Stupid purity tests

The world's goin' crazy and
Nobody gives a damn anymore
And they're breakin' off relationships and
Leavin' on sailin' ships for far and distant shores
The old world's fadin'
Now it seems so far away
Well, I'm not goin' anywhere
There's so much that we can share
I'm your brother

"Brother" by The Kinks

The last time I wrote about Mayor Pete, it was when he first announced. A lot has happened since then! 

I've always maintained that anyone who listens to Mayor Pete comes away impressed. It's impossible not to. We're seeing it play out every day. The most hilarious moment for me was when he was on "Morning Joe" and managed to get Mika and Joe to shut up for once. It was a thing of beauty! I have friends far and wide who are loving him and excited about him. Can we keep his momentum going? Yes, we can! 

Tomorrow we will be heading downtown to see him formally announce his run for the presidency. I am so excited and I think it's going to be quite a celebration! I hope to get lots of pics and video. 

The big news this week, what kept Mayor Pete on the media radar, was some of the stuff he said about VP (and former Indiana Governor) Mike Pence. Pete spoke about his own faith and contrasted the faith of Pence and his support of the "porn star president." I've had a hard time understanding how those same evangelical Christians who have told me I'm going to hell for drinking or smoking or swearing or any other litany of supposed sins could support a guy who obviously is—at least to some of us—the antithesis of those who do good in the name of their faith. So it's been refreshing to see Pete call them out on it and watch them squirm. 

Unfortunately, I am now seeing some people on the left who are dismissing Mayor Pete because of his faith. Seriously? The guy wants to help the least among us by good policies and you're going to automatically count him out simply because he believes in God? It drives me crazy when I see those polls that show that a big majority of people will never vote for an atheist, as if people can't have compassion, empathy, and intelligence if they don't believe in any sort of deity. And now these people are doing the same damn thing. Idiots. 

Let me tell you something. When Ken and I were in Florida and he got really sick and spent a month in the hospital, we had people lighting candles for us at the Grotto at Notre Dame. We had people praying for us. Do I think that any sort of deity intervened and made Ken get better? Nope. I chalk that up to modern medicine, doctors, nurses, support techs, and powerful chemotherapy drugs. But you know what? The fact that people cared enough about us to try to send us strength and positive energy meant the world to both of us. I don't think I've ever had a candle lit for me and it honestly made me feel pretty good. All of that positive energy helped us know that we had a lot of people pulling for us and willing to help us. 

We both vowed that we would never dismiss or discount anyone's beliefs even if we didn't share them. Because of their faith, these people cared about us and wanted us to be okay. That meant a lot. 

For me, it doesn't matter anymore what causes a person to arrive at a point of service and compassion. What matters is that they care about their fellow human beings and want to do what they can to help others. 

Mayor Pete is a person of faith. He believes in God, he goes to church, he married Chasten in a church. He is also a progressive Democrat who believes that government can do good for all people, with good policies. He absolutely understands the importance of the separation of church and state and he condemns those who cause harm to others in the name of their religion. 

If you won't vote for him because he's a person of faith, you need to pull your smug head out of your self-righteous ass and get a grip. If you have that kind of a "purity test," you're just as bad as all those pious jerks on the religious right. We have a "president" who is causing real harm to people, around the world and right here in our own country. The primary goal is to boot his ass out of the Oval and get someone in there who will treat people with fairness and compassion. 

Look at the policies! Is a candidate going to promote fair and reasonable policies? Just because someone believes in God doesn't mean that they are going to promote their religion. Eyes on the prize, people! 

Don't fuck this up, Democrats. There is way too much at stake. Including my liver and my mental health. The damage to both, as well as our country, is great. Can we really stand four more years of it? Stop 👏 this 👏 shit 👏 now 👏!