A Nation Divided…

I cannot think of another time, at least in my lifetime (Civil War excluded), when our nation was so polarized and divided. The crisis we face as a nation isn’t so much based on our differing beliefs as it is on the apparent lack of capacity to consider that nothing is really black or white. Republicans aren’t entirely one thing and democrats entirely another thing. And while there is a far right and a far left, most people can be located somewhere within the range. People are not exclusively evil nor exclusively good. Humans are not completely strong or completely weak, with all of us having combinations of both mixed in. Liberals have conservative beliefs and conservatives entertain liberal ideas. To consider that everything must be one thing or another thing is to be deceived. The reason such ludicrous logic is even considered today is because people have stopped thinking for themselves and instead given themselves over to hurtful ideas and concepts that seek to corral the masses into one camp or the other. To be a human is to be exclusive, though sharing many of the same values and beliefs. Our nation is divided because we no longer trust our own hearts and instead look to others or to a majority to clarify what it is we should believe. Such things shouldn’t be so…

The profound beauty of our country is found in the freedoms we enjoy to be able to choose for ourselves. We are free to worship as we see fit. We are free to speak out against injustice and wrongs done to our fellow man. We are free to publicly and peacefully gather and demonstrate. We are free to vote and choose who we feel best represents our beliefs and further, who will stand up for our beliefs and ensure our rights are protected. Yet sadly, that is not the America of today. It is not our nation today because we as a people have been led off course; far off course. We no longer vote for our ideals, but instead cleave to party loyalty and as such are ripe for corruption and exploitation. Our elected officials don’t represent us, they represent special interests groups (code name for money) and support things they do not really support. They are no longer outraged at injustice (any injustice) and choose rather to go with the party flow. Facts and realities are blindly ignored and called “fake news.” Rather than adhering to the old Bible adage, “ye shall know them by their fruits,” we ignore the fruits and call the light darkness and the darkness light. We rely on the news outlets to tell us what to believe rather than provide information that informs how we should believe. We trust no-one and most regrettably our own thoughts and hearts. We are a nation divided because we trust the media machine more than we trust what we know is good and right and beneficial…

Democrats, republicans, liberals are all names constructed to identify beliefs we all have about how people should be treated, what our priorities are and what types of laws should be in place to further and protect the things that are right and chastise and correct the things that are wrong. But, that is not our nation today. Instead of identifying with people as individuals, we identify with people as groups; good groups and bad groups and in so doing dehumanize one another which leads, as surely as the sun rises, to unspeakable hatred and atrocities done to one another. Instead of witnessing a cruelty and feeling strongly that something should be done to resolve it or to make things right, we instead cleave to our labels and affiliations, adamantly rejecting the suffering of others because the suffering is not happening to us. We have been talked out of our basic human compassions for one another in favor of supporting the majority we have chosen to affiliate with. When a black man is clearly victimized and murdered, instead of being infuriated about it, we seek to point out his character flaws and compare it to atrocities done to our own group. Our failure isn’t found in choosing which group to stand with, but instead no longer being capable of recognizing an atrocity was done! We behave like sheep following not our own inclinations, no longer our own constitution, but whatever “our” completely polarized group says is okay. We are a nation divided because we stopped noticing individuals and opted rather for the labels and factions we’ve been talked into accepting…

If we say we feel badly for a marginalized group, we suddenly become “lib-tards” crying about things that don’t matter like human lives and human suffering. We throw out all or nothing ideals that suggest all poor people are lazy and assumes that all people began with the same opportunities and advantages. We bemoan any welfare program designed to help people in an emergency, yet welcome a stimulus check, extended unemployment benefits though they be programs with a difference in name only, coming from the same source, in attempt to help people through the same issues. The real question we should ask ourselves is why we are so pissed off with the notion that at times people need help in life. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps only seems to apply when they aren’t your boots that need some help! Those of us that have learned the value of hard work, who have been blessed with opportunity, who have learned some basic principles of life owe a profound duty to those who are not so fortunate. Not because they have earned it, but because we have it to give. We are a nation divided because we have stopped caring for and having compassion for others, a principle our country was founded upon…

So what is the conclusion of the whole matter? Stop being such an asshole, mean spirited and cruel and return to helping others. Quit spewing out words of hatred that aren’t really your words, but instead the words of a cruel enemy seeking to take down all that is beautiful about America. Republicans, democrats and liberals don’t make America great, God does and He does it by taking care of people, all people regardless of any label that has been applied to them. And He asks us to do one thing, namely love our brothers as ourselves…  The divide that assaults our nation is only successful because people have stopped thinking like human beings and instead allowed others to do their thinking for them. It was never me versus you. It is good versus evil and it’s time we stopped letting evil win.

Let’s get back to being the America that was great…

Just some good thoughts…