I don’t usually comment on politics. But the name-calling, accusations, the total disregard for truth or facts… makes me sad. Of course, not every politician is doing this, but by in large, we have a lot of bullying going on. If children talked to each other like this in school, they would be in the principal’s office.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 should challenge us when it comes to the political climate today.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

The constant bullying, boastfulness, meanness towards those who don’t agree with you, name-calling and so on can’t be good for any of us. What does it teach us about relationships? How is this good role modeling for getting along with those who hold different views?

When you don’t agree, attack? Bully the person whose view you don’t like? Call him or her a name? Make fun of those who believe differently? And ridicule people into silence? This is not political discourse. This is mean. And it is the same behavior we don’t tolerate in our children! So why do we tolerate it in politics?

I think, in part, because it is entertaining. Negativity gets ratings and attention. We like a good fight and it seems the dirtier the better.

But if we all conducted our relationships according to the impulsive pull, we wouldn’t have relationships. Sadly, this election cycle has been a bad example of how to deal with differences. We’ve lost something fundamental—how to talk with each other respectfully and help people critical think about issues.

If you feel passionately about this election, I am glad. I am passionate about my vote. But let’s agree not to name call, put down, and basically be mean-spirited to those who have different views. What we see covered in media is embarrassing. It’s like watching a bunch of unsupervised mean kids who need a good parent to come in and say, “Knock it off! Now, be nice!” “Learn to get along without being mean.”