In my neighborhood we have a variety of people. We have Democrats and Republicans, Independents, Libertarians and others. People attend different churches or don’t attend church at all. We have Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Jews and more. On a new street over from me, I’ve noticed several families who appear to be from India, Mexico and the Middle East, plus several new American families. I live in a diverse neighborhood.
I haven’t seen anyone out arguing or fighting. I haven’t noticed anyone hiding. For the most part, our neighborhood is quiet and people mind their own business. We have 26 houses on our street. I’m clueless about the day-to-day activities of most of the neighbors. We see each other coming and going and that’s about it.
Some places are not as fortunate. For example, Israel and Gaza, in particular Hamas, fight nonstop. There are ongoing words, tensions, hatred and many killings. I’ve been to Israel once in my life and had an extraordinary time. I saw so many beautiful and interesting sights. I can’t imagine ever going back. Only God knows how many children are growing up in Gaza who are learning to hate Israel and that hatred will probably never go away.
Sadly, Israel has Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon and also the Houthis in Yemen. I don’t see how Israel can fight them all, especially with them receiving support from Iran. As for the United States we already have a strong Navy fleet of ships and submarines in the region. You can count on us to be involved. Wherever there is any kind of fight going on in the world, it seems that the United States will get involved on some level.
It is tragic that Israel has so many enemies who are their neighbors. That part of the world is certainly going to become worse.
It’s unfortunate when people of different religious and political backgrounds can’t get along and work together.
My mother was a Democrat and my dad was Republican. I don’t remember hearing them argue about politics. We grew up in an area where people attended different churches. People disagreed about how they interpreted the Bible but I don’t recall anyone fighting about it. Of course, the Hatfields and McCoys feuded at one time not that far from us.
Sadly, there are places in the world where Protestants and Catholics can’t get along. There are places where the Palestinians and the Jews don’t get along.
Overall, America has been a great place for diversity. We’ve had our issues. We’ve had some very dark eras in our nation when black people were treated so very badly. Women were not treated well for far too long. Unfortunately, we still have attitudes that exist that are far from fair and respectful of all people.
Millions of people are risking their lives to come to America. They must come legally or the sheer numbers of those coming will bring about our downfall. In the meantime, we should treat each other as we would like to be treated.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is read in all 50 states. Find his books on amazon.com. Learn more about his books, columns and music at glennmollette.com.
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