The Christian Vanguard

St. Francis de Sales, in his Introduction to the Devout Life has some advice on how to remedy evil friendships. It is this, "Cut it short, break it off—do not play with it, or pretend to untie the knot; cut it through, tear it asunder." So, I decided to give it a try. I reached out to a past romance, a brief one, and one I was still acquainted with, but with whom things were still tense. So I apologized to her, for being cruel and unfeeling towards her, and told her that there will be no more communication. She thanked me for the apology, and that was that.  It was difficult, but it has been liberating. Now, to do this with my ex, though I still hold on to her gifts and to her letters, may prove to be more difficult. Baby steps. God help me. 

Say you are able to vote in a primary for both parties. You have your party, which gives you the choice between some really decent candidates, and the opposing party, which has some really evil people. The winners will face off in the general election. Will you also vote in the primary that is not your party? My hunch is yes, you will, and you will choose the opponent which is easiest to defeat, to better increase the chances of victory, or, in another light, to reduce the chances of you losing. No matter who your guy is, it seems to make sense that you want the easiest opponent.  Now, take a similar scenario except that you can no longer vote within your own party. Would you still vote for the person is who most likely to be an easier opponent? It seems so. If not, what is the difference? There are those who will say that "Voting for the lesser of evils is still voting for evil." This is to refuse to understand strategy. This idiotic slogan claims that the reason you fo...