Today is April 5th, 2017.  I wouldn’t (quite) call this a major breakthrough in my understanding of myself, but mostly that is because I don’t see how this can lead to anything.  But, I do have an idea.

I had a dream while I was sleeping last night in which I wrote something bemoaning the state of politics in the US.  In the dream, I specifically used this statement: “There are no liberals or conservatives in US government.  There are only those who are greedy or despots, and there are plenty of both in both parties.”

That needs some explanation, especially in this era of hyper-partisan politics.  What I mean is that there are those who went to Washington for the ability to enrich themselves financially, or there are those who think their idea of an ideal government is so great that it is okay to use the power of government (force) to compel those who disagree to submit.  As of this writing, I don’t see anyone in Washington who doesn’t fit into one or the other group.  There hasn’t been anyone in Washington, to the best of my knowledge, who didn’t belong in one of those groups FOR OVER 30 YEARS.

I’m not just talking about elected officials, either.  Every non-elected bureaucrat who works in Washington is in one group or the other.  Every Presidential appointee is in one group or the other.

The longevity of this partisanship in Washington is infecting every facet of society.  Christians think it’s okay to use the 1st Amendment to compel atheists to attend SOME form of church.  The GLBT crowd think it’s alright to use the force of law to compel some form of “equal treatment” from those who do not want to associate with them.  Liberals think they are being “tolerant” when they write laws that compel submission from conservatives.  Conservatives think they are looking out for themselves and their families when they empower businesses and churches to exercise greater influence and control.

EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES needs to learn the meaning of TOLERANCE.  We can not build a more tolerant society by empowering an ever-growing, ever more powerful, government.

Oh, and just in case someone cares – I’m picking on the United States because it is my home, not because it is alone in experiencing this problem.  The whole world needs to wake up and realize the perils of hyper-partisanship.  And ALL Muslim mosques need to start speaking out AGAINST the use of force to compel change for non-Muslims.