The Bridge

You're hanging on a creaky rope bridge hanging over a deep ravine. You look down briefly and gulp, wishing you hadn't. Deep breath in, close your eyes, count to ten. You try to calm your racing heart to no avail. Taking stock, you notice that the next several boards are completely missing, which is not reassuring since you just jumped onto your current board as the previous few disintegrated under you. Stuck. The breeze blows gently, rustling your shirt and hair. On solid ground, that would feel nice, a brief respite from the heat of the day. Now, it only feels terrifying. But what's that? Ahead of you, past the bridge on the other side, you see a friend! Elated with relief, you call out to him. He runs towards the bridge, shocked by your plight. He starts calling suggestions, and you desperately try to process everything he's saying. Just then you hear another voice behind you. Palms sweaty, you turn gingerly, trying not to sway the bridge too much as you look around. Another friend waits on the other side, and she too starts calling suggestions. Your relief starts to fade as you realize that they’re both telling you different things, and neither of them has a complete view of the situation you’re in. You start to call back, explaining a little more about your situation. Then, to your chagrin, they suddenly start yelling at each other, arguing over who is right. What’s going on? They even start insulting each other! Deep breath in, close your eyes, count to ten. They must not have heard you. Maybe you can try again. You start from the beginning, but one of them yells angrily back that you don’t know what you’re talking about, and to please let them handle it. 

Suddenly you realize you’re living a parable of the brokenness of an excessively partisan political environment. 

Can we please agree on the fact that every issue has (at least) two sides, and that there are reasonable and sincere people on both? If I never again hear even a hint of a whisper of an implication that "that party" is evil because of "such and such," or that “anyone in that party” is evil or amoral, it'll be too soon. I do think there are issues with moral implications, and I know that I do disagree with people I know on some moral issues. BUT even issues with moral implications are complex, multifaceted, and are neither clear cut nor easy to solve. There are good people on both sides (and someone being on the other side does not disqualify them from being a good person: see some of my thoughts on that here). And whatever the issue, there are always people who are hurting in the balance. So rather than yell about how right we are and how wrong they are, I would like to see us all work together to rescue the poor soul hanging desperately in the middle of the bridge, hoping that we'll stop throwing insults at each other long enough to notice them, and help them up.