I want to listen to and share my thoughts with people who disagreed with me in the elections (national, state, county and city). But, because of the emotional atmosphere in our nation and community, I am very reluctant to even open myself to the possibility of being ridiculed,insulted, called names, yelled at or shunned afterwards. My values, and the reason I vote for specific people, are the very essence of who I am. And, the same is true for those who disagree with me.

We can strongly disagree with people on issues, regardless of what the issues are. In fact, that’s what it is to live in a family, community, society. But, when we stoop to the level of making slanderous or insulting remarks about the person or group of people who see things differently than we do (or are involved in a political party that is not ours), then we become involved in dividing our nation and are dangerously close to (or may have already crossed the line in) using “hate speech.”

People often say that I should not impose my values on society. Those same people have their values that they are seeking to impose on our society (and upon me).

I long for civil conversation with people who have different ideas than I do. How can we accomplish this together?

Richard Peterson

Aberdeen