For centuries, convention among sailors was not to sail too far from sight of land lest their ships fall over the edge of the earth. After a while, due to individuals challenging the conventional belief, it became accepted that the earth was round. Sadly, we’ve returned to a flat mindset in our politics. Our politicians are afraid to move too far from their ideological base, innate ideas and party platform, for fear of national backlash and an election loss.

We would rather anchor ourselves in what we already know then challenge our beliefs in the winds of change.

But every now and again, there are individuals willing to sail away from what they know and venture into new waters. These days, such individuals are rare. 

Enter Wade Kach, a delegate from Maryland, maybe one of the few explorers of our age. Kach knew the world was flat. He is a Republican. He knew same-sex marriage was wrong, yet he had the courage to discuss the issue with a same-sex couple.

Kach was willing to discuss the issue with a same-sex couple, and in doing so he learned something. He learned he was wrong; whether or not you agree, he did an uncommon thing. Straying away from the stable lands of political ideologies is uncommon but necessary. In changing his belief and experiencing controversies Kach brought us a step closer to a round world where discover is still possible.

Kach’s change of heart came as Maryland legislature was deciding a measure concerning same-sex marriage, an issue on which both Democrats and Republicans fear to sail beyond party lines. A crew of special committee members had to be formed hastily in order to bring the issue to the floor. Kach was a member of that committee, and as a member he found himself sitting next to individuals of another sexual orientation.

Kach, although initially disagreeing, ended up supporting the bill. After straying from the sight of party lines he found a new land. In his words, this land was found from “the love between the same-sex couples at the committee meeting.”

The power of exposure to alternate viewpoints and lifestyles is indeed powerful.

That kind of change is what politics is supposed to be. Politicians are supposed to be open to the possibility that they are wrong. Instead of anchoring in political ideologies they are supposed to sail for new discoveries.

We should all sail for new discoveries. Perhaps we will sail off the ends of the earth, but just as likely we will discover new lands and discover new alternatives.