Church and State, Marriage and Marriage

Politicians, like all humans, gravitate towards people that hold similar beliefs. It appears that religious values are much more polarizing than political values, and we have seen politicians slowly move towards those of similar religious values in Washington.

The Republican Party used to stand for small federal government with powerful state governments, and the Democratic Party believed in larger federal government influence. Within these parties, members debated various issues regarding religion and values. This allowed party members with similar beliefs to work together in government across party lines on issues of religious values, and within their party on issues based in political perspective.

Today it is nearly impossible for cross-party collaboration thanks to political alignment along religious lines. The only pro here is that politicians have gravitated towards those with similar beliefs, proof that they are indeed still human.

The brilliant marketing work of the Republican Party building their positioning upon religious values hasn’t helped. True, the Republican Party holds traditional values when it comes to abortion and gay marriage, but it is the Democratic Party that believes in funding programs that serve the less fortunate. The Republican Party may hold more steadfast to the values of the bible, but it appears the Democratic Party is more effective at doing God’s work among the poor.

Gay marriage is a particularly troublesome topic. Controversy is built into the very nature of marriage, hence the need for two ceremonies. Married couples receive benefits from the state, and the state must issue an official license of marriage under the guard of two witnesses. Yet the rituals of marriage are held in the halls of religious tradition, where a religious leader conducts a traditional marriage ceremony among friends and family. Like so many challenges in Washington today, the true struggle of gay marriage is one of separating church and state.

Let's separate: The state provides civil unions and the benefits associated with a civil union to all citizens, and the title of marriage is left to religion where it began.

Resume Tips

You may think your resume is about you. It most definitely is not.

Your resume is about the company with whom you are interviewing, and no one else. They are only interested to know (1) what you are capable of, (2) what you can do for them, and (3) if they wouldn't mind seeing you in the office every day.

Here are some resume tips that have served me well:

• Be sure everything you include on your resume has an implication to the company and the people with whom you’re interviewing.

• A real person is reading your resume. Inject some personality through design and content. Hobbies and passions help round out your image on paper.

• Design matters. Your resume can help you stand out from the masses. Always maintain professionalism, but adding some color and having a clean design may catch an HR director’s eye from the foot-tall stack on his desk.
  

• Keep it to a page. Their time is precious, and you aren't that important. White space, legible type, one page. The general rule is you add a second page after ten years of experience.
  

• Results-driven is in the DNA of every company, and I hope it’s in your DNA as well. Big or small, results are the number one measure of success. Your work may have led to an increase in recruitment for your club; your party had record attendance; you completed a brainstorming session and the ideas became integral to the campaign's success. Include some form of result for each bullet point when possible.

• Finally, your resume serves as an agenda for interviews. Design it around your most compelling work, and tailor the work to your audience. Highlight the things you are comfortable expanding on and talking about in-depth during an interview. It will help you control the discussion, and if you have a bad interviewer it helps you to lead the conversation when they don't.

Happy hunting.