Friday, November 9, 2012

Right Wing or Left Wing...


Left wing or right wing, all I know is a bird can’t fly without both. So, here’s my question. What makes everyone think this country can get by without both parties? This is perhaps what has saddened me most about this most recent election.

I had hoped once the election was over, some of the nastiness I saw coming from “Christian” people on both sides of the center would stop. It didn’t. I am seeing so much negativism and ugliness, that it saddens me. It was difficult enough hearing all the slander and bad-mouthing that was happening through the campaigns, but, to see it once things are over, wow. Just, wow.

Nobody seems to have any respect for the fact that this country was founded on freedom. That freedom includes the right to have a different opinion. What happened to respecting other people? Why did we suddenly become a nation of “My way or the highway?”

I do not believe there is any way we can survive the things that have been going on in this country without cooperation. Just because someone’s opinion is different, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is wrong! Not every difference of opinion means that it’s the wrong answer; it could just be a different way of looking at the same problem.

Do I agree with everything the party I voted for believes in? No. Do I agree with everything the other party believes in? No, again. Do I think both parties have good ideas? Yes. Do I think they could work together and come together with good ideas? Yes. I firmly do believe that. Do I think those elected people will grow up and try to overcome their differences? Probably not. Why? The general public isn’t doing it. Why should they?

It feels that some people thrive on the divisiveness. It seems that some enjoy saying, “Nyah, nyah, I’m better than you because I am from THIS group.” Really? So, politics has suddenly become the high school popularity contest? “Wear the right clothes and have the same ideas and you can join our group, which is better than THAT group.”

True respect is the one thing this nation needs more than anything else. It saddens me to say that I don’t see it enough. Too many people don’t respect the laws that govern this land. Too many children don’t respect their parents. Too many people don’t respect their elders. Why would they respect each other? Why would they respect others’ opinions? When we have states that think the federal government has the wrong answer and make up their own, opposite laws, we can’t expect those that govern the entire country to agree on anything. Can we?

My prayer is that, at some point, people remember the words of Aretha Franklin and take them to heart. Respect means a lot to me. There have been many times in my life that, though I have had to grit my teeth and bite my tongue, I still showed respect. Why? Because, eventually, everyone learns, God is ultimately the one in charge and the only one whose opinion truly matters.