A Penitent Plea

There is a growing division in our country, and in the world. This divisiveness even invades the birding world at times...often with a provocative topic or statement thrown out with the hope of stimulating traffic to our blogs.  We are increasingly fanatical in our expressions.  We've ratcheted-up the rhetoric.  Our words too often espouse hatred.  Compromise is now considered a curse word.  Partisanship is at an all time high.  We are treating each other like enemies.  Many now look at the government like it is our enemy.  We ignorantly assign to those we oppose heaps of heinous and evil motives.  No one can prosper in this environment.

No political party or faction thereof has a corner on the market of truth, correctness, nor righteousness.  Government is necessary for the preservation of a good society and the environment that sustains life.  Liberals are not our enemies.  Conservatives are not our enemies.  We are all the brothers and sisters of the human race.

Quelling debate is not my goal.   Civil discussion is essential about the size and power of government and the constitutionality of laws, and hundreds of other issues.  My hope is that we can suppress the hateful tone of our dialogue.  Unfortunately, there will always be people that will make us their enemy and we may have to defend ourselves, but hopefully we can do so in manner that pacifies rather than provokes.  

It all comes down to loving our fellow man.  If we're motivated by love, we will be more moderate and judicious in the words we use, in the way we treat each other, in the way we respect all forms of life.  Let us appreciate the diversity of opinion and remember to amicably agree to disagree on some things.  We can even poke fun at each other's points of view in a friendly manner.  Let us listen more and shout less.

I recognize my own past offenses in this regard, especially when discussing politics, and I humbly apologize.