Being a conservative in a liberal area

Much of our American culture is leaning to the left. This comes from the fact that the capital of the media, movies, tv, etc. come from very liberal areas such a California and New York. The problem with this is that many liberal students believe the other sides ideas to be unreasonable and extreme, causing them to deem the other side amoral. Many of my fellow classmates have recently been posting about the March for our Lives which even though I disagree with, it is great that kids can have their opinions heard. However, my issue is when students post or say that if you don’t support their policies, you are complicit in the murder of children. This is evidenced when during a CNN townhall with senator Marco Rubio, a Parkland survivor told the senator the blood was on his hands. You can have your opinion on gun control, but don’t tell me that I am amoral for my position. If you are a liberal, please spread this message

Katie McLaughlin

Mar 28, 2018

I believe the majority of people aren't actively aiming to offend, but calling it out helps make people aware of their actions. I think this message can be applied to everyone, not just "liberals" (this seems like a generalization/blanket statement to me because not all liberals have the same values). I do agree that name-calling won't help this issue at all, though - thank you for sharing.

Alan Gao

Apr 4, 2018

I've experienced a similar situation at my school. In my health class, where our teacher claimed was a "safe" space, there was one very conservative student who wasn't afraid to share his opinion. However, whenever he voiced a controversial stance that conflicted with the liberal norm at my school, he was immediately shot down and identified as bigoted and racist. While it was okay that certain students didn't agree with him, it wasn't okay that they didn't listen to why he held the certain viewpoints, and certainly not okay when the teacher started loudly arguing with him as well.

We all share common ground somewhere, and we need to learn how to have respectful and productive dialogue without immediately discrediting those with different viewpoints. That's why organizations like Bridge the Divide are so important!

Anyways, I think this is a very relevant issue that is not addressed enough, so thanks for sharing!

Felicity Wong

Oct 17, 2018

Alan,

I can relate to this situation, but vice versa because the school community that I come from is relatively conservative, so it's often hard for those with liberal agendas to voice their beliefs without being shot down or ostracized by other students. I definitely agree that Bridge the Divide and the conversations that it facilitates is so important to even begin providing a truly open space for people from all over the political spectrum to engage in civil discourse.