Ok, so maybe this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but, I do love this song.
The topic is, sadly, familiar to many people these days, whether heated arguments over political party, gender, sexuality, religion, gun laws or abortion caused the rift, family and friends are seeing relationships torn asunder.
I’m not giving a lecture on how to fix this, I’m suffering through the same ostracism whether self inflicted or “other” inflicted. I still love or am fond of the relationships I had with these people and I do grieve the loss but, for good or bad, I will not give up my convictions, nor will they and so we parted.
The rampant destruction of relationships due to viewpoints, isn’t new. Is it even as widespread as it appears or is it social media that allows light to be shed on the topic? The answer to this is the purview of those far more educated in the psychology of relationships than am I.
Most of us have strong convictions, mine have fluctuated with life experience; what was black and white to me, say – 20 years ago, is not so clear and defined now. You live, you learn. An often overused axiom but its truth is quite evident to me.
I am sorry for the loss of the relationship but I can’t overlook chasms of conviction. I believe in equal rights for all, I believe in gun laws – laws, not bans but common sense laws. I believe gender is none of my business, I don’t live the the body of another and I can’t imagine the heartbreak of being forced into a role that is foreign to me. I believe a woman’s body, is inviolate to the opinions of others, of religion or political stance. I believe skin colour is simply biology, and has nothing to do with worth, criminality (some the most despicable despots in history were, in fact, white), if someone braves a long journey, away from home and family, there is a reason and they deserve to be heard, not locked up or shipped to an island (read – Guantanamo concentration camp).
Just a little rant here; we are ALL immigrants to Canada and the U.S. with the exception of aboriginals. The majority of ancestors arrived, fleeing starvation, imprisonment, subjugation; the same reason people are fleeing to our countries but that’s not a legitimate reason now? Go take a long walk off a short pier.
All I have to say, is that you aren’t alone. A lot of us have lost family and friends. Grieve but move on. Don’t compromise your beliefs because they are uncomfortable. Resist, stand by your ethics, your morals, your social conscience.
Wicked Emerald - Live From The Montérégie 