So, I guess I'll never learn

I'm friends with a fair number of people. Some are very conservative, some are very liberal. Some are quite religious in one direction, others are quite religious in another, and some aren't religious at all. So, I feel that asking for some degree of tolerance is reasonable.

In the past day, however, I've had two "liberal" friends condemn me, neither one realizing that they were. One was broadly proclaiming that if you weren't ready to vote for Obama, then, you must be a racist. The other was declaring that because of the waste on a few contracts, the entire Pentagon should be shut down, and all military sub-contractors should "be thrown in jail for being accessories to murder". Meanwhile, one of my more conservative friends condemned me by saying that "it's treason" to question the wisdom of the "unseen hand". I thought he was joking. Turns out, he wasn't. To Him, the free market is an article of faith, and if you disagree with his notion, you are "anti-american". Meanwhile, I've got a christian friend "praying for me" because I don't go to her church, and a Islamic friend asking me "why Americans want to kill me".....

Look, can we lay off the broad rhetoric? Is it possible that maybe, rather than looking for "black hats" and "white hats" we just try to talk to each other? Any chance of that, at all?

I mean, politically, I'm left of center (I think, anyway) but I'm not about to vote for most of the democrats, because they don't strike me as leaders. Sometimes I even agree with some of their ideas, but the way they phrase it seems, well, like they think I'm not a very good person. Or, they seem too strident. Or, they seem to lack conviction. I vote based upon platform, so, I'll probably end up voting for Edwards, and when the ticket is Clinton/Obama, I'll vote third party, again. I don't think that makes me a raving lunatic, do you?

As far as religion goes: I've got my beliefs, but they're mine, and no, I'm not sharing them. But, that doesn't mean that I think yours are wrong. Just don't tell me that you won't extend the same courtesy to me. See? I'm neither a zealot, nor a fiery heretic.

I just think that some of the issues at hand are far too important to drown them in self-righteousness, and insecurity. We need to talk, and not just consolidate our base. We need to try to understand each other, or there will be no need for understanding.

Yeah, I'm a pie-in-the-sky dreamer: I still believe that people are more important than, and that people can overcome beliefs.