– Respect the opinion of others and stop letting politics divide us!
By Drexwell Seymour
In most countries, there are two main political parties and the citizens aligned themselves with one of the main parties. In some countries, there are distinct philosophical differences between the main political parties.
However, in the Caribbean, particularly in the Turks and Caicos Islands, there are no fundamental differences between the two main political parties, but we have allowed our allegiance to these political parties to drive us to animosity. Even if there were differences, we should not allow our political allegiance to cause us to hate others and assassinate the characters of others.
The current political process is designed to divide and conquer us, and we have fallen for it. It is time we open our eyes and realize that fighting over political parties does not make any sense. There is nothing wrong with an individual preferring one of the parties and so we must learn to respect the choice of others.
Divide and conquer
Based on my observations, one of the greatest factors for the division in the country is due to politics. Some people are not talking to others because of politics. Some people rather attack individuals than attacking the real issues in the country. As a result of the attack on individuals, a division is created, and hatred takes place. You see when you attack one individual, you are not only impacting that one individual, but you are also affecting the family and friends of that individual and so you have a country divided over politics.
Do we want a divided country? If we are divided, how much can we accomplish? Perhaps, one of the reasons we the citizens are so far behind is because we are too divided over politics and so we cannot unite on tackling some of the main issues affecting our country because we see everything as blue and yellow.
Our country is too small to be divided over politics. The church is divided over politics and unfortunately, some are using the pulpit to promote and attack the political parties when there are members who are split over political choices. Stick to the word of God and stop being political. Now of course, if any government plans to pass laws that are contrary to the word of God, then yes, we need to use the pulpit to deal with it. We must always encourage the country to pray and repent of their sins and you can do this without attacking individuals or the political party.
Family and friends are divided over politics. In 2007, it was a wake-up call for me when one of my closest friends ran for a political party that I did not support. Do not let the love for a party destroy your relationship with your family and friends which leads me to the next point which is we should respect the opinions of others.
Respect the opinions
Everybody has an opinion about something. However, the moment someone expresses an opinion especially if it is about the decisions or the lack of decisions the government is not doing, that person will more than likely be attacked. You see, we must learn to respect the opinions of others and try to see what message we can get from those opinions. I started writing when the previous administration and I have been attacked multiple times. I even lost friendships with some individuals – who I thought were matured enough to accept and respect my opinions.
Somehow, they thought I was against the government. There is a new government now and the format of my writings have not changed. You see some people believe you are like them because some of them cannot see anything beyond their allegiance to that political party.
Conclusion
We are too obsessed with the two main political parties – almost like a cult for some. Because of obsession, we cannot see anything wrong with the party we support but we use our energy to see the wrong in those that oppose the party we support. As a result, we become bitter, angry, and upset with others which leads to division in a country. Too many of us preach unity publicly but secretly we are plotting the downfall of others because of their political preference.
We need to open our eyes and stop being blinded by politics. We complained about outsiders taking over, and one reason they are taking over is because they are united with one common goal.
We are divided over politics so we cannot come together. I repeat, open your eyes and see there is no difference between the two political parties. If some of the politicians can get along, why can’t we unite?
