Stronger Together

What follows is going to be missing some specifics, but the essential point is going to come through.

Years ago I was watching a news story about a small town somewhere in a rural area -- I think in Texas. In that town was an abortion clinic. And, predictably, there were two camps -- one in support of a woman’s right to control her reproductive health, and the other staunchly opposed to abortion.

Each side expended a lot of energy on a daily basis trying to put the other out of business. Friendships and families were fractured. Tempers always seemed to be running high. An awful lot of money was being burned through. And neither side was winning.

One day, and I have no idea which side this idea came from, there was a suggestion. Instead of beating each other over the head on the issue, why not join forces and work on the issue of preventing unwanted/unplanned pregnancies. If together they could make that number drop there would be less to fight over.

It’s hard to demonize someone you’re serving with in the trenches. It didn’t bring total harmony but it got things moving toward a solution.

This week there has been another tragedy involving guns. Because little children were murdered tempers are running high and the rhetoric is ugly. We have two sides, again, and nothing of substance is getting done to solve the problem.

Gun violence is going to require a lot of work by smart people who care deeply. How much faster would we get to a better place if we could look for ways to merge our collective passion toward a real solution??

[Jim Osterman is a freelance writer. You can find him at [email protected] or https://wordsbyjimosterman.blogspot.com/]