November 1, 2012Dear Sir,I believe in God — an all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and loving all God, but I do not believe that I have the right to impose my philosophical belief on anyone else. I believe that it is the right, and responsibility, of every single person to determine his or her belief, through soul-searching and exposure to varying and, hopefully, enlightened points of view. As Socrates so succinctly stated: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” My belief system tells me that we are all one, and that oneness includes all life and the earth on which that life resides. It is none of my business what you eat, when you eat it, or where you eat it. Indeed, it is also none of anyone else’s business what I choose to eat or when or where I eat it. It is my choice ... my decision.Politics divides — there is no truer statement. But never has it seemed so hateful. I was always taught that the ability to express an opinion that may be different from another person’s opinion is part of what makes a democracy great. Sometimes we need to agree to disagree with those with whom we have honest differences. However, we must also find some common ground that we can agree on. We all know that this is a whole lot easier said than done. Were political discussions always this acrimonious? Was the discourse between family, friends and party members with differing political views always so bitter, angry and filled with such venom? Certainly, there has been plenty of political disagreement since political parties began, but it seems like the intensity of the arguments, the nastiness of the tone and the angry, personalised nature of the political debate has escalated out of control. It seems that, for some reason, we have now graduated from garden-variety nastiness to downright toxic.Unfortunately, too many of us have fallen victim to the “us against them” mentality, which is an inevitable product of a two party system. Hard-core Progressive Labour Party (PLP) voters will vote PLP. Hard-core One Bermuda Alliance (also wrongly assumed and deemed United Bermuda Party) supporters will vote for the OBA. At the end of the day, the only people who will truly make a difference in Bermuda’s elections are the independents — those persons who vote for who they feel is best for the job, even though they mostly keep their votes in either the PLP or OBA columns. We are witnessing the steady decline of Bermuda financially, economically, educationally and socially. We have so many real problems, and, in the face of these problems, it seems that all the current leadership has done and continues to do, is pursue polarising issues, such as race. Rome is burning. Unless we Bermudians wake up and realise that the adage of “united we stand, divided we fall” is closer than any one of us could have ever imagined, we are doomed. It’s just that simple. My vision, as idealistic as it may be, is to see Bermuda come to a state of political unity — a place where we all just work together. A place where our focus is not politics, but our focus is on what we can do, collectively, to bring Bermuda back to being the bright, shining jewel in the Atlantic that it once was.LEAH KIMBERLY SCOTTCandidate for the OBASandys