The right winger in you

It is not you, nor is there a group called right wingers. It is each one of us once a while, occasionally or frequently a right winger.  There is a right winger in each one of us be it politically, ethnically or religiously at least once in a life time.  Check the following seven things out;

1. No tolerance for criticism of the president, as long as president is from their own party. For example, a right wing Republican would not tolerate any criticism of Bush, it amounts to disloyalty to the nation and without blinking an eye, you are unpatriotic, and they will accuse you and blame your religion, race, ethnicity or immigrant status or whatever they can find that is different in you.  
   They usually attack the person instead of the issue, the far left Democrats have the same germ in them. The attacks on Obama by these right wing possessed individuals is pathetic, they lost the election, and instead of gracefully accepting the will of the people, they attack the person of Obama, some of those assess, even attack Michelle Obama. This is not good for the nation.  For every accusation you hurl on Obama, the same can be hurled on his predecessor - Obama went to Vegas when Sandy hit the shores, what did Bush do when Katrina hit Louisiana?
2. If you are Chinese, Nigerian, Brazilian, German, Arab or African, simply substitute the words India or Pakistan with the name of your nation, the following experience would be the same. The Indian and Pakistani right wingers are no different. Criticism of what goes on there amounts to India or Pakistan bashing to them, they find it easy on their intellect to go ahead and make a judgment on you, instead of dealing with facts. Of course,  facts don’t matter to them. They hunger to create passionate supporters by painting the other guy their enemy. I see this every day among these two groups as well as the Bangladeshis’, switch it to Nigerian or Libyan and see if it works.
3. Religiously, the right wing Muslims, Christians, Jews or Hindus behave the same. By the way, there are right wingers among Buddhists, Sikhs, and even Bahai’s.  I have experienced all of these; it will be in my book, something you already know. No matter what is suggested, their minds quickly decide that others are attacking them, and that the others are their enemies. They ruin the joy of their life by living in constant anxiety.
4. By the way, conservatives are not right wingers, although right wingers can be conservatives. The right wingers are calling themselves conservatives, they are not. Conservatives want to stick with what is proven, what is known and what is working, and resist experimentation. They are not risk takers. You and I are conservatives in some areas and in the same areas occasionally, frequently or never. 
5. What makes one a right winger? You can observe the following; facts don’t matter to them, they insist their version is the final truth, and how dare you not accept their view as a fact? They are usually blunt and tell you that you are wrong, facts don't matter to them.  If you disagree with them, they become a passionate enemy of you; they will make the time to tell all the bad they they imagine about you, and tell others. They are risk takers, and are not embarrassed if they make the sense or not, if they don’t, they get louder and chase you to the end of the world. They usually bond on the basis of hate for others, which are temporary associations.  
   
6. Relax, you are not a right winger, if you are reading these words. Right wingers moved on out after item # 1 and have already responded in their minds, or passed it on to their friends… They rarely read things… remember facts don’t matter to them. They may be engaged in item # 5 right after # 1.
7. We need to be compassionate, I wrote this as an example, some of my closest friends are right wingers in religion, politics, culture and cuisine and I have found a way with some of them in my workshops, talks and dealings - to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us. Pluralism is an attitude of respecting who you are, without having to agree with you. I have found that their attitudes are molded by lack of knowledge about you, of inexplicable phobias....if you take the time, and when they see that you care, the fears vanish for them. They can become great friends with the same intensity for friendship. 

God bless us all with peace, may our anxieties recede, and may we give each other full value as we give to ourselves. Amen! We may all learn to respect the intentional diversity of God's creation, it amounts to genuine worship of God.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him.