Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A House Divided

My husband and I have pretty similar political beliefs. At least that is what most would gather when talking with us. While there are subtle differences as a whole we pretty much see eye to eye. In fact, if I had to say who was more conservative I would have said him as would probably most others who know us would. (Although, as we've gotten a bit older he seems to have gotten a bit more liberal in my opinion and I think I've gotten a little bit more conservative).

Anyway, I was sent three political quizzes today and out of curiosity took them. I would describe myself as a moderate. I'm pretty much in the middle. I agree with a more conservative stance on a handful of issues (fiscal, etc) and a more liberal stance (social, etc.) on a handful of other issues. Each quiz I took pretty much confirmed this. I scored just left of center and more toward a libertarian side than an authoritarian one. No surprises there.

What was surprising was my husband. He scored considerably more liberal that I would have ever guessed. Looking over his shoulder on a couple of the questions (ones we obviously don't heavily discuss) I was shocked by his answers. Not shocked in an "Oh my gosh I can't believe you think that" way, but a "I had no idea you felt that way" way. It was interesting and surprising. Some of the differences can be attributed to a different interpretation of intentionally vague questions, but still the fact that we interpret them the way we did says something about how we view certain issues.

The thing is, my husband is the son of a Mennonite minister (think more contemporary Amish). His parents are ultra-conservative and he was raised as such. Because he married outside his religion, we have been pretty much shunned. When I met him he was a registered Whig (a fact my family got a lot of mileage out of in the early years before others' political beliefs surpassed his in the humor department), but usually voted Democrat. His parents thought I was this raging ultra liberal anti-Christ who was corrupting their son because yes, my attending parochial school for grades K-8 and attending church regularly since my birth screams "Anti-Christ." The truth of the matter was that I was probably a bit more conservative than he.

The point in telling you about his background is that it cracks me up to think of him being the product of his parents. How did this happen? They would probably be appalled and start prayer circles for his soul if they found out he voted Democrat more often than not. To me, it was news that between the two of us I am "more" conservative (if you can count being smack in the middle "more" of anything).

Just curious. Do you and your spouse hold the same political beliefs or are you a house divided?

3 comments:

Nancy said...

I've always called myself a "liberal conservative" or a "conservative liberal" and am a registered Independent.
My husband (who only last year registered to vote - I KNOW huh?!), is also an independent.
I think his views are more conservative than mine. I tend to look at all sides and not always believe what I read the first time. I'm more aware of what's happening in politics so alot of times I have to explain things to him!

Joanne said...

We are actually a family united. My husband, daughters and myself are all conservative. Politics is a safe conversation in our home ;)

Moxymama said...

Nancy, I am much like you. I fit somewhere in between. Joanne, it certainly makes things more peaceful when an entire family agrees. Ironically, when my husband and I talk about politics, which admittedly is rare, we pretty much agree on everything which makes his "flaming liberalism" a little funny to me.