An Open Invitation

As much as I'm sure I could be posting daily here on my political blog, I've avoided doing so. Sometimes because I find other social media posts, articles or blogs that accurately describe my same thoughts and feelings and many times in a much more eloquent way than I ever could. Sometimes because the thought of taking the time to write out all of my thoughts on recent actions would mean digging up a lot of anger and frustration that sometimes I just don't want to do deal with. And sometimes, things that have happened or have been said have left me completely speechless and I just don't have any words. 

But America as we know it is changing. Things are happening that I honestly thought I'd never see in my lifetime. I do believe that America is a great country but this is not the America that I believe in. This is not the America I want to live in. I want better. We deserve better. 

But this post isn't about any one event or incident in particular. After recent events in Charlottesville, I've seen this Facebook post being shared a lot. 

And I get it. People are angry. But I refuse to share something like this on my page. I refuse to take this route. I think unfriending someone because they have different beliefs from you will only cause a larger gap in our already divided nation. 

Now, let me say right here, I am not okay with what that picture represents. I, personally, don't understand how some people have those views, have that much hatred for other people. But. That doesn't mean I don't want to try and understand. It doesn't mean I won't listen to what you have to say. 

I am a big believer in listening to all sides of the story. I want to try and understand why you have your beliefs. And I hope in turn, you'll want to try and understand my beliefs. Nothing good can come from us continuing to separate ourselves from those who believe in something so different from us. In order to try and find some middle ground, you have to be able to understand each side. 

I'll admit, I don't have many Republican friends on Facebook. Or maybe I don't have many vocal Republican friends on Facebook. And I know Facebook's algorithm doesn't help with this. But I want to hear your thoughts. I want to listen to you. I want to hear from you! My Independent friends, please join our conversation as well! You also have a different viewpoint I'd love to hear more of. 

So here's my open invitation. Join my conversation. Share your beliefs. Tell me your thoughts on recent events. I want to know. I hope that you'll take the time to listen to me as well but I can respect if you don't want to. I promise to keep any conversations from me civil. I don't want to fight, I just want to try and understand. 

So ask to be my friend if we're not already. Comment your thoughts on my posts. Write something on my wall. Message me. Follow me on Twitter (@lizzaruba) and reply with your thoughts. Maybe we can just spend some time asking each other questions. It doesn't matter. I want dialog. And yes, I will state here that I know I post a lot of political posts on Facebook and I'm sure it could get annoying to see them pop up in your newsfeed so often. What I would ask here is that you just adjust your settings so you see less of my posts or don't "follow" me, but stay connected as friends.  

Again, I'm not looking for fights. I'm not looking for arguments. I'm looking for conversation. For dialog. For trying to understand each other's beliefs. If we can't start to do this, we can't start to move forward. I hope you'll consider my invitation to conversation.