{"id":6246,"date":"2016-05-24T06:45:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T10:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6246"},"modified":"2016-05-24T07:10:37","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T11:10:37","slug":"wheres-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6246","title":{"rendered":"where’s the line?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1414484893951-7789bf8372ae\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lately I\u2019ve been hearing much about the need to rally around one another \u2014 to come together as one, “because we\u2019re all __________.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the call to unify.<\/p>\n

Such seems more pronounced and proclaimed as the presidential primaries come to a close \u2014 and each party is attempting to get \u201ctheir people\u201d<\/em> to rally behind a candidate that is far less popular nationally than the party would obviously prefer. That\u2019s an observation \u2014 not a criticism. Each of the three remaining, mainstream presidential candidates has serious, perceived flaws; this will be a \u201cslam dunk\u201d election for no one\u2026 hence, the call to unify.<\/p>\n

That call, no less, got me thinking\u2026<\/p>\n

We are to rally around one another\u2026 to come together\u2026 to let our voices be heard as one. Why? Because we are all \u201c__________.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what goes in the blank?<\/p>\n

Seriously.<\/p>\n

What goes in the blank?<\/p>\n

Who are the so-called \u201ctheir people\u201d?<\/p>\n

Is it us? Is it not? Do we know when it actually is us?<\/p>\n

It seems to me that individuals subjectively draw a dividing line\u2026<\/p>\n

They suggest we need to come together… because we\u2019re all Republicans\u2026 we need to come together because we\u2019re all Democrats\u2026 we need to come together because we\u2019re all black\u2026 white\u2026 gay\u2026 straight\u2026 yada, yada, yada\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t perceive my \u201cyada\u2019s\u201d or “yada’s” as any intended form of disrespect; they are not. My point is simply that people draw the dividing line \u2014 the proverbial boundary which supposedly establishes unity \u2014 in different places. I have challenges with that.<\/p>\n

I mean, I have friends who are Republicans and friends who are Democrats. I have friends who are black and friends who are white. I have friends who are gay and friends who are straight. And I have friends who fit into none of the above and friends who are yada, yada, yada. Am\u00a0I not to be included in their circle? Is the circle around them \u2014 separating them from the rest of us \u2014\u00a0impenetrable?<\/p>\n

Friends, I think some people are selling us short. These so-called rallies to come together are not unifying; rather, they seem\u00a0more\u00a0a desire to isolate and ensure no one thinks any differently.<\/p>\n

Why aren\u2019t we drawing the line more broadly? Why aren’t we encouraged to more generously and extensively fill in the blank?<\/p>\n

What about\u2026<\/p>\n

Because we\u2019re all Ohioans\u2026 Iowans\u2026 or Floridians\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Because we\u2019re all Americans.<\/em><\/p>\n

Or what about… because we’re all\u00a0people who live on the same planet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Better still\u2026<\/p>\n

Because each of us was\u00a0created by something bigger than self… by the great big God of the universe… divinely and magnificently made.<\/em><\/p>\n

Can we draw the line around\u00a0that?<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately I\u2019ve been hearing much about the need to rally around one another \u2014 to come together as one, “because we\u2019re all __________.\u201d It\u2019s the call to unify. Such seems more pronounced and proclaimed as the presidential primaries come to a close \u2014 and each party is attempting to get \u201ctheir people\u201d to rally behind … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “where’s the line?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6246"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6252,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246\/revisions\/6252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}