No matter the potential controversy or intensity, the Intramuralist will not shy away, always advocating for respectful dialogue. No matter the deeply passionate, supposed “sides” — the chickens, eggs, the “tastes great’s” and “less filling’s” — I believe that intentional respect for one another is the first, best step forward.
The challenge is that we each receive ample encouragement to move forward alone — or only with the likeminded. We are encouraged to cut our losses and dismiss the value of “together,” falsely believing that one “side” is all right and the other is all wrong. Such grieves me, as it seems not synonymous with wisdom. Thankfully, however, I am not alone in said assessment.
A week ago I gathered 6 friends in an online discussion. These articulate 6 are all over the political, social, demographic map. At first glance, they look as if they have little in common. If they shared their political affiliations, they would appear to have even less. But what they do share is a commitment to take that first, best step forward. They do not believe in severing relationships. They believe in a respectful dialogue of current events.
Meet Brent, Janie, Mike, Roni, Ronnie, and Ruth. They are good people. While a few in the group knew another previously, they had never all met before.
Over this next week, I’d like to share portions of our diverse, roundtable discussion, starting with their introduction today…
RONI: I’m in! Thank you for the opportunity to connect with others.
MIKE: I’m in. Looking forward to learning from everyone.
RONNIE: I’m in… and since this will be like family, call me “Ronnie.”
JANIE: I am in and much prefer if family/friends call me Janie or JB. If you are “yelling” at me — which is fine — go with “Jane.” Disclosure… a U.S. Govt. educator since the founding of the country!
[AR: No yelling here, Janie. 🙂 ]
BRENT: I’m also in!
RUTH: I’m the late one to the table (no comments about “as usual,” AR! … can I call you “Annie”?? 🙂 ), but I’m in! Hi, new friends! Honored to make your acquaintances!
AR: Thanks for chiming in, all. So tell me: how would you describe this entire election/campaign season?
RONNIE: Short and to the point: insane and frightening.
MIKE: It was the craziest election of my lifetime. The dynamic of a celebrity candidate was bizarre. I did not appreciate how it became more about what was wrong with the other person rather than what they would do. Campaigns have been divisive in the past, but the vitriol has lingered so much longer this time around. A real turnoff.
BRENT: There are two main issues for me. First (coming from a 31 yr. old), there seems to be a large and growing chunk of people, a lot of them young, who are voting based mostly on “hearsay,” rather than research. Along with this, as the mainstream media has been consolidated into fewer hands over the years, the focus seems to have shifted from reporting the news as a watchdog to becoming a powerful propaganda machine.
JANIE: Sorry, but stuck with the educator hat at the moment… it used to be the party wasn’t nearly as important as the person.
RONI: Well, go to one retirement party and whoa, you miss the storm of thought. Loved reading
everyone’s thoughts!
This election was frightening, biased and had extraordinary efficiency gaps.
[“thumbs up” from JANIE]
JANIE: Were we all watching the same exact “show,” hearing the same words? How was there such joy and fear?
RONI: I agree, Janie; it is amazing how the views of this election are so different. The fears and joys are very real.
RUTH: Wow… Where to jump in? I’m “listening” and you all are fascinating! (I can tell already I’m going to learn a lot here.) My take on this election cycle was “shocking, but not surprising.” So much shock and drama: the shock of all the replayed disturbing words, the shock of dots connecting concerning influences, the shock of the seemingly least likely candidate winning the primary and then overtaking the shoe-in. Yet with what is glamorized and dramatized in our pop culture and “news” media, none of this should really come as a surprise. What did surprise me most was that some people really seemed to think one of the two candidates was really going to be so great over the other.
Much to chew on more than usual with this vote… More reason to dig down and consider what am I really voting for here. So it sobered me and drew me to research and pray much, much more than usual over an election.
_____
And there we start, friends… part two is on Tuesday… beginning with the value of critical thinking… and how it appeared absent in this past election cycle. Stay tuned.
Respectfully… always…
AR