Voting booth is a great place to tune out cacophony of social media, focus on truth

We face serious political issues in these coming months. When it comes to personal liberty, the majority of people in Kansas are in favor. Once in the privacy of the voting booth, we have the privilege of expressing an opinion that we don’t have to defend or discuss if we don’t want to.

In the 1950s and ’60s, I didn’t know that my godparents were childless because of an ectopic pregnancy that prevented them from becoming genetic parents. I also never asked them why they didn’t adopt. (It wasn’t, I was informed correctly by my parents, my business). I knew that they were godparents to at least 25 other children.

It wasn’t until I was old enough to enjoy a glass of wine with my godmother, Doris, that she told me about the failed pregnancy. When she was told she could die if she didn’t have her tubes tied, she didn’t even have to think about it. She just did it.

If in vitro fertilization existed in the 1950s, my godparents might have pursued it.

But we lived in Oklahoma, pretty far from the frontiers of science, so instead of having their own children, she and Emmett generously enriched the lives of their friends and family.

No matter their life circumstances, these Republican Iowans relocated to Tulsa and took what life tossed their way. They never once felt that their political beliefs suppressed their ability to get along with anyone. They knew my parents were displaced East Coast Democrats who multiplied like bunnies, and cheerfully picked out a middle child to godparent.

As far back as I can remember, we discussed wars, some politics, idiots and otherwise running for office locally and far away, and any other topic raised over a cold beer. No candidates were behaving like the current GOP front-runner — at least, not in public. As your grandparents used to say, it was a simpler time. But was it?

Simple can be a complicated concept. To influence hundreds of thousands of people at once back in the day was nearly impossible. It would take a completely bizarre and unexpected event — the Bay of Pigs, moon landing, Kennedy assassination, King assassination, second Kennedy assassination — to get all of our attention in those days.

Today, if you have a social media account, you can instantaneously reach a gullible audience in the millions, especially if the message is fake, a lie, a re-issued lie or a hateful remark.

Sounds simple.

But which is actually more simple? Was it the old days, when things too horrible to imagine interrupted regular broadcasts on radio or television, and people stopped what they were doing to watch and listen? Or is it today, when too many horrors are happening simultaneously and we are so used to them that we can select which to “follow,” so we are kept updated, though not necessarily well informed?

If my godparents and parents met now as young newlyweds, it’s possible they would never cross paths. With the provocative divisive antics we get directly from political figures, it’s no wonder we don’t trust “facts.”

Despite terrible circumstances affecting this November’s election, we should remember that we have discretion in the voting booth. It’s a good place to shut out the noise and restore some hope.

Reach Ellen at murphysister04@gmail.com

This story was originally published March 20, 2024 at 5:00 AM.