I was thinking today about when the last time I saw one of those “coexist” bumper stickers.
It seemed as if they were mostly stuck on cars of the person who wanted everyone else to acknowledge (and maybe even approve) of his or her own beliefs, and for whatever differences they had to be “OK”.
The idea, as I understood it, was basically the same as the question made popular in the 1990s.
“Can’t we all just get along?”
With the political climate as it is in the U.S. currently, I think a lot of those stickers got peeled off! I would imagine those stickers belonged to folks who leaned toward the liberal side of politics, and now they are fine with NOT getting along. I would even venture to say there is some annoyance (if not outright hatred) for a few of the religions depicted in the letters of ‘coexist.’
Agree to disagree. That used to be thing. Just like the bumper stickers, it was meant as a way to say, “Hey, we might not see eye to eye but you be you and I’ll be me and we can still be friends.” We could still be civil. Now, though, politics are more like…
In a related thought, I just started reading “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis and gosh, I wish I had read it sooner! So far in the book, he’s basically just established that mankind knows there is a standard of right and wrong. More than animals or any other creation on earth, humans can behave against the “Law of Nature,” unlike a rock that naturally always falls to the ground because of gravity. There is a way man ought to be, then the way man is. Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, those two things aren’t the same.
Applying to politics what I’ve read so far, I would say everyone on any part of the political spectrum believes in right and wrong. Otherwise, why would a person feel so strongly in one thing or another? The conflict comes from what is believed to be right and what is believed to be wrong. Hopefully this country I love doesn’t crumble because of this growing conflict between liberals and conservatives. It seems key to step back and admit there is a standard of right and wrong, and we each need to find out who established it, and what it is. It’s about truth.
One problem emerged when the phrase “live your truth” became a popular mantra. It sounds all well and good, but there is a problem the very minute two people with conflicting ‘truths’ meet. Not even to mention there is a third element that should be factored in. Besides the fact that each person thinks they’re right and if they’re not willing to agree to disagree, then the problem escalates, there is the problem of actual truth. You say the sky is blue, I say it’s red. Then there’s the actual fact, the real truth.
So much for coexisting, right?
How have you been doing in this sensitive time? Have you lost friends? Have you ended relationships with someone who doesn’t believe the same things you do? Chime in below!
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 