Unity, Healing, and Respect

Respect is extremely important, and if we want to receive respect, it is equally important to show the same amount of respect to others. – Don Miguel Ruiz

It is always sad when someone dies but what saddens me more is the mean, offensive, and licentious response from people regarding the passing of Rush Limbaugh. As a simple means of respect for his family, friends, and colleagues wouldn’t it be more prudent and compelling to say nothing at all if all someone has to offer is an expression of their hatred? Since Limbaugh was a far-right conservative it becomes glaringly obvious that the hatred expressed in the comments section of the linked article is shared by far-left democrats. How people can dare to be so callous at the moment of this man’s death, and with such audacity, is beyond me. Do people not even consider for one moment that his family and friends who read these hateful comments will be hurt even further during this time of their mourning?

Let me make it clear that I am not speaking as a democrat or a republican, I am speaking as a human being. If unity and healing are the values that America claims to stand behind then akin to Gandhi’s quote above, how can we expect to receive or achieve unity and healing if we cannot collectively cultivate a sense of unity and healing. How can unity be achieved when division has been so deeply ingrained in the minds of people? How can healing occur when half of the American population has been scorned and essentially cancelled because they don’t all believe in the same exact thing? If we are to truly unite and heal, we cannot rely upon someone to do it for us, we must each take responsibility through kindness and compassion. In unity there is no room for hatred and condemnation.

We are being challenged to the core of our being; our very souls are being desecrated. Not the souls of the democrats, not the souls of the republicans; the souls of the people. Does anyone else out there see this current state of affairs for what it truly is? Human beings are being pitted against each other while the government sits back and has a good laugh as we fight against each other. This only makes their jobs easy as we, the people, expeditiously facilitate their agenda. The rewriting of history, internet censorship, cancel culture, white privilege, black privilege, provocation, fear, isolation, business shut-downs, school closures, a global pandemic, violent riots called peaceful protests, peaceful protests turning violent, elitism, egalitarianism, and a million other things all unfolding at once.

If you want to rise up and fight then it should not be against each other. If you want to express your anger it should not be through contentious and immature disrespect. If you want to stand by your own personal truth it should not be through the condemnation of those who do not agree. I feel that America, as a very young country compared to the rest of the world, is experiencing growing pains. Instead of fighting against each other, why not consider that we will rise up in our power as a strong and flourishing nation through solidarity rather than discord. We must each resolve to make this a positive and co-creative reality because if we do not, the government will impose its own version of reality upon us and in that, we potentially all stand to lose. Rather than devolve into a state of “one-mind” through forceful means of imposition, let’s celebrate and expand this extravagant state of diversity that allows our nation to shine in all of its magnificence, grandeur, and freedom.

Adapted from the blog of Lorraine Voss at FemaleWarrior.net on February 17, 2021