MY TURN: A plea for a return to sanity

When I was in the fourth grade, two girls from the grade above mine had a disagreement over the color of uniforms. One wanted gold and one wanted blue. So, we girls divided into two camps and quit speaking and playing together for some time until the teacher chose the uniform for us. I am sure that anyone would consider this a childish quarrel, which it was.

One of my ancestors came to this country in the 1700s because his religion was not tolerated in Europe. He worked for three years for his passage and then settled in North Carolina, where he was free to pursue his religion. In England, during Mary’s reign, Protestants weren’t tolerated. Charles the First was executed in the Civil War, Cromwell was put in power and Puritans were put in power in Parliament. Catholics hid or escaped to France or other countries. Charles II regained the throne for the Stuarts but his brother who succeeded him was forced out and William and Mary, staunch Protestants, took the throne. The Catholic Stuart princes tried to regain the throne but were defeated.   

During these turbulent times in Europe, people were executed for their religious beliefs, and hundreds of thousands of people fled England for the New World and religious freedom. The U.S. was founded on freedom of religion and freedom of speech.  

My best friend from grade school and I went through childhood together. From the '50s through the 2000s, we remained friends until she quit speaking to me. Another friend’s husband’s best friend from childhood quit speaking to him also about that same time. My neighbor refuses to say hello to me. Why did these things happen? Because of politics. Because we were of different political parties. 

So, have we lost entirely the principles that formed this country? Have we forgotten to tolerate our neighbor who is a Methodist because we are Lutherans? Are we in a childish fight over blue vs. gold? 

What has happened to this country which was founded on tolerance?

Angry rhetoric has replaced respectful and measured debate. What is next? Should I hate the guy down the road because he drives a Honda and I drive a Subaru? It makes as much sense as hating someone for their political beliefs. We have not only lost respect and tolerance, we have descended into childish thinking. Growing up, I never knew to what political party my friends in high school or college belonged. I didn’t know to which political party my co-workers belonged and it didn’t matter. 

We should look to history to see what intolerance brings. Look at Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan. Is this what we want this country to look like?   

We now have people who want to ban books that I want to read as an adult because they don’t approve of these books. If we ban books, we risk totally annihilating free speech. Does anyone really want to risk this? Let’s bring back sanity, starting right here in our own community. We can do this. Let’s see the good our neighbor is doing despite her politics. I know a person who is helping school kids with clothing and food and is of the opposite political party but do I quit speaking to her? No. I like and admire her, and want to keep that friendship for the valuable asset to the community that she is and for the friend she has always been.    

Let us look for these values in people: Do they add to the community, are they doing good work, are they respectful and kind? These things matter in the course of our lives here. What political party someone belongs to does not.

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Donna Harvey is a Hayden resident.