A Different Life: A Facebook Series
Once a week, I hope to find and share on Facebook a short personal viewpoint article from someone whose life is different than my own. Respectful sharing and listening is the only way I know to heal the political rift in the nation I love deeply. My goal is NOT to find articles that I can agree with wholeheartedly nor to find the perfect voice that represents a group. Instead, I seek articles that help me put aside my own viewpoint long enough to think and SEE FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE. Comments agreeing or disagreeing are welcome, but ugly or divisive (us vs. them) comments will be deleted. If you know of an article that you think would work well for the series, please message a link to me. Thanks!
Past Articles:
- Racial inequality and a multi-race family -- http://www.dailyo.in/…/black-lives-matte…/story/1/11936.html
- Police work in America -- http://coldcasechristianity.com/2016/six-things-that-may-change-the-way-you-think-about-police-officers
Sources:
Even though I have a master’s degree in Information Science, navigating the waters of credible sources is quite a challenge. If you find someone who thinks they have all the answers on the topic…run from them! These are complex issues often tilted by personal beliefs. In addition, false news and the explosion of social media muddy the waters. Since many first-person narratives on the internet tend to be from smaller and more obscure sources, it will be difficult to vet authors and media outlets, but I will try. I will make an effort to stay away from outlets that support extremists and sensationalism (i.e. Occupy Democrats, Breitbart, Addicting Info, InfoWars, etc.).
Where I’m Coming From:
In this politically-charged, jump-to-social-media society, the transparency we need to make quality judgements can be hard to find. So I want to be transparent.
Politically, I am not a team player. Even though I now tend to vote for a particular party, I consider myself an independent voter because I feel it is crucial to look at each candidate’s stance on key issues and their integrity before I give my support. I also see a lot of damage being done as people jump to defend politicians simply because they are “on my team.”
I freely admit that spirituality steers my politics. I am a Christian. I grew up partially in a progressive church and then my family switched to an evangelical one for my formative years. As an adult, I followed my heart to return to a progressive church. Through life experience, friendships, travel, and reading, I have found value, important life lessons, and respect for many denominations as well as many religions outside of Christianity. I see dangers in them as well – and in myself any time I start to smugly feel I know all the answers.
In terms of life experiences that shape my spirituality and politics, I am a “mutt.” I have dear family and friends on both sides of the political aisle. In my own life, I have lived in the conservative stronghold of a military town in South Georgia as well as the liberal stronghold of Berkeley CA, making lifelong friends in both places. Life experiences such as losing a close family member to AIDS, marrying an Air Force officer, having a childhood best friend come out as gay, living most of my life in the Deep South, traveling extensively, and growing up the daughter of a university professor have all tugged at and shaped my beliefs. I have come to believe that it is crucial to reach out to others and respectfully listen in order to help me rise above interpreting morality, spirituality, and life purpose in a way that only serves my own needs and culture.
