I seem to have entered a discussion on FaceBook with a woman who graduated from the same school of nursing that I did, although she is from a much more recent class. I am enjoying the dialogue even though she is more politically conservative that I am. Nevertheless, her thinking is sound and it's helpful to hear her views.
Her FaceBook "friends" are another story. Emotional. Angry. Defensive. But I listen to them too, because they represent a part of the political fabric in our nation that I don't often encounter in the circles in which I travel. That doesn't mean I'm able to just sit back and be an observer without weighing in at times when I think they are really out in left field.
When one of them angrily upbraded the Obama administration as a whole because of an alleged mistake Napolitano made in remarks about the border with Mexico, I replied with this remark:
I agree that this nation seems to be moving to a more socialist political postion, but the Republican stance on minimal regulation hasn't worked either. Look at the greed that has brought our country to its knees, and I'm not blaming Republicans or Democrats for this. We are all at fault for permitting it and for taking advantage of it ourselves. We need to seek a balance that keeps unbridled corporate, governmental, and individual greed in check while allowing the freedom for the people to function democratically. Our system will never be perfect, but we can be better than we currently are without developing hatred for one another and without becoming extremist in our views.
In other discussions where I have entered these "Christian" self-righteous dialogues and where I have promoted a message of balance, it seems to stop the discussion in its tracks. I don't know if this is a strategy that may reach these people or not. For me, it is less a strategy than a genuine statement of how I feel. And maybe that is the way we more progressive Christians might approach our fellow Christians when they step outside the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Be ourselves. Think through our positions without taking a harsh stand that we are right and everyone else is wrong, and then say what we feel.
When one of them angrily upbraded the Obama administration as a whole because of an alleged mistake Napolitano made in remarks about the border with Mexico, I replied with this remark:
I agree that this nation seems to be moving to a more socialist political postion, but the Republican stance on minimal regulation hasn't worked either. Look at the greed that has brought our country to its knees, and I'm not blaming Republicans or Democrats for this. We are all at fault for permitting it and for taking advantage of it ourselves. We need to seek a balance that keeps unbridled corporate, governmental, and individual greed in check while allowing the freedom for the people to function democratically. Our system will never be perfect, but we can be better than we currently are without developing hatred for one another and without becoming extremist in our views.
In other discussions where I have entered these "Christian" self-righteous dialogues and where I have promoted a message of balance, it seems to stop the discussion in its tracks. I don't know if this is a strategy that may reach these people or not. For me, it is less a strategy than a genuine statement of how I feel. And maybe that is the way we more progressive Christians might approach our fellow Christians when they step outside the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Be ourselves. Think through our positions without taking a harsh stand that we are right and everyone else is wrong, and then say what we feel.
Love our neighbors even when it's kinda hard to like them.
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