In every social, political or religious group there is always the "left" and the "right"...there are always the traditionalists and the progressives; those who want to uphold the letter of the law and those who want to uphold the spirit of the law. The liberals and the conservatives are part of all human organizations; it's just how human beings relate to each other over issues. These things have always been the same.
The hardliners and the hippies always have a tug-of-war with each other and each side blames the failings and woes of society on the other side. I have to confess I was far more to the right of the scale when I was younger, both politically and spiritually but life experience taught me to swing more to the center.
Most of us are guilty of black-and-white thinking. We try to divide things up in our minds because it's just plain easier and takes less homework and effort to paint the world in monotone colors. But the truth is that things are almost always more complex and in reality the world isn't black and white - it's in full-color.
The secret of maturity is often found in learning to view the world holistically - to look at the "big picture" and realize that all sides of the issues need to be looked at and examined. Then our thinking becomes focused on the issues and not on bringing our agenda and platform to the discussion ahead of time. It's better to look for consensus, compromise and solutions than to prove you're right and the other side is wrong.
If we bring a spirit of war to the negotiating table we're already doomed. Once we're divided everything falls apart. United we stand but we don't have to agree with each other on everything to stay united. We just have to agree over our mutual common goals of world betterment, civic improvement, spiritual uplift and the forward progress of peace on Earth. As long as we keep talking, peace will prevail.
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