This week I digress again.  

It is okay that we disagree.

It is okay that we peacefully protest.

It is okay to have strong opinions. 

It is okay to say what we believe. 

It is not okay to cause violence to one another over viewpoints. 

It is not okay to call people names or cause hardship for people over race, color, or gender.

It is not okay to racially profile people based on color or jobs.

It is not okay to lock people away without due process.

It is not the left radicals or the right MAGA – those are political viewpoints.  They might be the diametrical opposite, but everyone deserves to be treated with respect.  I might fervently disagree with you, but you have the right to your opinion and beliefs, just like I have the rights to mine.  It is when people use violence to promote or protest their viewpoints that our world becomes more divisive.  Name calling, making broad assumptions about people, and calling out huge swarths of our communities of being rapists, criminals, or dealers that cause cracks and chasms between people.  I feel like it all comes down to not forcing others to accept and live under your personal beliefs.  

It is not okay to use those viewpoints to draw lines splitting people into us and them.  America is a mosaic of beliefs, religions, colors and people.  The Constitution and the Bill of Rights lays out the rights of individuals.  All people in the US deserve to have those rights upheld, no matter what.  Violence just ups the rhetoric and causes more harm.  

A podcaster I listen to reminds us daily.    You want a better world, be a better person.  It starts at home with you. (paraphrased)