm going to talk about how extreme views are ruining politics.

These stoning comments come just the day after Eric Cantor lost his primary race to a man named Brat. I have no idea why anyone would think someone with the last name of Brat would be a decent politician, but there you go. The Tea Party elected Brat because they felt Cantor compromised too much. Compromised. Do these people not realize that governments basically run off of the art of compromise? People have to make some concessions to the other side. They may not get everything they want, but if they don't, they will get NOTHING that they want. That is the nature of how this works.

Extreme views aren't going to persuade people to your side and getting more people on your side is what you need if you want to win an election. When you don't have a clear majority of people who believe like you do, then you have to find ways to get other people to join the cause. It isn't usually extreme perspectives that will do this.

Here is an example. Let's say you wanted to sell a dozen cookies. You really needed the money to do this in order to pay your rent. You know that most people like chocolate chip cookies, but you, personally, don't like them at all. Instead, you like spice cookies with lots of clove in them. You have a choice. You can either yield to what most people like and make the chocolate chip cookies . . . or you can do what YOU like and make the clove ones. If you decide to make the common chocolate chip cookies, you may feel like you have compromised, but you will also, more than likely, sell all of them. If you make the clove cookies, because that is what you feel you should do in your heart . . . well, you will probably end up with very little money and a lot of cookies to eat by yourself.

So as it stands, the guy from Moore will never get my vote. Any politician who is against gay people having the same rights and protections as everyone else will never get my vote. I don't care how great your standing is on every other topic, you have chosen to be against the people I love. In some cases, you want to kill the people I love. Your extremist view has shut down the conversation. You can prance around and say you don't need me, but if there are enough people who feel the way I do, you're going to lose. If you cannot compromise and decide to not actively work against citizens of your own country, you're going to lose.

I know I've said this before, but why can't people pick out politicians who seem moderate and reasonable? Why can't they find ones who are willing to work with all sides, look at all views, and accept that everyone who lives here is equal. That was kind of the point in founding this country. Why is it so hard to accept it?