By Lance Marble
Payson, AZ- The first Presidential election cycle in which I had the opportunity to vote saw the elected President win with just under 51% of the popular vote. He carried 44 States and had 489 Electoral College votes. I voted for that candidate because I believed in his vision for the Country, his commitment to the Constitution on which the Country was founded and the personal/political views that he stood for. I can honestly say I have changed absolutely nothing about what I believed back then and those same principles, in my opinion, are still the best ones for this (or any) Country.
It is interesting to note, though, in today’s culture, those long-held and once popular beliefs are under attack. In fact, people who hold to them are now considered “right-wing, Christian, gun-toting, extremists” who some think should be classified as “domestic terrorists.” People with historically normal conservative political views are being called every imaginable derogatory and inflammatory name one can think of. Today, in the United States of America, people with conservative political views are literally being fired from their jobs (in spite of it being illegal to do so), deleted from social media platforms and ostracized from communities. Their lives, families, religious beliefs and constitutionally protected rights are literally being threatened and attacked.
All this in a country whose very foundation was established in freedom from an oppressive Government, freedom to choose (or reject) specific religious beliefs, a system of political representation designed to treat all people equally and a Constitution which provides a framework of continuing guidance. Have we always been successful in our collective attempt to uphold those principles? Absolutely not. Our forefathers lived with each other through hundreds of years of learning how to build and govern this amazing place. They struggled with difference of opinion, difference of philosophy, political differences and religious differences; just to name a few. But … and this is a really big “but”, the desire to live in freedom, even with differences, was more important than seeing fellow countrymen live in fear of each other.
I have friends and acquaintances from many cultural, ethnic, religious and political backgrounds. I have respect, admiration and love for them whether they think like me, look like me or believe like me. We share in “life, love and the pursuit of happiness” from our own perspectives and engage in life together. I don’t “wish ill” for them because of our differences and hope they feel the same about me.
I believe our “Union” must once again see its people regain their respect for others and even prioritize others over self before our differences will once again become our strength. I’m no historian but I have read and observed enough to know, throughout the entire course of the human experience, people prefer to be around other people like themselves. That doesn’t mean you can’t, don’t or won’t enjoy the company of others, it just means commonality creates some level of comfort.
See if this rings true for you. If you are traveling in a place far from where you live and happen to meet another person from that same place, there’s immediately a conversation between you that begins to explore things like; what neighborhood do you live in? What school do your kids go to? Where do you work? Do you know this person or that? Even though you never met this person before, when you get done talking to them you might very well think favorably about them – because of commonality. You don’t have to tell them about that crazy winter snow storm 2 years ago because they were there; but you’re going to anyway because you know they experienced it too. Inevitably you get to the people and/or experiences you don’t have in common but, because of the people/experiences you do share, those are not as important as they might have been otherwise.
It’s time we all make a greater effort to find the “six degrees of separation” with our fellow American’s instead of labeling them, condemning them or even wishing they would experience pain/death. We must re-learn collectively what previous generations learned the same hard way; we are better as a group of people who are different than we are as a group of people who are all exactly alike. And the reality is, once you get to know some of those people you are convinced are so different from you, you’ll probably find you have more in common with them than you realize. For example, you probably both want what’s best for your respective families, you probably both want to enjoy the freedom that allows you to be different, and you probably both want to be happy. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – together.
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