HATE is not a family value, a spiritual value, or an American value

The only thing that can truly destroy our nation, and the world, is hate. And I have never witnessed the level of venomous, violent, spewing of hate as I have in this election, and overwhelmingly from the radically right segments of the political spectrum. (NOTE: I am NOT referring to ALL conservatives or ALL Republicans.) All claims to "Christian values" notwithstanding, the rants (from the likes of Trump, Ted Nugent, and other so-called celebrities and their fans), with their wildly irrational fury and bitter hatred, laced with thinly veiled racism, express nothing that is, to my mind, "Christian."

Deep, personal spirituality, a facet of life that could be a comfort and mainstay of each person's life, has been lost in many institutions of religion. Instead, religion is used by the radical segments of each faith to create more strife, more violence, more hatred--one of the many good reasons it doesn't belong in politics! This country is not a theocracy; it was not intended to BE one. That is why we have a Constitution. Interesting, isn't it, that many of those who grow apoplectic at the idea of gun control or not being allowed to say what they think, do not seem offended by those who run on platforms that demonstrate contempt for religions other than their own.

As we approach the observance of Veteran's Day, perhaps it would be well to take some time to reflect. These men and women who have fought (and died, and been wounded, and lost body parts), did so for freedom, AND they took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States--not just the parts we like or dislike. Surely we could manage to disagree without personal insults, irrational ranting, and surely we could follow our own paths without hating someone else's. Just as surely, could we not exercise our own freedoms without trampling over those of others?

When opponents of our president threaten to, once again, blockade, filibuster, and frustrate every attempt at progress, whom do you think it really harms? Not President Obama, not the Tea Party-ers in Congress, not the very wealthy and elite...it just harms the majority of the American people...millions and millions of people whose needs as citizens and human beings should be our government leaders' ONLY priority.