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STOP The Political Acrimony NOW!
Do Your Part. Help put out the polarization fire!
J. Leland Gourley, OKC Friday
As you read this, you know what happened on election day.
As I write this, I do not. Our press deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. The polls did not close until 7 p.m.
As I write this, America, the world's greatest and most powerful country, is critically crippled with a white-hot polarization that has been growing in intensity for several years. It now is at crescendo level!
We've had enough!
History's bitterest election is over. If you marked every race and issue on your ballot, you won some, you lost some. We repeat, the election is over.
We must end the hatred and bitterness now. Now, before it consumes us.
We have reached an ultimate state of utter confusion. We think our enemy is the guy across town, not some foreign land with a dictator who would do us, and the world, harm. What's the matter with us?
As you reflect on election results, be optimistic. Think of the ones you won, not the ones you lost. Will Rogers was right when he opined that, after all the years of trying, Democrats and Republicans have not been able to ruin this great country.
But all of us must work to repair our current serious state of damage from this awful polarization trying to take the progress and joy out of our national life.
WE CAN DO IT!
Let's start with you and me. One step at a time. Let's stop hating ANYBODY. We can be against the evil things they do. We can favor administration of penalties, to satisfy justice. Even maybe the death penalty, in the interest of public safety.
But we should not have another person. Most of all, not an Aggie. I actually love one.
I know it can be done. I used to pate persons I thought were my enemies. Especially in politics. A few years ago, one of these perceived political "enemies" died.
I got to thinking pretty intensely that hating another person is wrong, and even harmful to me. I decided then and there to declare to myself that I was stopping hatred of any solitary, single soul. Some of these folks I used to think of as my enemies, have turned into good and loyal friends.
I can truthfully say I do not have one ounce of hatred for any human being, disgusting as some of them are. This has made me a lot happier with myself. (I still have other sins.)
If each of us can stop hating other persons, especially over their honest beliefs and convictions, we will have made a giant stride toward reducing the current hate-energized polarization in America.
Don't worry about the other guy who may not do it, let's each do it ourselves
Remember the words from one of the greatest songs by Johnny Mercer, one of America's greatest lyricists:
"Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative.
"And don't mess with Mr. In-Between."
Your brain is your brain. You can control it. You can tell it "we're not hating anybody any more." Stand firm. Your brain works for you, not vice versa. Get hate out of your system. Start a new day.
To quote a higher authority than Johnny Mercer, here's what Jesus said in his "Sermon on the Mount."
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." That's hard but get started.
If enough of us stop hating, America can again be: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
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