Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)

Over the last year or so, many registered Republicans have wondered how The Republican Party has ended up with so many so-called  (Republicans in name only) RINOs. While there are different theories, and while this is certainly not a new phenomenon, as evidenced by Thomas Jefferson’s own words, I have maintained a theory that the root of the problem is because of political parties:

For several years, many, if not most people have gone to the polls, and naively pulled levers, simply because they saw an R posted next to a candidate’s name; assuming, because there was an R, they would get a Conservative Republican; obviously, that has not always been the case, and is part and partial to the problems we are having today. In my opinion, The R and The D, has given people, in the past, a false (false-positive) sense that they will get what they voted for, and has allowed people to be laxed on doing the necessary research of the “individual” candidates, over the years.

Conversely, suppose all candidates were Independents: the voters then would have no choice but to thoroughly review the candidate’s record before voting for them, if the voter is truly concerned with knowing the candidate they are voting for. Also, if there were “individual” candidates in Congress that we were not happy with, it would certainly be easier to purge out individuals from Congress, then it is to purge an entire party. And with one Independent body, in Congress, the people would have a much better chance of Congress following The Enumerated Powers, in The Constitution, as enumerated by our founders. We’d also remove that extra level of party allegiance that often causes people in Congress to vote one way or the other, regardless of their conscience, or what their constituents demand. The people of The United States would be more likely to be united as well, with one political body, then with separate, and competing factions in our government.

After so many years of having political parties, I can understand why most people feel comfortable with their respective parties; which is why these thoughts will not likely become a reality… unless of course, a great majority of the nation insisted on it. Unfortunately, many people, and by virtue of human-nature, are often more concerned with a specific worldview being advanced, then they are with national unity; or with having one government, obeying one Constitution, according to the vision of our founding fathers.

“If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

- George Washington