Letter: Addressing shocked response to 'Vote Wisely' ad

I want to address Liz Cain's letter with a dose of reality.

Just because you don’t agree with the ad in question, and just because you personally find it offensive, does not make it wrong and you right.

It was an advertisement. They are printed all the time. Generally people who don’t agree with them see them and just move on. I believe a lot of people in our community have done just that when they saw the ad from the Frank-Plumlees.

What I will agree with you on is the fact that there is a huge divisiveness in our world, and even here in Lincoln. What adds to the divisiveness that makes you so sad, shocked, angry and scared are letters just like yours. Rather than acknowledge there is a difference of opinion, which has nothing personally to do with you, you feel the need to take it personally and make a scene over it. It’s like you’re saying that only your views are right, and anyone with a differing opinion is wrong. THAT is what causes the divide.

Just because I don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean I don’t like them, it just means that our perspectives are different from the places we’ve come from in our lives that cause us to think differently and form differing opinions. Wouldn’t it be far less divisive if we learned from one another rather than admonish one another for varying beliefs and opinions? When did it become so abhorrent to be different, have different beliefs and opinions and still be friends?

To give you a little insight into my background… my mother, friends from the east coast, and a lot of my friends in the art world are more on the liberal side and have those views. My father was, other half is, along with several friends throughout the country and in Lincoln specifically are more on the conservative side of the political line. I listen to both sides of views all the time, do my own research, and form my own opinions. I don’t have to not be friends with any of them, and quite often, find myself learning lots of new things because of all of those varying opinions of all the people I encounter.

To further my point, I came across the following quote. I don’t know who wrote it, but it couldn’t be more fitting that right at this very moment in time. It says, “Peace is not when everyone agrees. It is when we can respect our disagreements and still play in the sandbox together.”

Your letter makes it very clear that there is no respect from you towards others opinions and beliefs and that you alone are correct. I disagree.

One other portion of your letter addresses how you can have conversations with the supporters of the ad knowing what they think of you. First of all, the ad doesn’t address any one person specifically. If you chose to take it personally, that it something entirely different, and solely on you. I was taught by a mentor several years ago and have seen this phrase in many self-improvement classes and readings which has served me very well and it says, “What other people think of me is none of my business.” I believe more people could benefit from this single phrase, especially in terms of your concerns over what friends think of you based on your political views.

It’s a sad day indeed when people feel the need to cut friends out of their lives because of what they think people think of them or their difference in opinion. I have a feeling up until the elections, and possibly beyond, we’re going to see a lot more of this – the divisiveness that politics has created among friends, family, towns, cities, states and countries.

Only those with open minds, open hearts, and a willingness to let one another have their own opinions and views without judgement can make this world any better.

Tammy Jordan

Lincoln, MT