TRUTH, SOLIDARITY, AND LOVE:  In recent weeks elected leaders in the United States and Canada have been accused of lying to us, of turning away from electoral promises, of belittling others, and of seeking to divide us, to set us against one another and those in other countries.   It would seem that their purpose is to make things better for a few people, at the expense of many.

If Mephistopheles is the scatterer and the lover of lies, then whose candidates are we electing?  These individuals sometimes seem to bear no resemblance to the parties we sought to support.

It is important to remember that God gave the world to all of us, to all humanity.  But no human being has ever chosen the location or the circumstances of his or her birth; their parents or their homeland.  It is up to us to find ways to live with each other justly, to treat one another fairly – and with mercy, when appropriate.

Electing better leaders in a democracy is not difficult. It requires a bit of effort, but it is effort that each of us should be making anyway:  we should all be consulting and supporting responsible news sources, keeping an eye on candidates who are presented to us at elections, and on those we have elected to office.  This is neither difficult nor time consuming; with the internet it can be done in minutes each day.  Consider subscribing to one or two or three news sources, and using key words to set up searches, as well as watching items of general interest.   Use comment sections to speak up when appropriate, to point out the relationship between events and responsible social thought.

Perhaps the most helpful way to help, if you have time and are inclined toward one or another of the parties, is to become involved with the party in ways that will give you a voice in establishing platforms and selecting candidates – if we continue to simply accept the candidates and the platforms that are presented to us, without speaking up beforehand, we will have a much more difficult time effecting change.