Recently my mother composed an essay, "Why The Romneys 'Connect' With Regular
Folks!" as a response to the assumption that Mitt Romney does not relate with "ordinary" people. She presents the argument that Mitt Romney relates much better because of his role as an active member of the "Mormon" church. She explains the way that congregations are structured and interact within the church, the emphasis on service for each member of the church, and how because of this experience why Mitt Romney as well as his family can relate with regular folks.
After writing her essay she sent it to all the individuals that are on her email list to share. Why not, she wrote it so she can share it with whom ever she pleases. I got it and read it, as I do all the things that my mother writes, and went on with my life. She has received mixed reviews as would be expected with an opinion.
So why would I share all of this information with you?
One particularly negative response that she got back about it has compelled me to write my own reflection about the nature of the feedback and its grossly inappropriate nature.
My cousin, her niece, was so moved by what my mother wrote she responded with a plethora of disrespect and threats. She shot back with her opinion about how much good President Obama does and her view on universal health care, etc... Then she went further and replied to everyone on her own email list, as well as my mothers, saying that she was changing her email address and if anyone wanted it they need to sign a pledge that they would never give it to her aunt. Not only that she continued to threaten to put my mothers email on a universal spam list so that any message that she delivers in the future gets filtered to spam by email.
There are a few things that I find upsetting about this. First was her response to defend President Obama and all the things that he does. I thought that this was curious so I decided to re-read the essay and highlight the sections where my mother wrote that Mitt Romney would do better than President Obama. Attached is the essay in question with my comments.
Why The Romneys "Connect" with regular folks! - Renon K Hulet
The rest of her reaction is what I find to be disrespectful. We are talking about opinions here. This essay is my mothers opinion on the subject and is what she thinks. You do not have to agree with her opinion on the subject, you can also argue against it. However what is not appropriate is to threaten her because of her view point. You no longer have to accept emails from her, but change your address entirely and require that others sign a pledge that they will not share that address is personal and mean (why else would you tell that person).
Another part of this that upset me was the fact that my mother, apologized to her many times for what she wrote. It's your opinion, you shouldn't have to apologize because someone is attacking you personally for what you believe. If they are attacking you personally its because what you have said threatens what they believe. It makes them ask themselves uncomfortable questions that makes them fear what they think is wrong. Making it personal is the only way they know how to make you feel as vulnerable as they do.
I hope my words can cut that deep.
What to take away from this?
Respect should be the cornerstone when it comes to dealing with other individuals. If I never show respect for someone else's opinion unless I 100% agree with it, then moving forward will be a slow and pitiful process. To grow I need to comprehend that I do not know, with perfect certainty, everything. I can learn from others and sometimes that process is uncomfortable and is going to make me feel vulnerable, still I will not apologize for my opinion, because its mine and I can fail on it if I choose to.
You do not have to agree with my opinion and we can discuss those points if you wanted to. Learn not to attack others for what they believe, you can disagree with them and debate points of conflict; However personally attacking someone for what they believe is a weak defense and shows that what you believe is weak and you have no other way to defend yourself.
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