Handling those you don’t agree with

 Sam Smith  - In the larger nation these days we seem to be obsessed not only with our own views but with the requirement that others share them or face our bitter opposition. In its worst way, it can be racist or damning of another religion, but even with positive issues it can create a divided community in which in which values become a requirement rather than a preference.

I grew up as one of six siblings so I learned early that others don’t always agree with me. One of my sisters even voted for Donald Trump but we remain friendly about many other things. One of my sisters was fighting an oil port in Maine while my older brother, then Secretary of Energy for Puerto Rico, was starting one there.

I have been involved in all sorts of progressive efforts since but I still view a meaningful, friendly community as a value which encourages me to find what I have in common with others and not what divides us. Over my lifetime of activism I have been blessed to live in several such communities and credit them with keeping me grounded even as much of the nation was in trouble.

The audience for any of our great issues is so large that not forcing relatives or friends into the fray hardly makes a difference. It can, however, greatly increase the mutual alienation within a community and make it harder for folks to treat each other as neighbors rather than as political activists.

So by all means continue to fight Trump and climate change, but give your friends and neighbors the right to be different than you. Among other things, you can work together to make the ‘hood a better place and, in the process, get them to realize that your mind is not as screwed up as they thought and that you have something in common.