Sarcastic Rant: Concerning Political Campaign Discourse

I listen to various political campaigns and representatives go back and forth and think to myself that it's a wonder that any of them were able to pass a high school English class... I'm talking about limited comprehension, a lack of recognition and/or acknowledgment of available context clues, selective and faulty interpretations of text, unexplained leaps in logic (plenty of post hoc), total disregard for tone, and an overuse of abstraction and cliché. 

Really, we should all be offended (or at least those of us with a 10th grade education) by the insult to our intelligence and sagacity... 

As Novembers nears and the ridiculousness gets even more ridiculous, please do not be distracted by misleading sound bites and misspoken and out of context interpretations of the truth. And if listening to the political discourse leaves you feeling like your IQ is a few points shy of average, just know that it's not you; it's your recognition of the dumbing down of the conversation...

Do not wait for Obama or Romney or any other representative to educate you because that education is not coming and do not believe the multimillion dollar-fueled, half-truth/lie-driven super pac ads that you see on TV because the well leave you uninformed.And most assuredly, do not throw any of that nonsense at me during intelligent debate or discussion unless we are agreeing from the start that nonsense is acceptable... at which point I will insert unicorns and Never Never Land into the discussion.

No Righteousness in Sincerity- a Lesson from Senator Akin’s Apology

"Fact is, rape could lead to pregnancy; the truth is rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness."

Senator Akin, I acknowledge your apology. I understand how easy it is to misspeak and put your foot in your mouth. I also believe that your heart is sincere, but please understand this- there is no righteousness in sincerity.

Sincerity in and of itself is not a virtue. Sincerity unbridled can quickly lead an earnest heart down a most dangerous path. As the proverb says, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," and I do believe that the sincere heart is a frequent traveler on that very path.

It's a funny little thing, that mechanism in our minds that we use to evaluate and justify what is in our hearts (and don't tell me that the heart and mind work independent of each other). Do not be fooled, there is no built in purification system in our hearts, so one's statement about what is in his or her heart is not enough to convince me that the contents of said heart are pure and justified.

Remember this, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and via spoken word we are provided the blueprints to the hearts of man. Unfortunately, we often refuse to accept that blueprint (misguided sincerity maybe?).  A person will hand us the blueprints to a shanty and we will say "it's a castle!"  No, my dear, it is just a shanty. Maybe that shanty has castle potential, but it would behoove us all to recognize when the architectural beauty and soundness of structure of the thing is just not there. Do not place your valuable possessions inside a shanty, it is simply absurd; and do not be fooled by the delusional grandeur of the shanty with the flying buttresses because it is still a shanty…

-Now, back to my originalthought:  there is no righteousness in sincerity. Sincerity needs to be yoked with virtue and this yoking is not an automatic function of the heart and/or mind. Never attempt to justify your heart by the measure of your own sincerity.

You'll only find yourself on the road to hell.