The Divided States of America

“God says we need to love our enemies. It hard to do. But it can start by telling the truth. No one had ever asked me what it felt like to be me. Once I told the truth about that I felt free.” (Aibileen, from the book The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.)

I just read an article about these United States – or divided states, if you will – that ended with a quote by Eric Liu, co-founder of Citizen University, a non-partisan organization that works with people at the local levels of government to help solve issues threatening our democracy. He said, “The United States does not get to assume that it lasts forever.”

In other words, we are seriously fracturing into red and blue states, perhaps headed toward becoming two separate and ideologically diverse nations.

The problem is, one side wants to totally control and annihilate the other. And that is something no democracy can tolerate or survive.

To learn the truth, we all have to speak ours and we all have to listen to others. The minute we berate, marginalize, disenfranchise, or belittle someone else, by default we are claiming that we are superior to that person. That way of thinking is what creates caste systems, insinuating that some individuals are more valuable to humanity than others. Like the white nationalist movement, mostly comprised of straight, white men, assuming they are more valuable than gay men (or any other human in the LGBTQ+ community); or women; or people of color; or undocumented immigrants; or Jewish people, or Muslims, etc. And the minute we assume one human being is more valuable – is superior to another – we are doomed to hate (or fear) those “below” us.

Sadly, hate tends to lead to violence.

In To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Atticus tells Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from [their] point of view…until you climb into [their] skin and walk around in it.”

We need to get back to that simple adage of treating others as you would wish to be treated. That begins with accepting that we are all human and that, perhaps, we just need to also look at things from another’s perspective. Try and see their viewpoint. Walk around in their skin. We do that by talking to each other and, more importantly, listening to each other. Our diverse and varied lives mean we each bring something unique to the table that we can share with one another.

Okay, so I wrote the above a few days back. And the next day I wrote in my journal: Who am I kidding? Talking to each other? Listening to each other? We’re so far past any rational discourse it’s downright frightening. And I haven’t a clue as to how you address that.

So instead, I’ll simply suggest this: Peace begins within. Find your peaceful place. For me it means backing away from negativity, social media, even the news. Take a break. Read a good book. Get outside a bit. Because when you find your peace all the other nonsense becomes nothing more than background noise. Not implying you shouldn’t fight the good fight – or speak your piece (peace?) – when you see wrongs happening. We all have an obligation to defend those at risk. But on a daily basis, if you live your life in peace, other like-minded people will begin to show up around you. And maybe a little of that peacefulness will spill into the air and begin affecting a hater or two. Who knows?

~jwb~