I notice trends in our nations food consumption …. you may see trends in cars. I’ve really liked the move towards healthier food, but sadly, many are ignoring their health and growing more obese!
There’s a destructive trend in political reporting on social media too even though the platform was created to bring people together. This trend is making people fear turning on the news or setting up a Twitter account. We see some of this trend on local TV, but it’s out big time on social media, the national political realm, and certain work environments.
Some national news commentators are using Twitter, cable news programs or entertainment shows to go way beyond the normal bias and simply promote ‘hate’ of certain individuals or groups. These platforms aren’t just a playground for political bashing but a place where people feel free to malign others not only for being an R or Dem but people are slammed for being white, male, Christian/Jew, etc. These extreme voices and sometimes threats attack anyone who has an opinion different from them, be it office holder or infant of an opponent, no one is exempt from being attacked.
I’ve been witnessing a deep suspicion in both the Right and Left in the last few years, and some of it is because of the vitriol voiced by some citizens. It really got to me recently that the manager of a restaurant in D.C. didn’t want to serve the family of a member of the President’s staff. I read they closed the establishment and called someone to see what to do when her family came in, they simply could not ‘accept’ the staff member’s family as normal folks going out for dinner!
I haven’t heard of any Left or antifa type being rejected from a Chick-fil-e or other Right or Christian owned establishment …. I hope they’d be welcome. Someone might even tell them, ‘We’re glad you’re here.’ Or …. ‘God bless you.’ What a difference in approach by some businesses. What a different attitude towards others by some in the political extremes.
There are some conservatives who are abrasive, yes, and openly critical of liberals, the Left. Some of them are so strident it’s hard for me to listen to them but whenever I do I’ve never heard them say, as a policy, to ‘shun’ liberals, threaten Dem families or disturb them in public like some D’s have said to do to R’s. And if they ever would, they should be censored strongly or ejected, after examining the facts.
This extreme attitude is being copied by some in politics, and it’s worth noting because their influence on laws and attitudes filter down to us personally! We may ‘hate’ what the other side has to say about us but we should not treat them as beyond correction, beyond saving. We need reasons to stay in the battle for our country, we can’t be so offended by the un-civility of the ones who want to quiet us down.
America has always allowed strong opinions, but our society is changing too. Technology has allowed us to see the inner greed and confusion in some people, so that people tend not to see the good in D.C. When some people think D.C. is a ‘swamp’ then they don’t see how they can have any power to help make it right. We can do something about our nations ills. Remember, people can change, be won over but you have to demonstrate some tolerance and willingness to talk in order to make them accept your ideas.
Sen. Ben Sasse just wrote a book called, ‘Them: Why We Hate Each Other … And How To Heal’, and he has some awesome comments on what’s going on in our country. There’s voices being raised up who stand for strong and just values, we aren’t alone in our desires to want our country to be a safe place for all.
We can pray about how to be used in this arena, and make some changes in our own family life. Marc and I talked about politics often, it was one of our strongest bonds. We shouldn’t relinquish our sanity or security to those who are maligning good values –