Bellicose

(adj.) Inclined to start quarrels or wars.

There's been a lot of talk about politics today on a forum I visit. Unfortunately, it's been about how awful/incompetent/stupid _____________ (insert political party that is not your own) is.

I like debate. I believe in a free exchange of ideas. What I DON'T find useful, however, is politically picking a "team" and cheering for them regardless of their actions. I'm concerned that many of us pay less attention to issues, and more to who's at bat. I might be a Democrat/Socialist/Republican/Libertarian/Green, but I should have the discernment to stand for issues regardless of whether my party has seen fit to endorse them.

I'm concerned that our country's ideas of patriotism and international relations run along similar lines. It's somehow Team USA - but this isn't the Olympics.

Churches aren't exempt by any means. I know of more than one Christian denomination that believes they have figured out the only path of "salvation." Apparently, Jesus is a little more of an elitist than I thought.

So what's the answer? Are we too lazy/bored/proccupied to want to think outside of their group's perameters? Does it not occur to people that they can challenge the ideas of their organizations? Because chanting a team is not the same as bringing about change and growth. Wanting your team to always be right isn't going to allow any of us to learn very much.