Liberals and conservatives are human beings. We all come from the same Love Source and are made of the same Good Stuff.
A difference, it seems to me, is we have different definitions and expressions of what love is. For liberals, love is compassion, respect, equality, inclusion, fairness, freedom for everyone, recognition of privilege. For conservatives, love is more fear-based, controlling, wanting to make other people like them, keeping what they 'deserve', and maintainingfreedom for themselves.
Hence, liberals are able to see immigrants, refugees, blacks, women, all those different from them, as brothers and sisters of the same Creator, and all having the same rights, no matter where they come from, no matter what race or religion they practice.
Conservatives tend to see those different from them as threats. Hence, they see immigrants and refugees as wanting a free handout when they believe there's not enough to go around. They see blacks, Jews, Muslims, even liberal Christians, as threats to them losing something. They have difficulty seeing that we can love everybody, not just "our own", those who think like us, those who look like us, those who worship like us.
Liberals have fears too. Their fears are usually about the abundance being limited to a few instead of shared, where conservatives' fears come from believing that there is not enough of that abundance to go around, so those who are stronger should have it.
We should examine each other’s fears together, and then determine which ones are real.
This is not a put-down or judgment of conservatives or liberals. It's an understanding that we are motivated by different perspectives. We're still all precious creations of God, and we need to seek to understand each other as all being in the same family.
I welcome discussion and comments regarding this post, as generalizations always have exceptions. Communicating with one another is a key to understanding, and the road to peace.
