Here’s the list I have for those who are on the
other side of the aisle from me regarding politics this season. I have come up
with a list of outstanding values and things we have in common with those who
we feel we cannot talk to from ‘the other side’ of the political aisle.
1) Your
Respect for our common values: If you are truly a friend, you will recognize
that we all have ideals and values that we are working to protect when we
decide to vote and to support candidates. These are part of who we are and why
we feel passionate about certain subjects.
2) Your
values and core beliefs: In this same vein, not only the common values we
share, like love of country and belief that the country we support is great and
continues to be great, we have core beliefs in basic things like love of family
and hope that we will leave our world a better place for our children.
3) The
Fact that you listen is something that I will have to work on as part of my own
failings. I don’t always listen when I hear things I don’t like. I try to
understand that what you are saying comes from a place other than my own
viewpoint, but I think that behind what you are saying are these same core beliefs
and values that we share, and I have to respect you enough to actually listen
to what you have to say, and I want you to do the same for me.
4) Your
love for your family is the thing that binds us together. As we look at the
pictures of past wars, our fathers who fought in the great wars, and our own
lives where our children are growing up and we hope to teach them about those
same core beliefs and values that our parents and grandparents knew and thrived
on, these are the things that keep us going and bind us together in our
community.
5) Your
love of country is the thing that should actually bring us closer. Yes, we
disagree about the way that we may institute tax policy or border security, but
the main thing is that we both understand we are working to try and make the
country better and safer and a more perfect union in the 21st
Century. These things need to bind us together and not tear us apart.
6) Your
dedication to what you believe is something that never ceases to amaze me. I
may not believe the same things your party does, but the dedication and sheer
force of will does make me admire you for the strength of purpose from which
you study the history of your political party and forge a path forward for your
beliefs.
7) Your
sense of humor is my sense of humor. We share the same values in areas like
sports, entertainment, global politics, achievements in the arts &
sciences, and our awe of great performances and our love and pride of country
when we watch the Olympics or see great movies together. We share these common
experiences, and we can laugh at some of the funniest things we see. The
foibles of everyday life are always something we will have in common. And we
must never lose the ability to laugh even at ourselves, and the absurdity of
our leaders and our own political parties as we all struggle to work through
the multi-media messaging world we live in.
8) We
spoke of your dedication to your beliefs and your core values that we admire.
We also admire dedication to cause, and the ability to persevere and to stand up
for what we believe is right, even if it flies in the face of adversity. We are
always hoping that we are on the side of victory, but we pray that we are going
to be on the side of God and of righteousness in the long run, no matter which
side of the aisle we are on.
9) I
like the fact that you have worked, as in any great relationship or marriage or
long term friendship, through the years to make our friendship work by
respecting my opinion and also liking me as a friend, and loving me as a person
enough to persevere and that you feel that our friendship is worth saving, in
spite of our differences.
10) I know I
will be there for you and I know you will be there for me. It’s as simple as
that-in the end, in the foxhole, I want you to be beside me. I don’t care about
the color of your skin or who you voted for or who you love or what you do in
the privacy of your home, I love you for who you are today and the fact that
you are my friend, and I will go to the mat for you and I believe you would do
the same for me.
As you may have guessed, I have a friend in
mind as I write this piece, in fact several friends. I’m sure many of you have
several family members or close friends that might also come to mind as you
scroll through this list. I’m hoping that we can use some of these ideas going
forward, particularly as we begin another perilous campaign season fraught with
controversy and surprises that await us. Here’s hoping we may take a minute in
the heat of the campaign to simply take a breath and think about some of the
reasons that we like those who are on the other side of the aisle from us.
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