Garden Variety Neurosis

This is from my Facebook page, but the overall ideas still apply:

As some of you may have noticed, I have some very strong opinions on some things that are happening in our country right now. There are decisions being made that are going to greatly impact all of us, no matter how Congress ultimately decides to proceed. We are dealing with things right now that should have been dealt with a long time ago, and there are strong opinions on both sides of these debates regarding what needs to be done.

I often post things that I know will ignite discussion, because I think we need to have a dialogue about these things and really examine why we think what we think, and if we are thinking for ourselves or letting someone else do our thinking for us.

I have one friend in particular that often debates with me about these subjects. We are each coming at things from very different places. I am decidedly more liberal than I was even one or two years ago, and abandoned portions of my conservative upbringing a long time ago. My friend is more conservative...much more...than I am, and approaches world issues from that perspective.

If you have ever read the "conversations" we have about these issues, each of us is passionate about our opinions of the matter at hand, and each of us presents what we believe are valid reasons for believing as we do. Our convictions are strong, and neither of us wavers much as our conversations go on.

These conversations can become heated, more often than not because it is so hard to judge the intention of someone's words simply by reading them. Also, as the conversations develop and it's clear that neither of us is budging, I think it's easy to pull out all the stops and give the most heavy hitting arguments for our positions, perhaps hoping to punch a gaping hole in the other's rationale.

Sometimes, even after the conversations have wrapped, I feel frustrated just reading the threads!

As I read them, though, I find something else. When each of us had made our case, and had time to simmer down and really attempt to understand the other's point of view, the one thing that becomes clear is that we're both working on reaching the same goal. While we may not agree at all about the methodology, the outcome each of us hopes for is to make the world a better place to be in by showing people love, unconditionally. We are both mothers who love our children and want to make the world the best place it can possibly be for them. We each understand that there is a world of people who are hurting and in need, and while we can't seem to agree on precisely how to handle that, we both understand that something has to be done. People cannot be left to suffer.

I also notice that we don't resort to tactics often used by the political pundits on several media outlets, which is to call names, condescend to those on the other side of the debate, and mock those whose ideas oppose our own. Our conversations remain respectful, with a sincere desire to understand the opposing view, even if we don't agree with it.

(Before anyone says it, yes, I do enjoy watching those pundits. I just think those tactics are best left for television or radio, as a form of entertainment of sorts.)

This makes me wonder what would happen if we, collectively, could put aside our political differences, religious differences, personal differences, and so forth, how much more could we accomplish to alleviate the suffering in the world around us? Whether we are looking at the immediate world around us, in our own home towns, or looking across the ocean to places in Africa, Indonesia, etc...people are hurting. People are dying when they could survive if they could get the help they needed. Women and children are being targeted for assault and exploitation to a degree we've never seen before. If we could put aside all the crap that divides us, what could we accomplish?

Perhaps that's idealistic. Maybe not, though. We don't have to change the whole world, just our own neighborhoods. We can manage that.

Thanks, Maurine, for helping me to see that the answers don't lie in an "us and them" mentality, but in the understanding that we're all in this together. We have to coexist, no matter what our differences are, so we may as well find a way to do it peacefully and productively. Our conversations get fiery and feisty, but have given me a lot of insight. Thanks!