The ridiculousness of America’s political war has reached a state of inescapable intolerability.
On both sides-Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative, Democrat and Republican-the true believers crouch like ravenous wolves, ready to tear the opposition apart in a maelstrom of hatefulness that is disturbingly reminiscent of the sectarian conflict in the Middle East.
Conservatives stand in one wing, full of passion and an unshakable belief that they have been commanded by God to go forth into the world and fight to the death against gay rights, abortion, the socialized state, and even global warming. (Yes, somehow the existence-or lack thereof-of a geological phenomenon has become something worth fighting over.) Commentators like Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter and Glenn Beck are canonized by the far-right faithful, and they operate as little more than an ideological hit squad, taking shots at those on the left from the comfort of the pages of a book or a broadcast booth, calling them un-American, mentally ill, and godless.
Liberals, meanwhile, sit in their ivory towers and Los Angeles condos, scorning those who hold beliefs different from their own and claiming to be open-minded while constructing a rigid and narrow belief system that absolutely must not be questioned. In fact, to question the left-wing orthodoxy of the uselessness of religion, the absolute reality of global warming, and the wickedness of corporate America is to invite the wrath of the party of “compassion” and “tolerance.”
Both sides cast the other as a plague upon the nation. Merciless eradication of their enemies, it seems, is the only solution. Battle lines have been drawn and either the conservatives must get their theocracy or the liberals must get their socialized state.
And for what?
The whole thing is a game for grown-ups, and the players have taken sides in a system that they do not understand, claiming allegiance to a political party that is nothing more than the yin or the yang of the whole that is the American political system.
It seems clear that many of those who choose to turn rabid over politics do so because, ultimately, they are satisfied by it. That’s understandable. Human beings, by nature, need to have a sense of purpose. Where would Glenn Beck and Bill Maher be without the left-right divide? Where, even, would the common, everyday conservative or liberal foot soldier be without it? Lost, and in need of another cause.
It’s time that we choose to think for ourselves. Don’t sell your soul to the Ds or the Rs or to any other letter of the alphabet. Stop demonizing those who believe differently than you do (and by all means, do a little reading on the science behind how we form beliefs in the first place), and remember that first and foremost, we are all human. So engage your fellow man! Step outside of your comfortable bubble and talk with an “evil” liberal or conservative, focusing not on the differences, but rather on the common ground. You never know, you might just make a friend or two.