My friends, you are all people of value and I care about you. I want you to be treated kindly and respectfully. I believe the general tone of bitterness in our country is starting to affect the way we friends talk to each other. We have stopped trying to understand each other and have started shouting at each other. We have started to believe that anyone who disagrees with us is evil or idiotic or not worthy of respectful discourse. This is a plea to my friends to be kind to each other.
Please, friends, understand that your opinion is far less universal than you think. You may surround yourself with like-minded people, and think that only morons disagree with you. However, even if you are part of the majority in the bluest or reddest of states, about 45% of your neighbors still disagree with you. Most are good people who believe they are doing the right thing for the world. They base their opinions on their passionately held views of right and wrong, just like you do. They are not evil. They just disagree with you. Making them into a joke or a demon does not do anything but create more bitterness or alienation.
Unkind, flippant, or angry words on the internet are read by your friends and neighbors and coworkers and fellow church members. They may not say anything, but it hurts. They are only silent because they don’t want to hurt you back.
Whatever your opinions, please understand that when your “group” gains a political victory, it may create true visceral pain for another group. Figurative or literal victory dances hurt people you care about. Your “side” may have won at the moment, but tables always eventually turn. Treat your friends as you wish to be treated when your side is defeated.
And for those who don’t agree with a particular turn of events, (whatever it is at the moment) please consider that this is not really the end of civilization. Americans have survived many changes and events in our long history. Life went on when
The media and internet are stoking the unkindness that I hear out there. Have you considered that people like Michael Moore and Glen Beck make their money by getting you angry and upset, rather than by helping you see the nuances of a given situation? Most of us are not extremists and most of us have more to agree on than disagree. Don’t let people profit by moving you to the intolerant and extreme ends of the political spectrum.
Have you considered that some of the things you hear on the air or on the internet might not be true? Check it out at www.snopes.com before you gleefully forward something to all your friends. For instance, if you hear that Ronald Reagan’s diary refers to George W. Bush as a “shiftless ne’er-do-well,” CHECK SNOPES FIRST before you hit the forward button! http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/kinsley.asp. If you hear that the AP once reported Barack Obama as “Kenyan born,” CHECK SNOPES FIRST before you post it on Facebook! http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/ap.asp
Please, my friends, let’s try to find a way to be in the world together that does not involve demonizing each other or filling the internet with incorrect information and unkind, dismissive, or disrespectful remarks.
