Story of My Life: Love and Live

Oh look, a post about one of those most well-known verses in the Bible. How revolutionary. In other news, water is wet, the sun is hot, the sky is blue, air is breathable. Yeah I know. This isn't exactly the most original idea in the world. It hasn't been for over two-thousand years. But I feel that at this time period, it becomes relevant now more than ever.

Having only participated in two elections so far, I used to keep my head down when it came to politics. Usually, I'd pick one issue, see which candidate supported it, and pick them based on that alone. The votes would go in, the president would be chosen, and life would go on. And aside from news media, no one would ever make a big deal about it.

But then, the 2016 election happened. And everything changed.

Suddenly, we weren't picking the best candidate for the job, we were picking the lesser of two evils. People on both sides blared about the potential doomsday scenarios of either president being chosen. Tons of people abstained from voting entirely. I saw a ballot with a third party selected that said, and I quote, "Jesus, come back. It's an emergency!" And everyone went nuts.

Things didn't settle down after the winner was selected, in fact they got worse. Maybe it was just because being in college compared to home-school put me more in the public eye, but the sense of utter fear and absolute despair across my campus was so palpable that even someone as socially dense as myself could feel it.

And then, just like in Star Wars, fear turned to anger, anger turned to hate, and hate turned to suffering.

Every day seemed to bring forth a new atrocity. Shootings happened, hate crimes happened, riots happened, lives were ruined, peace was shattered. "Impeach Trump" played on one side while "Lock Her Up" played on the other. It was total chaos.

Now I won't debate which side is better or worse than the other; in fact, that's the main problem here. Personally, I think both have their virtues and vices but my concern about the whole thing is how people react around others considered "the enemy."

I've seen people disowned from their families or rejected by former friends simply because of who they voted for. I've seen the mere presence of MAGA hats whipping people into violent frenzies up to and including pulling a gun on someone. Words like racist, sexist, and homophobic are thrown around like playground insults, ready to label anyone they're fired at as unworthy of basic human decency. And if you fall afoul of the unwritten rules, watch out. Because even something you did ten to fifteen years ago can be dug up and exploited today. It's a real [bleep!] show.

So where do I fit in here?

Well, regardless of whether or not you disagree with someone on something, even if that something seems clear as water being wet, realize that antagonizing them for their beliefs isn't going to get them to change their minds and that your rightness doesn't justify your rudeness. Second, look at the person behind the beliefs instead of the beliefs themselves. Nowadays, too many people are defined by what they are and not who. Third, recognize that people are human and that one misstep shouldn't mean the end of the road. Fourth, before you dig your heels in, consider what the outcome will be if you're right and the outcome if you're wrong and decide if it's worth it to keep going. Fifth, consider whether or not you might be wrong. Even if someone is a bad person, that doesn't mean they're not worthy of caring for, to an extent.