America's Divorce

Watch any news at all and you can't help but see and hear the drum beats of the next Presidential race begin to ramp up.  As we get closer we see some of the politeness pushed aside for more "aggressive" campaigning.  I was thinking about how much I don't look forward to the next 12 months when it occurred to me...I've been caught in the middle of a divorce.  Again.

You see, once upon a time "Mom" (the Democrats) and "Dad" (the Republicans) worked together to do what was best to protect and nurture their "Children" (the country).  Oh sure they might not have agreed with every decision the other made but  in the end they had the children's best interest at heart.  Over time, they began to see less and less eye to eye.  They co-existed for some time and did their best to try to make it work but the seeds of discontent were beginning to take root.  Eventually, they resorted to putting on the appearance of a united front simply for the sake of the children but behind closed doors they were fighting more and more.  Soon the doors couldn't contain the bickering and yelling and the children who had only seen glimpses and moments of the unhappy relationship were now exposed to the full wrath of their hatred.  Now, we have a family in the midst of a full blown divorce.  Mom and Dad are so consumed by their hatred of each other that the welfare of the children is nothing more then a verbal notion devoid of any real meaning.  A sort of easing of the conscious in order to justify the actions they each take to spite the other.

So where does that leave the children?  Many have been cohersed into picking Mom over Dad or Dad over Mom.  Some have escaped to their bedrooms and turned up the stereo in order to drown out the squabbles that go on around them.  Others have tried to turn to an Aunt or Uncle but find that they usually aren't up to the challenge of dealing with the issues at hand.  Many have tried their best to love both Mom and Dad but realize that they're being torn apart by the fighting.  We can't pick sides when both sides have drifted so far apart.

So what hope is there?  We can pray that maybe Mom and Dad find the common ground that once guided their vision of raising up a strong family.  Maybe if the children created a united front that said "We won't tolerate our home being the place of hatred and our liberties being used as chips in your game of He said/She said".  Of course I doubt that the parents are interested in acquiesing to the perceived powerlessness of the children.  I'm afraid that in lew of a reconciliation, the children will have to grow up quick.  Unlike real life children we have the ability to divorce our parents. (legal anomalies not with standing)  We can tell our "parents" that we no longer have faith in their ability to lead this family.  We don't have to continue to be stuck in the middle.  We can search for new sources of leadership who aren't tied into our parents family tree of bitterness and hate.  We can even grow into those roles ourselves.  Even if we would have been more comfortable at the foot of Mom and Dad.