I saw a CNN interview two nights ago with some radio show host, who said “Both political sides hate each other, but that’s because they don’t know each other.”

No. No. No. That’s not it at ALL.

I do not hate people on the right. But I do know them really well. I see them clearly. And they know me.

But they know me through a filter.

They are also more likely to hate me and people like me, than we are to hate them. I know why, too.

Many of them, maybe the loudest, feel threatened.

They operate from fear and are especially afraid of those who are different. They fear that gay people will recruit their children to a lifestyle they do not think is “normal”. That black people will take too many tax dollars in services. Or get something they haven’t “earned.” That immigrants and people of color will take jobs from them. (ha.) That America is a Christian nation and should be governed in that way.

None of these things are true, but they believe it. I know that. If you want to understand people on the right, understand that their hallmarks are fear and from there, exclusion.

FACT.

As for us? They know us, too.  They know we do not see homosexuality as a problem. Or abnormal. Which threatens them. And that we do not have any issues with people of any color getting a hand up for work, getting services if they need it. We are not threatened by this. Or by people of different race, color or creed.

But they are.

They accuse us of tax and spend, when we really just want to take care of those who need it. Many of us are fiscally conservative but still understand we are our brothers’ keeper. Something they don’t seem to recognize.

Nor do we believe that Christianity is the only creed to live by. (yes, I see the contradiction in their beliefs. But they don’t)

Nor do we believe we should govern as a Christian nation. We believe in the separation of church and state. Just like our founding fathers.

If you want to know people on the left, know that we live without judgment of those less lucky. We operate from compassion and inclusion. It’s our default.

Some may believe I’m painting us as saints and them as sinners in a partisan way. I’m not.

I’m shining a light on what’s factually true. And there’s plenty of evidence.

We’re not perfect on the left. But our creed is more Christian that many who call themselves that.

So that radio host was wrong. It’s not at all about us not knowing each other.

It’s that we DO know each other and our positions on everything are eons apart.

And the right? They know the left because Faux News tells them who we are. That’s how they know us.

Truth is, we do stand for all the softer, inclusionary human values they do not.

And yes, yes, there are some on both sides who are not doctrinaire but for the most part, the division in our country is not because we don’t know each other.

It’s because we DO know each other. But one side is always looking through a veil of fear and exclusion fomented by a TV network and the bully pulpit of social media.

One more thing:

Robert Reich wrote an analysis yesterday of what unites us. He writes, “The core of our national identity has been the ideals we share: our commitments to the rule of law, to democratic institutions of government, to truth, to tolerance of our differences, to equal political rights and to equal opportunity.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at the two sides of our political coin and see which side represents those ideals. And which side wants to destroy them.

And that is not partisan politics. It’s FACT.