Pursued by Truth
I majored in Political Science in college because I wanted to make a positive change in the world. As an atheist, I saw civic duty as my ultimate responsibility and politics as the highest realm of reality.
But even as an atheist, I was conflicted when I went to the voting booth. I was pro-life, based on the natural law argument against abortion. But I was also appalled when we went to war with Iraq under the flimsiest of pretenses. So, I ping ponged between parties as a young voter and eventually registered as an Independent when I became Catholic. Since the day I cast my first vote in high school, my heart has been conflicted.
Each election season that comes around, I feel unenthused at best. I still go out to vote. I consider voting to be the duty of anyone who is lucky enough to live in a country that recognizes the right. But I never walk away from the voting booth feeling excited or happy about my vote. This is especially the case now that I am a Catholic living in a country where both major parties fail to adequately represent the views of my faith.
Check out my list over at Aleteia: 5 Ways to Stay Sane During Election Season
If you have any of your own suggestions, please let me know. A reader had a good suggestion to do activities in nature.
And one other thing I have tried the past couple days to relieve election-related stress is to look at pictures of pugs.
See, it works!
I also highly recommend perusing Doug the Pug’s Facebook page.
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