OPINION: Republicans Report — The division of America

Loru Yazdani is a first-year student, double majoring in music production and law enforcement. She is a member of the Ohio University College Republicans. The following article reflects the opinion and views of the author and does not represent the thoughts of the Ohio University College Republicans.

This is a submitted column, and please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political. 

We’ve all heard it said that President Donald Trump is the reason America is so divided. To some extent, there could be an argument made for that theory. Since he hit the scene, it does seem like our division has gone to the next level. However, maybe it’s not so much about him as it is about us.

If we look at the history of politics in this country, America has always been divided. Our political views were so different that they had to be divided into two parties and, as time has gone on, we’ve seen the birth of other minor parties, such as the Libertarian Party and the Green Party.

We’ve always been a country with a wide variety of viewpoints and very diverse outlooks on the world we live in. We see a problem, and we come up with a hundred different ways of solving that one problem.

The difference now is that we’ve lost the ability to accept those differences and accept that not everybody has the same mindset as we do. We want to take eyes that see the world through different lenses and minds that think differently and hold them captive.

We want to hold marches and riots and resist until there are no longer any free thinkers left in this world. Now, I definitely believe in people’s right to protest, and I support their right to make their voices heard, even when I don’t agree with what they have to say, but I don’t support someone telling me that my voice shouldn’t be heard simply because they don’t like what I have to say.

Democracy is not something to be taken lightly. I was looking through an old 1942 magazine once, and I saw an ad that said, “This is the glory of democracy; that man may think as he will, speak as he will, vote as he will, and worship God in his own way.”

The right to choose independent thoughts is not something we should take lightly. The freedom to be a country of divided opinions is not something we should ever be upset about. Trump didn’t divide this country, but he did open our eyes to the reality of just how incapable we have become, as a society, of accepting any opposing viewpoint.

We live in a time where people are no longer taught how to handle disappointment or opposition, and that can be a very dangerous thing. After President Trump was elected, classes were canceled, students were offered hot chocolate and coloring books to help them cope, and people were comparing Nov. 9 to 9/11.

Instead of bridging the gap created by society’s emotional immaturity, this only served to expand the ever-growing rift. I’m not making an argument that people who hate Trump should like him. They are free to hate him as much as I’m free to love him.

What I’m saying is that having a different opinion doesn’t make me the enemy. I’ve lost so many friends since I came out in support of President Trump, and it’s very disheartening because I would never kick someone out of my life for supporting someone like Hillary Clinton.

I can’t, in any part of me, understand why someone would want to see that woman sitting in our oval office, but I also know that there are people out there who would disagree with me on that, and I’m not going to hate them for having a different opinion than I do.

I can handle the fact that not everyone thinks like me. I won’t lie and say that some people’s opinions never bother me, because they do, but I don’t want everyone to think like me because I value the importance of a society of freethinkers.

In fact, one of my best friends is a liberal, and her mom hates Trump, but we don’t hate each other over that, and her mom and I don’t hate each other. We get that we aren’t the same people. We can leave those differences at the door and move on because I respect her right to have her own opinion and she respects my right to have mine.

So, next time you want to hate someone for having a different opinion than you, just try and allow your logic to override your emotion. Accept the fact that someone has a different outlook, thank God that you live in a country that affords you the freedom of speech and the freedom to choose your own mind, and move on. Don’t hate them for being a different person than you.