Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Pursued by Truth

Home
Catholic
5 Solutions for Election Season Despair, Anger, and Worry

5 Solutions for Election Season Despair, Anger, and Worry

Last updated on: March 2, 2016 at 12:08 pm by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble

5 Solutions for Election Season Despair, Anger, and Worry 2016-03-02T12:08:19-04:00 Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Andrew E Weber, (stocksnap.io)

I majored in Political Science in college because I wanted to make a positive change in the world. As an atheist, I saw civic duty as my ultimate responsibility and politics as the highest realm of reality.

But even as an atheist, I was conflicted when I went to the voting booth. I was pro-life, based on the natural law argument against abortion. But I was also appalled when we went to war with Iraq under the flimsiest of pretenses. So, I ping ponged between parties as a young voter and eventually registered as an Independent when I became Catholic. Since the day I cast my first vote in high school, my heart has been conflicted.

Each election season that comes around, I feel unenthused at best. I still go out to vote. I consider voting to be the duty of anyone who is lucky enough to live in a country that recognizes the right. But I never walk away from the voting booth feeling excited or happy about my vote. This is especially the case now that I am a Catholic living in a country where both major parties fail to adequately represent the views of my faith.

Check out my list over at Aleteia: 5 Ways to Stay Sane During Election Season

If you have any of your own suggestions, please let me know. A reader had a good suggestion to do activities in nature.

And one other thing I have tried the past couple days to relieve election-related stress is to look at pictures of pugs.

pug_fb

How could this not relieve your anxiety? (credit: unsplash.com)

See, it works!

I also highly recommend perusing Doug the Pug’s Facebook page.

Previous Post

February 27, 2016

What Was Jesus Doing in the Basement?

Next Post

March 4, 2016 Four Catholic Nuns (Missionaries of Charity) Martyred in Yemen

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Art Atheism Book Reviews Christmas Church Issues Discernment Easter Ecumenism Entertainment Environment Eucharist Evangelization Family Freebies Guest Post Holy Spirit Inspire Me Interreligious Dialogue Jesus Lectio Divina Lent Life Issues Liturgical Season Mary Media MISC Movie Reviews Pauline Pope Francis Prayer Prayer Intention Religious Life Saints Sanctity Scripture Social Justice Social Teaching St. Paul Theology of the Body Uncategorized US News Vocations World News Writing Year of Mercy

Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book follows Psalms in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ecclesiastes Job Proverbs Song of Solomon