Words of Hate Part II
After driving away, I began thinking about those words of hate that made me so angry. This person had a right to their views. Why did I object to them so much? Am I so insistent that my views are the only ones that are correct that I believe he should see the world like I do?
I realized that there was a way, a wonderful way this person could have expressed a view that would have been positive. Why didn’t they stencil the words, “Conservatism is” on the window and then surround it with things like “loyal, faithful, defending the United States.” This person could have added any words they wanted. It was after all their opinion of conservatism. Assuming that their hatred of liberalism (see previous post) meant that they liked conservatism, this seems like a reasonable answer.
My reaction to the hate filled words about liberalism was to be angry and to hate. I had to work with those feelings to let them go. My reaction to the words about conservatism, might be to laugh or to disagree but it’s not about hating that person. In fact, I might think, “Gee I’d like to know those folks. They sound like good folks.” I’d walk away with respect, knowing that there were values in that line of thinking that I could respect even if I didn’t share the ideology.
The person with the truck is only doing what so often happens in the media about the liberals and conservatives now. One side is committed to calling the other names and to putting them down and shaming them. Do not think that if you are on the other side of that name calling that anything you can do will ever change their low opinion of you. They will remember that one time you believed other than what they did and that makes them superior.
If we could switch our tone to one that sings the praises of our stance from the heavens, then maybe people would feel welcomed in joining us. They know that they can come and go as they see fit, but that we are a good group to know and to support. I use generic terms because I believe that both sides need to think about this.
Let’s stop promoting hatred of “the other” and start promoting the love of “the us”.
I realized that there was a way, a wonderful way this person could have expressed a view that would have been positive. Why didn’t they stencil the words, “Conservatism is” on the window and then surround it with things like “loyal, faithful, defending the United States.” This person could have added any words they wanted. It was after all their opinion of conservatism. Assuming that their hatred of liberalism (see previous post) meant that they liked conservatism, this seems like a reasonable answer.
My reaction to the hate filled words about liberalism was to be angry and to hate. I had to work with those feelings to let them go. My reaction to the words about conservatism, might be to laugh or to disagree but it’s not about hating that person. In fact, I might think, “Gee I’d like to know those folks. They sound like good folks.” I’d walk away with respect, knowing that there were values in that line of thinking that I could respect even if I didn’t share the ideology.
The person with the truck is only doing what so often happens in the media about the liberals and conservatives now. One side is committed to calling the other names and to putting them down and shaming them. Do not think that if you are on the other side of that name calling that anything you can do will ever change their low opinion of you. They will remember that one time you believed other than what they did and that makes them superior.
If we could switch our tone to one that sings the praises of our stance from the heavens, then maybe people would feel welcomed in joining us. They know that they can come and go as they see fit, but that we are a good group to know and to support. I use generic terms because I believe that both sides need to think about this.
Let’s stop promoting hatred of “the other” and start promoting the love of “the us”.
posted by Bonnie at 3:28 PM
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