Monday; April 26

I was a wrestling fan when I was younger. (Maybe I should say I was a fan of ‘Rasslin’ – you know the stuff that was done by people like Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant and the Funk Brothers). I would get wound up over who beat who in the spotlight matches on Saturday afternoons. In fact, my friends and I would argue over our favorites to the point that we might get in a scrap that chipped away at our relationship. Come to find out years later, these guys who seemed to hate each other on T.V. were eating dinners together and riding the same bus or plane to the next venue. I wonder how many childhood friendships were destroyed (or at least damaged) by cosmetic rivalries.


The reason I bring up old-time wrestling is that I see something akin to it in modern times. I wonder if modern debaters have done us as much good as the heartache they have caused? There are a lot of politicians, pundits and community leaders that are driving wedges between people. They stand up on their platforms and make horrendous comments about other people or concepts, then just walk away and move on their next agenda. They get their name or their cause in the spotlight for five minutes, never really understanding the collateral damage that results. Real life friendships are being severed because a famous person said this, or some politicians disagreed about that. Two congressmen may go to coffee after a heated debate on the House floor, but their constituents, who were once friends, may never speak to each other again because of the emotion they invested in their own version of the debate.

Can we disagree with someone and still be their friends? Can we have different values than someone and still respect them? You are probably waiting for me to answer “yes”; but I am not going to. You see, while it is possible to disagree and get along, are we willing to do it? The theoretical answer is in the affirmative; however, the real answer is entirely up to each one of us. The bottom line is this – what is more important to us: our opinions or our friendship?

Think About It!

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