I'm not a socialist, I'm an episcopalean

With all the rancor and division that has crept up since New Hampshire, on both sides of the ring; Republican and Democrat, I am hesitant to weigh in publicly on any issue for fear that some of that rancor will make its way into my home. I have no Idea how such hate and derision got spread out in the electorate, but its going full steam this week with the Scalia Conspiracy stuff, the Senate Obstructionism, the Republican Circular Firing squad and the Hillary Machine on overdrive. I think Bernie has been the cleanest in all of this, but I do see some pretty aggressive tones coming from his camp too, and the truth is I think the Revolution is necessary, but the venom I see pouring from the fangs of the Revolutionaries and the Establishment alike scares the hell out me. 

America is a land of good people, of warm souls and kindness to our fellow man. It should not be a place where we reduce ourselves to name calling and mean spirits and that I see is what is taking over in a very dark way and I don't like it. So I will begin by saying, you are my friend and my neighbor and though we disagree on some pretty big things, we do both hail one flag, believe in one God and live in One world together. So let's start from there. 

My Republican friends and those of the Tea Party ilk, have taken to calling me a socialist because I like Bernie. Even the Democrats have tried to demonize my vote with the evil Socialism tag. And in truth yes, I guess you could say some of the ideas I support could be attributed to the socialist fringe from 30 years ago, but today that tag is about as meaningless as calling someone a Whig- (I tried that title on too a while back). The ideas that were so radical 30 years ago, like the Right to Education and Healthcare, these were ideas championed by the crazy people then, but be careful who you call crazy because today, those ideas are progressive and modern and RIGHT- Just ask Germany, who once burned a whole race of people, today now welcomes students from around the world for a free college education. People change, ideas move, and what was once CRAAAAAAZY Nuts in the 1970s, is now the right thing to do. 

I'm not a socialist. I will not support the government taking your cows and giving its milk to someone else, I don't believe that lazy shiftless people deserve a handout while hard working taxpayers are robbed of their profits. And I don't think Government in its current form does things better than what the people can do for themselves. But then again, there are things that the Government needs to do. like a Military, National Security, Social Security and Public Health and these are also socialism if you really think about it and we've been living under them since FDR.

So he who hath never picked fruit from the socialism tree by never paying social security, never enjoying the benefit of our military and never getting a vaccination, let him cast the first stone at the nearest socialist. But for everyone else who has enjoyed some of the perks of being a modern society resident, suck it up, if you hate socialism, then get out of America because its already here- we just don't do it as well as 90% of the developed world which we claim to be so much better than. 

And stop calling me a socialist. I do think a strong public health system that cares for all regardless of income is a right, not a privilege. I do think kids deserve the best education they can get and it shouldn't be based on where they were born. And I do think Government is there to help its people as a whole, not just the select few who can buy it. But that doesn't make me a socialist. It makes me a good American who believes that my neighbor is my worry and my community is my concern. I believe if we all work together we get better results than if we work alone. And I believe we are only as strong as the weakest members of our society. That doesn't make me a socialist, it makes me a Christain and an American. 

If you don't like my vision for a new America then you have every right to vote me down. But you have no right to judge me or degrade my character. If you are so set against helping your neighbor, then I suggest you stop your hypocritical evangelism and stop saying you are a fan of Jesus, cause I know very  certainly which candidate he would be voting for this election and it's not just cause he was a Jew. There is a moral correctness about the Revolution and its goals and it would be my suggestion that while there are those who would tear it down in the name of the Bible, they are no better than the money changers or the hypocrites. So lighten up a bit on the rancor against the Berners. 

But a word to the Berners as well, we are on the side of the angels here and that position requires a sense of morality. You don't have to be a card-carrying Christian to see that some of the messages of Jesus were not about being a follower of Christ, but just being a good person. We can all agree that treating others with respect and turning the other cheek and caring for our neighbors as ourselves, these are just good practices not necessarily copyrighted by the Christians alone. So when we are standing up for the common good, we must remember to take a lesson from our leader and keep it clean. You lose all claim to the moral right when to achieve it you chose to sully your immortal soul, and worse yet, deride the very neighbor you are committing to fight for. Fight the good fight, but do it with honor, integrity, and compassion. That I think would answer the question, WWJD (what would Jesus do?) and WWBD (What would Bernie do?) equally. Because I think they are on the same side.