The left or the right, Blue or Red. When a country is being pulled in one direction by the extreme left or in another direction by the extreme right it will eventually self-destruct. What we need now is sincere dialogue between one another. Not a dialogue filled with accusations, verbal assaults or blame, but one of listening for understanding.
Us against them hasn’t worked out for us as a country. It has only fueled the fires of hate and resentment. The division in our country has caused people who are normally rational thinkers to fall prey to the ideology of the extreme on both the left and the right.
We need to remind ourselves that we are one country and we can only be successful when we come to the understanding that success requires cooperation. Cooperation requires dialogue. We don’t have to be in agreement on everything, but we should always be open to discussion and seeking a win/win solution.
So many people are quick to say that one side wants to make our country a socialist society and another side is proclaiming that we can’t become an autocratic society, when I would wager that ninety percent of those who get so angry about socialism or an autocracy have no clue as to what each really is; they are reacting to something they have been told, lacking any concrete knowledge of either. Yet they allow it to motivate their fears and anger in thinking the “other side” is trying to destroy their freedom and take away their country.
The biggest threat to our freedoms in this country is the division that has been kindling for years and has had fuel cast upon it in the last four years igniting the extremist. Freedom should not be exclusive but should always be inclusive. What I am saying is one’s ability to enjoy freedom should not come at the expense of others.
When a people digress into distinct tribalism it allows the extreme factions of the tribe to dictate what is right and what is wrong. It allows the tribe to assume they have certain entitlements just because of who they are. This kind of process voids any opportunity for open dialogue with those in which they disagree and the lines in the sand are drawn and the mindset is, if you don’t agree with their ideology you are wrong.
We take pride in this country saying we are “One Nation Under God.” But so often we fail to immolate what that means; for God is Love and his son commanded us to love one another. When we can get to a place where we can look beyond all the things that divide us and start to work through and have an open dialogue on the things in which we agree, then down the road it will make it easier to reach compromise and peace. Those to the extreme have no desire to walk together and agree and it’s up to us who seek unity to understand the distinction between a future for all or the never-ending chaos we have been experiencing.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8
NLT