When I first embarked on my mission to improve Newborn Screening in Pennsylvania, I never anticipated how much it would change me.

I never could have anticipated that this experience would lead me to evaluate and question not only partisanship, but also how the Church should live in this world, how we should treat those who disagree with us, etc. That’s for a separate post.

Between the partisanship in the Pennsylvania state legislature and what I’ve seen displayed on social media as I’ve shared thought-provoking articles with which some don’t agree, I am quite honestly done with it all.

The refusal to move bipartisan legislation forward because the other party introduced it is despicable.

The inability to civilly discuss an issue with someone whose perspective is different from yours, the refusal to decide together how to approach problems is absurd and childish.

The decision to no longer be friends with someone because their perspective is different from yours is ridiculous and irresponsible.

The lack of humility I’ve observed, the unwillingness to consider that perhaps your way isn’t the best way, has frustrated me time and time again this year. This week, even.

The things that have been said about me and others as we struggled to make a decision were unkind, assumed the worst, and unnecessary.

We have a choice to make on November 4th: do we continue on this path of unnecessary fighting and become even more divided, or do we take a step back, truly consider the ramifications of living that way, and make a change?

Do (or can) we make the decision to work through those issues that divide us and become the United States again? To not discount what the other party has to say? Can we choose kindness over differences?

Can we choose to respect the office of the President no matter who wins and not ruin relationships over our voting choices?

The choice we make on how to move forward after the election is equally important to the choice we make on the ballot.

We are more than our political affiliation. Both sides have great ideas and, ultimately, most of our goals are the same. We simply have different ways to reach those goals.

I will leave you with these questions:

Why do we have to let labels get in the way of progress, of compromise? Do you do this? Are you ruining relationships because you are discounting someone’s perspective?

Why do we tend to immediately shut someone down because they say something that doesn’t align with our worldview?

What if they’re right?

Your pride may be costing you more than you realize.