About a month ago, I took a break from Facebook. I was overwhelmed by things I was seeing and more than anything, I was discouraged. So after my hiatus, I got back on Facebook. Now, about a month and a half after being back on, I'm discouraged again by one major thing.
So many things come down to us vs. them.
Conservatives vs. Liberals
Christians vs. Non-Christians
Poor vs. Rich
Poor vs. Rich
Us. vs. Them
The thing that bothers me the most is that it isn't just that we automatically label someone as "them." The issue is that because they are already labeled, everything they say or do goes through a filter in our brain.
"Oh, they wouldn't budge on this? We'll they're conservatives to they're closed minded."
"Well they're a liberal, so they won't think realistically."
Maybe it's inevitable that there is a distinct line and people are on each side of the line. But I don't think it's inevitable to automatically label people by the side that they fall on. And I'm guilty of this, too. But lately, it's all I see and hear.
For instance, I've been deemed a "liberal" by some. Which is fairly silly because in the grand scheme of things, I'm probably pretty in the middle. So now that that label is assigned to me, articles that I post are taken out of context because some people go into the article and have already decided that they disagree with me just because they call themselves a conservative and call me a liberal.
So why do we have to take sides? And more importantly, why do we assign a label to those on the opposite side and change our mindset about that person because of the label? Especially something as broad as "liberal" or "conservative" that is incredibly subjective and changes depending on the issue.
Why does it have to be us versus them? Why can't it just be we?
