Are You Ready To Celebrate With Those You Disagree With? Merry Christmas | The Mister Brown Show
“Are you ready to celebrate with those you disagree with?” is a question that applies to most people around the holidays. Do we even know how to agree to disagree anymore, or do we just avoid certain topics for the sake of Christmas dinner?
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Merry Christmas!
My perspective of Christmas has really changed over the years. It used to always be about gifts, but now I can honestly say that Jesus is the reason for this beautiful season! This is a positive and joyful time of the year and I want to try and stay as positive as I can with this podcast. I am going to talk about the question “Are you ready to celebrate with those you disagree with,” a quote of the day, and discuss whether or not one of the President’s comments is a threat or a poorly written press briefing.
Agreeing to Disagree
I want to start us off with a quote that I saw on Instagram. It said:
“Being taught to avoid politics and religion has led to a lack of understanding of politics and religion. What we should have been taught was how to have a civil conversation about difficult topics.”
We have been taught to avoid certain conversations; until recently when politics entered every topic of our being, especially since covid. Since we were trained not to talk about difficult topics we disagree on, we label you and then dismiss you entirely. We label people in order to avoid having the actual conversation. If I state that I don’t think the vaccine is effective, you label me an “Anti-Vaxxer” and dismiss me entirely as a person based on my opinion on one thing. We use these labels so we don’t have to listen to people. Do I have to agree with you on everything in order for you to be right about one specific thing? Can I disagree with you about how the pandemic is being handled but still agree with you about children’s safety in schools?
I heard about this world-renowned doctor recently who has tons of PhDs. People on Wikipedia are labeling him as spreading ‘misinformation’ because they don’t agree with what he has to say. Instead of having the conversation, they labeled him and discounted him entirely. This guy has so much knowledge, experience, and was world-renowned until he said something that people didn’t agree with, and all of his hard work and credibility went out the door based on one opinion. It is like the term “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” We have to stop labeling and discrediting people if they think differently than us.
We came home from church one day and I walked into the kitchen to find my two kids, Sophia and Evan, holding hands, jumping in a circle, and screaming the name of each of their favorite teams. Evan was screaming “Seahawks,” and Sophia was screaming “49ers.” They disagreed on favorite football teams, but they were still holding hands.
Person vs The Policy
One of the saddest things about how this pandemic has been handled is that it has divided people from those with whom they have done life with for years. Friends, families, and coworkers now will not even speak to, or see each other, based on their disagreement on one topic. This idea of labeling and dismissing people started before the pandemic, with President Trump for example. People were like “Oh you voted for Trump, I can’t associate with you.” We have made everything about the person instead of the policy. That is our fault. We won’t listen to certain policies because of the personality of the person presenting them. No one is right in every situation.
We should have been taught to agree to disagree, but always respectfully. We have to stop demonizing people for thinking differently. My wife and I don’t agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we dismiss each other.
3 Tips to Help You Celebrate With Those you Disagree With
I have 3 tips to help you celebrate with family and friends when you disagree with them.
Recognize the other person’s humanity. The person you disagree with has God-given, intrinsic value. They were created by God, for God. Treat them as the human being that they are. I used to be a Sunday school teacher and I would talk with kids about putting others down. I would ask them, “When you start putting someone down, are you putting them down, or the one who created them?” Respect the person you disagree with, they are human just like you are.
Recognize your own humanity. You are flawed, we all are. Think of the last time you were certain you were 100% right about something, and then you found out that you were wrong. Talk about humbling. Many of us do not want to admit we were wrong, and I see that in our nation. Is that the kind of nation we want to live in? Is that the kind of people we want to be? We need to be people who are willing to say “I was wrong” and move in a new direction. We have to check ourselves. We are not always right, and neither are our sources! Too often we are unwilling to recognize our own humanity and the fact that we could be wrong.
Start from a place we can all agree on. Start from a common ground. We tend to start conversations with things we can’t agree on, and then we never make it to the topics we do agree on. Abortion, for example, we can both agree that care about the mother. We care about the humanity of the woman. Covid, for example, we can agree that we do not want people to get sick or die from covid. Find the common ground and move on from there.
As you head off to your holiday gatherings, don’t avoid conversations or make them the topic of the dinner table, but don’t be afraid of them either. We have to start where we agree. Find something you can agree on and move on from there. Learn to have a civil conversation where you can walk away from the table agreeing to disagree, respectfully. We have been taught to avoid conversations on politics or religion, but we can choose to change and be role models for the next generation on how to have civil conversations. We need to agree to disagree but always commit to cooperation, love, and treating people with respect.
Are you ready to interact, and sit around the table with people you do not agree with?
Is That A Threat?
Below is a comment from President Biden in a press briefing from December 16th.
“For the unvaccinated, you are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”
Is that a threat or just a badly-worded press briefing? This statement divides the country based on who got the shot and who didn’t. This statement threatens those who are not vaccinated with a “winter of severe illness and death.” I think that is a threat. Let’s stop making people who think differently the enemy. We once had one nation, now we have the vaccinated nation and the unvaccinated nation.
Just recently the White House confirmed that they are experiencing a covid outbreak, and 99% of the people in the White House are vaccinated! Why are we not stopping to ask questions? The people who are vaccinated are still getting and spreading covid to each other. This doesn’t make sense. I am not an anti-vaxxer, but I am asking questions. If we can all agree that we don’t want people to get or die from covid, then let’s look at all the options and work towards a better solution!
Quote Of The Day:
I want to end this podcast on a positive note. So today’s quote of the day is:
“Open your arms to different views, but don’t let go of your values. Choose Well”
It is okay to listen to different points of view, but do not lose sight of your values. We all have different views, but that doesn’t mean that one is right and one is wrong. I was ironing my clothes once when my sister-in-law walked in and asked what I was doing. When I said, “Ironing my clothes,” she said, “that’s weird.” Just because we don’t have the same point of view doesn’t mean I am going to forfeit my value of having neatly ironed clothes. As you sit around the dinner table or go back to work, it is okay to hear different views, but don’t let go of your values. Your values really do matter!
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
