Questioning A False Dichotomy
If you’re a democrat, then you’re probably tired of being told that you have no ethics, that you love animals more than the American working man (or woman), and that you are a godless, baby-killing, subversive who protests our nation’s defenders in-between toking reefer and burning bras.
If you’re a republican, then you’re probably tired of being told that you have no heart, that you are a warmonger, and that you’re a gun-toting, cross-burning, Muslim-hating, fascist, homophobic, religious zealot who would rather have power in the hands of multinational corporations than in the hands of Mexicans.
Why must everything get divided into one of the two groups? Since when is family values (commonly considered a “republican” issue) the antithesis of racial tolerance (commonly “democratic”)? When did world peace become the opposite of prayer in school? When did helping the homeless become the opposite of defending our nation against foreign aggression?
Why is America so polarized? Why are we fighting each other when we should be working together? We are constantly being made aware of what separates us, those small things that make us different.
When did the people of America stop thinking?
Does my belief in morality make me a conservative? Does my compassion for humanity make me a liberal? Is it possible to view the world in shades of gray but still believe in the existence of black and white?
I believe that "How do we fix America?" is not a yes/no question, and that complicated issues, despite our wish for a magic bullet, require complicated solutions.
I believe in free speech. I believe in loyalty. I believe that the two are not mutually exclusive. I have faith in the people of this country, which is still the best in the world.
I am not a democrat.
I am not a republican.
I am an American.
