When my ideas become my identity

 

Photo by carlos aranda on Unsplash

I have been thinking... Why has our political / social discourse become so violent?

Different opinions and ideas are not something new to our country; it is not as if they are just now appearing, or that before we were all in agreement about everything. The hallmark of the American Way is not total unanimity, but a fair, balanced, level play field for ALL ideas and opinions to compete on. Our system also provides the means for the debate of those ideas, as well as way to evaluate them (our Founding Documents), and what is more amazing to me, a way to improve the system itself.

I am telling you, those Founding Fathers were something else - I particularly admire Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

Opposite ideas are not new; debate is not new; the system is not new.

What has gone wrong, then?

 On one hand, we are losing the ability to distinguish between the value of the person (infinite and intrinsic) and the value of their ideas (finite and in need of evaluation). We now feel that is OK to diminish that value of the person has, what we consider, a bad idea. On the other hand, we believe our personal value comes from the ideas we embrace. In other words, when someone attacks the opinions we cherish, we immediately consider it a personal aggression, we get offended and angry, and the escalation of the conflict begins.

What is, then, the solution?

The first step is an introspective analysis. We must question our own hearts, we must look at our past, and we must consider what we really believe about the future in order to know ourselves better, in order to understand why we have this double standard: it is OK for me not to show respect to another human being, if I deem their ideas wrong, but it is not OK for them to do the same with me, since I am convinced my ideas are perfect.

CONSIDER THIS

 What or who defines your identity? Who / what are you?