“CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?”

by Opal Elaine Moyer

     No one is ever really surprised to hear name calling, when passing by a playground or a group of children at play. Afterall, nobody ever agrees about everything, all of the time, and children will be children. What is surprising is the name calling, which can be heard among adults, particularly where politics are concerned. Visit an online message board, for example, and one might be shocked by what one reads.

     This name calling is not one-sided; both ends of the political spectrum partake of it. The question is, does this name calling actually prove the deliverer's point of view or win an argument? No, the only purpose that this seems to serve is that it establishes an air of superiority to the giver over the receiver. This serves as an attempt to silence ones opponent, which no one should ever really do.

     One of the great freedoms, of this country, is that of freedom of speech (or freedom of self expression). Men fought and died, in wars of the past (both here and in other lands), to secure this freedom for all; this freedom must not be taken for granted, nor denied to anyone. All people have the right to be heard, whether their opinions assimilate our own or not. In most debates, both sides make some points that are right and some that are not; no point of view is exclusively the one and only correct one. We all live in this country, together, and, like children in the same sandbox, the politically, diametrically opposed simply need to learn to just get along.