kradeelav: Mordecai, FE9 (sleepyboi)
[personal profile] kradeelav

Of course politics matters. It matters a lot. It's David's job, and mine.

But if politics drives you to hate your neighbors and everyone who sees the world differently from you – instead of being angry with centers of power – then it's playing a very distorted role in your life.

I've had David's cell phone since he's been hospitalized. It is full of private messages of affection and prayers from people of all parties, of all ideologies. I mean: all. The same is true of my own phone.

The people who send these messages have nothing to gain from it: only human decency. If you decide to dismiss or, worse, hate everyone who sees the world differently, you are walking a dark and empty path, and depriving yourself of valuable opportunities.

Politics matters. But, by design, it often obscures the common humanity that drives most of us.

x

(no subject)

Date: 2022-10-02 09:29 pm (UTC)
bleodswean: (Default)
From: [personal profile] bleodswean
Sing it.

(no subject)

Date: 2022-10-03 01:25 am (UTC)
seasaltmemories_14: (a2)
From: [personal profile] seasaltmemories_14
Article was interesting on multiple levels, both for its content but also for the fact it reminded me of this article about the author himself:

https://www.salon.com/2022/08/08/what-happened-to-glenn-greenwald-the-former-trans-ally-now-sides-with-right-wing-transphobia/

I agree that how you act as a person is usually more impactful than what messaging you vote for, but there is special kind of pain in talking with someone who is warm and friendly but also very open about viewing you as less than human. Too much bigotry gets perceived as this loud, spitting rage instead of all the same ways you might look down on and demean others

That said I am reminded of Amy-Jill Levine's interpretation of the the Parable of the Good Samaritan. As a Jewish New Testament scholar, she argues that the original audience would probably most empathize with the injured man, and that the lesson of the Parable wasn't just about being kind to your "enemies" but also about how to accept help and kindness from them in return

Idk as someone who is able to blend into a lot of different social/political environments and gets to see ppl at their best and their worst, this kind of topic is one I wrestle with a lot

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