Politics tends to
divide people. Voters have to decide which candidate to choose and this
automatically puts people into different camps. Politicians attempt to woo the
voters in a number of ways because the person with the most active “campers”
wins.
The nature of the election process often leads to the
extremes. In an effort to appeal to those who feel the most strongest about a
particular issue, the candidate frequently stirs up the emotions by painting
the opposition in the most polarizing way possible.
You may not be able to do anything about the way politicians
and their most vitriolic supporters behave, but what happens when politics causes
division between friends or even within a family?
How do you stay true to your
hopes for the government and maintain a loving, supportive environment with the
people you care about most?
People tend to befriend others with similar interests and
beliefs. Combine that with the broad picture that’s painted about the
opposition and it can be quite a shock when your friends, spouse, or children
don’t agree with your choices. For some people, it can feel like a betrayal. It’s
happened that friends and family members have been banned from discussing
politics altogether or even banned from the home during campaign seasons. Other
families take it all in stride, seemingly at ease with the differences.
How you approach these differences of opinion will have a
large impact on your children. This is true whether your children are old
enough to form their own views or if they’re still quite young.
If both parents agree, then there’s the issue of how you
portray both your side and the opposition, not to mention how -- and if -- you
handle it when friends or family members outside the immediate family disagree.
When parents disagree, it’s important to decide how you’ll
handle your own differences of opinion.
These may seem like simple decisions, but they often aren’t.
Frequently, they’re not made on a conscious level either. Instead, they just happen or they’re part of
a long-standing family pattern.
In the America of generations past, the opinion of the
patriarch was the only one that was voiced. Wives may have had their own views,
but they weren’t consulted, nor were they valued. In those situations, the
family pattern would be for the man to express his views loudly while the woman
remained silent.
Later generations saw fewer and fewer women who were willing
to sit silently while their husbands opined. The degree to which they openly
agreed or disagreed with their husbands would have varied based on their
relationships and the specific issue.
This is true for most American households today. While many
couples will agree on major concepts, they may disagree on finer points or
particular issues. And many couples seem to disagree on just about everything
political. It’s been a joke in many families that their votes cancel each other
out because they vote for different candidates or even different parties.
Some families are comfortable with loud discussions or even
arguments. Other people are fine with disagreeing as long as the views are
expressed in a polite or quiet manner. Some are okay with other opinions when
certain criteria are met. For example, differences may be expressed outside of
the home, or not when guests are present.
Is your family one that will only tolerate one view? Or will
your family support individual viewpoints between family members? Will you
encourage discourse and the open exchange of differing ideas, thoughts, and
opinions? Or will your family be one that chooses to not discuss subjects that
cause disagreement?
Being able to live with, love, and respect others with
different views is a valuable skill that you can teach your children. The
ability to recognize that a person who harbors an opinion different from your
own isn’t a villain is also an important lesson for children to learn. A valid
case can be made for any path you choose. Consider how your family will live together. That includes how you handle strong
differences of opinion, both from within and from others.
