All right, listen up.
We all know that the country is divided. We all know that politics has become toxic and elements of both sides are at fault. We’ve seen the jaw-dropping Facebook debates battles that do nothing but entrench both sides in their respective viewpoints. It’s getting pretty nasty out there.
But it hasn’t always been this way.
In the past opposing sides were able to sit in the same room, at the same table, and have an earnest discussion about the issues of the day. In fact it was a small room in Philadelphia, PA where the first Continental Congress sat – elbow to elbow – to draft a declaration of rights and grievances, a document that would lay the foundation for the Declaration of Independence and the birth of a nation.
Now before you write me off, understand that I’m not going to sit here and tell you that our founding fathers were saints and we should emulate them entirely.
If we’re honest, those times were really only great for white men. If you were a woman, black, or Native American, you were oppressed, enslaved…or worse. However, despite all that was wrong in that time, a nation was born and I for one believe that there are lessons to be learned from the experience of those who have come before me.
One of those lessons being that any belief that rests on the oppression of others is antithetical to a system of government built on the principles of liberty and justice for all.
The point is that political discussion used to be different. On the floor of the Senate, members would go to tremendous lengths to be cordial in their disagreement. They respected the person first and addressed the argument second. Today it seems as though we struggle to separate the two. These days you are your political opinion.
This is dangerous.
If I am my political opinion than all other aspects of my person have been lost. If I can’t see past the words spoken by someone, through to the person herself than I have lost my ability to see.
We are so much more than our political opinions.
MW 