Friends, to quote one I respect, “none of this is easy.”
Eight years ago, one man was elected that many felt justified in vilifying. Approximately eight weeks ago, it happened again. I can sense the immediate sighs and spine bristles. It’s ok. I am not here to invalidate nor be callous with any opinion. We don’t all share the same opinion; and one of the growth steps in life is recognizing that if there are 360° in a circle, there exists far more than “my” right angle through which to view. It’s just that most of us are challenged to acknowledge the validity of other angles.
What I wish to say today is not very popular. I’m sorry; it’s ok. I mean no disrespect, but popularity has never been this blog’s aim. In fact, when the Intramuralist was in its infancy, I was told not to expect more than two to read consistently. I was thus pleased when my mother promised to read.
Back, no less, to my unpopular thought…
I am uncomfortable with the vilifying vitriol directed at our nation’s leaders. Even with my own, genuine frustration with certain attitudes, outcomes, and ideologies (on all sides), I am disappointed in the plethora of demeaning, rhetorical rants — even my sometimes own — as it’s my sincere desire to refrain from the disparaging fray. But that’s it, isn’t it? We are the justifier of our rants. We can only see that single angle. And then our very comfortable, likeminded audience offers generous insulation, spurring on any insolence.
We quickly add a “big but”… “But he/she did…” “But he/she didn’t…” “But he/she is…” “But he/she isn’t…” and then we justify completely denigrating another human being. After all, “but he/she” should have known it comes with the territory.
Call me naive. Call me wrong. Feel free to call me seriously misguided. I’m ok with that assertion. What I’m not ok with, however, is the complete, justified denigration of another human being. We can disagree without being disrespectful. We can have serious, deep concerns without being cruel. And we can passionately, ideologically oppose another without being odious. Our self-justified, vicious vitriol has been awful… and it’s been awful for a long time.
Have we lost our way? … a way that knew refraining from judgment and condemnation was wise? … a way that surrendered the need to denigrate? Or are we now a more united state of America, united by those who justify the judgment — regardless after eight years or weeks ago?
Said by one leader I respect this week:
“… None of this is easy. For too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions. The rise of naked partisanship, increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste – all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that’s out there.
This trend represents a third threat to our democracy. Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other, making common ground and compromise impossible…”
Science and reason matter. People matter. Why the divine put us on this planet — and gave us science, reason, and other people — matters. But we’re so secure in our likeminded bubbles — in our bubbles that justify disrespect — that we no longer seem able to see all that matters.
I want more. I know. It may be unpopular, but I want to not only reach across the aisle per se, but I want to sit down, have coffee, and work diligently to understand why another feels the way they do. I want to be able to hear the fair point of one of those 359 other angles than my own. But the vitriol, even among the intelligent, has impeded all healthy debate.
We need to sit, listen, respecting all others.
I know. That’s not popular. It’s not easy either.
Respectfully…
AR