Dear Friends,

My wife and I watched the movie "Joshua" a couple of weeks
ago (which, by the way, I recommend highly). I was envious of
the way the main character was able to interact with most of
the other characters in such a non-threatening way. That's
when I decided I'm going to resign from my political party.

We are really stuck in the United States. For a large number
of people who belong to either political party, any members
of the other party are automatically perceived as a personal
threat. The perception is not "I disagree with you, and
here's why," but rather "If it weren't for you and your
political party, life would be perfect." Both groups beleive
that all reasonable people side with them and all of
the "idiots" side with the other party. We are well practiced
at entrenchment, ready to defend our positions (whether we
have ever thought critically about them or not) from a vile
and wiley enemy. There is little honesty, little discussion,
and little chance for persuasion, only a lobbing of insults
and sound bites over the walls we have built to protect our
most cherished prejudices. The measure of truth has been
traded for one of cleverness and stinging retort.