We Must Bring Ourselves Together as a Family

In yesterday's post I told a little story of a very nice man who my wife and I met, spoke with briefly, and liked very much.  He turned our short conversation quickly to politics, and we were surprised at some of his strongly held beliefs.  He denied Russian Hacking, fully supported Trump's Trade War and Tax Reform. It was clear that he was a Republican.  A very nice one.

My wife and I are Democrats, who love our country and want us to be unified through dialogue, mutual give and take.  Our goal is to have justice and respect for every person.  Our approach to life is founded on a desire to live as the New Testament church did - sharing our resources to care for the poor, helpless, homeless, sick and infirm.  We believe there are many who are in need who do their best, but are not able to care for themselves.  It is not a duty, but a privilege to be able to help them, if only just a little.

Our conversation with our new friend of yesterday was too brief for us to attempt to find a middle ground - and it would have been a challenge to do so - but I had a strong desire to continue our dialogue and to understand him better - not to change his mind, but to know him better.

Last night I kept pondering the fact that this kind, friendly, very intelligent man had strongly held beliefs so contrary to our own.  I think at this time it is harder and harder to get to the bedrock truth on issues - an essential for making right choices.  With doubt cast on the veracity of the press, the media, and almost anything that is written or said, it is more and more a matter of each person 'believing what they want to believe'. 

An article I read today contains some poll results that are indicative of how deep and wide our divisions are: 

"…Take race and ethnicity. In 2016, nearly 75 percent of Clinton supporters said our growing diversity made America better; fewer than half of Trump supporters agreed.

Or immigration. More than 80 percent of Democrats view it positively; the 42 percent of Republicans who agree are slightly outnumbered by those who feel immigrants ― legal or otherwise ― burden America.

Or feminism and gender. Recent polls inspired by the Me Too movement show that a strong majority of Democrats consider sexual harassment a serious problem, but fewer than half of Republicans agree.
 
Or guns. Far more Republicans than Democrats consider gun ownership to be an essential element of freedom. Of all our societal debates, none breeds more anger, fear and paranoia."

Richard North Patterson (Huffington Post, 3/23/2018) "Exploiting America’s Tribal Warfare Is Donald Trump’s Survival Strategy" is the source for the poll data.

So there you are.  Strongly held beliefs that divide us as a country.  The Bible says that a "House divided against itself cannot stand." 

Please work for unity.  If you're a Republican, try to think of me - not as the enemy- but as a nice person, that likes you and wants all your concerns to be intelligently addressed and met. 

If you're a Democrat, try to think of the Republicans that the media tells you to "fight" with, as nice people that you can work with, talk with and come to a mutual understanding with.  

 Let's stop fighting and start working together for common solutions as a human family -  full of friendly dialogue, reasonable compromises and equal and fair treatment of everyone's needs and concerns.  We are all sisters and brothers.