Aug 28, 2010
Controversies seem to be all around us today. It didn't seem that way when I was growing up. Not until the early 1060's, and that was because a black family decided to move into our neighborhood. Until then, and much of the time after that until the Vietnam war entered everyone's lives, controversy was something people read about in the newspaper and perhaps saw on the TV news.
Today, it's different. Today, there are enough controversies that everyone can find at least one that's compelling them to take a side.
Know what I find interesting? In every controversy, each side has something valid to say. If it weren't so, there would be no side. But, there's the other side. And there comes polarization, an "either-or" attitude, demonizing or dehumanizing the other side, exaggerating the other side's shortcomings, and perhaps a heavy dose of gossip. Finally, you're at a point in time where a difference of opinion has grown into a major dispute.
I'm going to offer you some examples, and some of you might find something to get upset about in the examples I use. But each has something to be said for it.
And look at the energy being expended. Well, there's a solution out there. What will it take to find it?
Blessed Be!