Just Some Election Day Thoughts...

Owl- Mixed Media

For the last year, I've listened to people on both sides of this "conversation" address their opposition with an intensity and hatred that I have not ever witnessed in my lifetime.

 I've watched family and friends that I care about, respond to each other with everything from politely, condescending name calling, all the way to calling each others candidate and their followers, hateful things that would make even a seasoned criminal blush. I even heard someone call for one candidate's followers to be tagged and tracked like the animals they are and it made me sick to my stomach that our culture gone so far down the toilet that all this is deemed mature, reasonable and tolerable behavior.

Election Day is an important day on many levels. We all have our own, passionate ideas of what's important to this country and that's okay. We are never all going to agree with each other, but disagreeing with someone's point of view is not license to abuse, bully or passive-aggressively initiate ganging up against each other. Just vote your conscience, then do something positive to help our nation heal. Choose to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Mixed Media






2 comments:

  1. This is beautifully stated. I have felt this way for the past year as well. I can remember lively, heated conversations in my home as a child. We had guests with VERY strong and VERY varied opinions, and the conversations were heated. Yet, their was a respect for each person and his or her opinions.

    Sitting in your parents' home for many years, I enjoyed the same lively conversation. Again, disagreement. And, again, respect for the opinions of others, despite the fact that we may have disagreed strongly.

    We seem to have lost the desire for graciousness, and wallow in mean-spiritedness and coarseness. I think that this lowers the intellectual quality of the discussions, as well as the virtues of personal dignity and respect.

    We are a country of individuals, with different opinions, beliefs, hopes, and expectations. One thing that we all must share, however, is a sense of virtue and its value. I fear that we have lost something crucial to our survival.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Helen. I've always respected your opinion, so I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts here on the blog. I feel like the level of disrespect and aggression towards each other has escalated. I just want to counter the current trend with a new conversation. One step at a time, right?

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