Y’all. I have a confession to make. I have been reading the comments sections.

I mean, not actually, that would be horrible. But. I’ve been reading Facebook. And Twitter. And, it turns out the vitriol and name calling once reserved for deep in dark corners of the comments thread has seeped out into the open.

I have political opinions. I don’t make a secret of that. But I DO believe it is a very slippery slope if I start losing the dignity, intelligence, and humanity of those I don’t agree with on a particular issue. I am convinced that two people can earnestly, intelligently disagree on a subject, and that does not make one person morally right, and the other wrong. One person good and the other evil. One person a good Christian and the other, compromised. If I find myself unwilling to listen to, or have a conversation with someone who is not in my political bubble, that is a flashing red warning sign that my priorities are out of check.

There is no THEM. No cloaked others. No group of people bound and determined to sink our country. There are no enemies in our midst. There are no people less deserving of respect, voices, jobs, dignity, or love. There is only us. We the people. Agree or disagree, we are in this together.

There are so many issues right now where it seems like there is your side and then there is them. Race. Trump. Masks. Healthcare. Abortion. Kneeling at football games. I know it feels so important. But please, do not dismiss the humanity of the people who disagree with you. They are your neighbors. Your family. Your coworkers, your classmates, your PTA cohorts. It us. Always us. The only way to even begin to tackle some of these thorny issues is by working together. Not pulling apart.

Politics seems to be the new spectator sport. The hot button issues of our day have recruited people to their sides. To don their team colors, root for their mascot, and vilify the opponents. But these lightning rod issues have become such a big deal not because they are simple, but because they are impossibly nuanced. If we do not do the hard work to truly understand where people we disagree with are coming from, we dismiss their intelligence, and the weight of the problem. If you think an issue that has been debated for decades is simple enough to put into a gotcha-style social media meme, you haven’t done your homework. And you haven’t done your heart work.

I know that you have some belief that you feel so strongly that it makes you pound the table. We all do. It may be surrounding racism, masks, the economy, immigration, the unborn, or… I don’t know, the tax code. But you have opinions on what you feel are the RIGHT way to do things. And you came to those strong feelings through a process. It may have been a life experience, a conviction you gained through study of your morality, or a deep seated belief about how the world should rightly be. However, please recognize you were not born with this opinion. It was formed, shaped, and strengthened along the way. Babies just don’t care about the GDP. And don’t come at me with ‘what about murder’, because have you seen a toddler fight with another baby over a toy? If they had the bodily strength to do mortal damage, I am pretty sure it would happen.

Slipping into good guy and bad guy mentality is a trap. When we rob the other side of their morality, resort to name calling, and completely dismiss their point of view, we are gutting the issue. We are taking weighty, meaningful dialogues in our culture, and scooping out the guts like a Jack-O-Lantern. The toothy, lit up smile belies the emptiness inside.

Part of the hard work of holding strong convictions is the ability to truly listen to the other side. I know people, GOOD people, on both sides of the political aisle. I know people, GOOD people, who are wholehearted Christians AND democrats. Dedicated followers of Jesus AND republicans. We can’t reduce hundreds of years of democracy to a simple choice of right and wrong. It’s not that easy.

The easy name calling and the dismissive attitudes I see on social media hurt me, every time. Even if I happen to agree with the sentiment. Because when we dismiss people who disagree with us as not worthy of respect or attention, we forfeit our right to be heard as well. How are we going to dig our way out of this hole we find our country in if everyone stops listening to each other?

Before you are a Republican, you are a human being. Before you are a democrat, you are a thinking, feeling, loving soul. Let’s remember our true identity, and let the value we derive from that check us when we have the impulse to belittle others.

And VOTE. Vote your conscience. Vote your mind. Vote your convictions. I’ll see you at the polls.