The Divide

The Divide

September 2025 and the United States of America feels divided as never before.

Division for our country is a thread woven through moments of crisis and change and (today) technology.

Go all the way back to the beginning, the American Revolution, trace that thread through the Civil War, with all its brutality and fracturing of a nation, follow it through the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and the politics and policies instituted by Washington, DC through to this moment - RIGHT NOW - where social media amplifies outrage and disrespect. Where insults are considered “funny” and “entertainment.” We live in our own little socio-political echo chambers that create chaos and inspire violence.

Our culture is not so much addicted to immediate gratification as it is to the dopamine release from instant judgement and contempt, slander, taunts, and scorn.

Nuance is drowned out by the braying of partisan comedians and pundits drawing invisible lines in the digital sand, creating battlefields for armies that turn neighbors into adversaries and families against their own.

A disagreement over the airwaves today can escalate by micro-seconds into a moral war pitting one “movement” against another.

So, this month’s newsletter is not for the keyboard warriors of hate or the media-created late night recruiters for a battalion of hatred, who are taught to call their “enemies” vile, disgusting names.

This newsletter is for you: people who choose love over loathing, connection over conquests, and congeniality over crusades for confrontation.

Those who would gather around a dinner table with your spouse and family; people who meet at a restaurant and enjoy one another’s company; friends who have great respect and compassion for one another regardless of current events and can hang out and enjoy a drink (or two) together without a verbal showdown and contest about who is “right.”

Quick note: everyone is “right.” Sorry. Have you ever tried to convince someone they are “wrong?” If you have done so, congratulations! I’m impressed.

Because my experience says it is impossible to change a person’s values. It usually takes a crisis or a catastrophe to force someone to reject their core belief system. We adhere to our group and we cannot and will not be moved.

So, if there are two sides to an issue, each side can make a very compelling, honest case that they are “good” and “right” and “justified.”

Comedians have taken sides: you’re either this or that, and if you poke fun or point out hypocrisy of the other side, beware for an onslaught of hatred and vitriol.

More and more, I find solace in my wife and children and friends. When I am with these people, political factions and antagonism toward one side or the other is rare. And when opinions are expressed? It is not a call-to-arms; nobody calls for a demonstration or a protest or a rally with the beating of drums that signify some kind of combat.

Instead? There is respect. Camaraderie. Understanding. Often we share a lot of laughter that echoes louder than any late night television host rant or tirade.

A quick note on “comedy,” the mirror of our society. There are a lot of really, really good comedians, stand-up comics and comedy performers. I know many of them.

Not one has a late night broadcast television talk show. They very, very rarely are the guests. Why not? Because they don’t take a “side.” They’re just really good at what they do.
I know of one broadcast talk show host who does not try and elicit laughter from the audience. There is a new model. Laughs are okay, but what is needed are followers! Fans! WORSHIPERS!

The goal is not so much fun and enjoyment as it is praise. Glorification. Hence the new archetype: “CLAPTER” - a mash-up of “clapping” and “laughter” where the applause is louder than anything else, reinforcing their “side.” (Remember? They are RIGHT!)

Which makes sense in a society obsessed with likes and shares.

Madness is pervasive online. You know it.

Take the “meme” for example. These come across your social media feed in bite-sized barbs, spreading like wildfire, turning tragedy into trivia and empathy into mockery.

Thriving on division, pitting “us” against “them” in a never-ending loop of outrage, parlaying video game-style violence in virtual realms that (you know this is true) are spilling into real-world rhetoric and action.

It glorifies aggression as entertainment, blurring lines between play and peril. We’ve all seen it in heated protests that escalate into clashes, the online harassment that ruins lives, and the out-of-control media landscape rewarding sensationalism over substance.

But you? You, amid this furious frenzy, you stand apart. You don’t hate; you humanize. When others demonize, you seek to understand.

Your choice to disengage from the anger machine isn’t apathy - it’s wisdom. You recognize that true change begins not with shouts but with shared stories, not with division but with dialogue grounded in respect.

History teaches us that divisions heal when ordinary people choose unity.

Consider the abolitionists, the suffragettes, the civil rights marchers - they didn’t win through hate but through persistent, compassionate action.

Today the simplest choices echo that legacy: you cherish your family and friends. You immerse yourself in your culture and faith, fostering tolerance and decency. Praying for it invokes a higher calling: you see the divine in the different, the familiar in the foreign. Division is the gateway to dialogue, where memes fade in the face of meaningful connections.

The USA, for all its fissures and wounds and faults, is built on “E pluribus unum” - out of many, one.

So, I am writing to YOU, the non-haters, the people who embody that ideal. I urge you to keep the faith in the face of never-ending maliciousness.

You who spend precious hours with loved ones, lost in stories and songs, active in body and spirit, hopeful in prayer. Your quiet revolution may just be the antidote to our noisy divide.
In a world mad with superficial strife, your authenticity shines as a beacon. Hold fast to it. The rest will follow.

Thank you for reading,

Taylor

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