Political passions are running especially high because this is a presidential election year, but why are people so afraid of — or angry about — opposing opinions?
It is bad enough that people are so caught up in national politics that they view everything through that distorted lens, making their party affiliation or candidate preference the overriding factor in how they see the world. And worse, how they may see their neighbors or co-workers.
Everyone can see how extreme partisan behavior among the politicians in Washington, D.C., has made a mess of government, making it a fight to get even the most basic things accomplished.
In Washington, there is dysfunction because of the animus and never-ending power struggle between the political parties, and increasingly in the internecine warfare taking place within the parties when the most extreme politicians try to hold their parties hostage.
Rather than demanding better of our legislators, which should be our priority, too many of us are emulating that bad behavior in our communities.
Instead of judging others by how they act as neighbors, friends and co-workers, too many people boil down their judgment of others by whether they have a “D” or “R” in their voter registration. Those have become the new Scarlet letters.
Simply stating a political preference invites tension.
This week we got a message sent to the newspaper from a couple afraid to use their names for fear of retaliation.
“It has become apparent in Upper Township (and probably throughout the county) that lawn signs promoting Democratic candidates have been pillaged, run over or outright stolen from properties. Our son, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Iraq War, decided to put out signs on Butter and Church Roads that he purchased stating ‘Veterans for Biden – 2024.’ Those signs were removed or run over.
“This person, who obviously knew a veteran had put up the signs, decided to tread on his free speech as a veteran. This is outrageous. Our son, a good and decent man, would never even consider taking down or damaging any of the plethora of Van Drew or Trump signs around the township/county despite the fact that Van Drew voted against compensation for soldiers injured by the awful practice of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was President Biden who got the burn-pit compensation bill passed.
“… In the past, this fiddling with political signs rarely happened. Lawn signs and flags (no matter what party or what candidate) were displayed without incident, as it should be. How can we ever hope to expect civilized discourse over political issues to grow if there are people like this who took down our son’s signs supporting his choice for president — the choice which he fought for as a Marine. Unlike this ‘destroyer,’ our son is a patriot. This lawn sign removal or destruction must stop.”
This message is worrisome in two ways. First, because of the vandalism of political signs and, second, because family members fear retaliation for speaking up.
Do we want to model that kind of behavior here in our communities? Do we want to show the younger generations that political intolerance is how they should behave? Shouldn’t we be doing better than the politicians in our nation’s Capitol?
This week we celebrate the Fourth of July, that critical day in world history when our nation declared its independence from tyranny. It is a day to be proud, but that pride is tarnished if we let political intolerance diminish this democracy.
Amid all the flag-waving and fireworks Thursday, we should reflect on the things that unite us as Americans, commit to fighting the external forces trying to drive us apart and to let our better angels prevail.