What is Support
There's a lot of talk about supporting our troops and our government. Supposedly, because the liberals don't always agree with the President, they are not supporting our government. When they speak out against the war, they are not supporting the troops.
To support someone means many things and it doesn't always require agreement. For instance, in a personal life, if I had a woman friend who was dating a man who was married. She's in love and she wants me to listen to her. I can do a couple of things. I can listen and say she's doing the right thing and that he'll probably leave his wife and it's wonderful. I can listen and say, ya know, this worries me. Here are the things that bother me about this situation. It's your life and you need to do what you have to do and I'm here but I can't just sit back and not say that I see problems with what you are choosing right now. I can also say: HELLO! What! I don't agree with that. Change what you are doing and do it my way or else.
Depending upon the sort of person we are, we could take any of the above behaviors as supportive behavior. One agrees with whatever the person does. One tells them what to do and gives out ultimatums and another offers support for the person, if not the action.
As children we all have imprints and dreams of what true support is about. We bring these ideas whenever we think of support. However each person gives support in their unique ways. I have outlined three major ways in which someone might offer support.
I think that people have tended to forget that there are many ways to be supportive. Many think that saying we shouldn't be at war means we don't support the troops, but that's not true. We may not support the decision that sent those men and women overseas, but we can still support them. As in the analogy above, we can support people in many different ways. This is true of our government. We can offer our opinions and criticisms and work for those things that we think need to be improved but criticising doesn't mean we don't support it.
Support. It's a big word and it isn't a synonym for agreement.
To support someone means many things and it doesn't always require agreement. For instance, in a personal life, if I had a woman friend who was dating a man who was married. She's in love and she wants me to listen to her. I can do a couple of things. I can listen and say she's doing the right thing and that he'll probably leave his wife and it's wonderful. I can listen and say, ya know, this worries me. Here are the things that bother me about this situation. It's your life and you need to do what you have to do and I'm here but I can't just sit back and not say that I see problems with what you are choosing right now. I can also say: HELLO! What! I don't agree with that. Change what you are doing and do it my way or else.
Depending upon the sort of person we are, we could take any of the above behaviors as supportive behavior. One agrees with whatever the person does. One tells them what to do and gives out ultimatums and another offers support for the person, if not the action.
As children we all have imprints and dreams of what true support is about. We bring these ideas whenever we think of support. However each person gives support in their unique ways. I have outlined three major ways in which someone might offer support.
I think that people have tended to forget that there are many ways to be supportive. Many think that saying we shouldn't be at war means we don't support the troops, but that's not true. We may not support the decision that sent those men and women overseas, but we can still support them. As in the analogy above, we can support people in many different ways. This is true of our government. We can offer our opinions and criticisms and work for those things that we think need to be improved but criticising doesn't mean we don't support it.
Support. It's a big word and it isn't a synonym for agreement.
posted by Bonnie at 9:29 PM
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