passions are running high and our nations collective will is being tested.

what's in a name...a label or nickname? we name our kids, our pets and the world around us to make it simple for people to understand who and/or what we are talking about. names are concrete...labels and nicknames are not, they fall into the gray areas more often than not. labels like republican, democrat, black, white are descriptive of a group of people and their identities. the danger is that by bundling up people (sociology, the study of groups of people) can have its downfalls. for example, what comes to mind when the word or phrase nazi, communist rich person, poor person, etc are loosely thrown around?

people have died because they were labeled witches, communist or something other than what they truly were. others were what they had been labeled and took a chance or a stand for what they believed; even if it went against popular appeal or the laws at the time. the danger with having a diverse nation such as ours is that there are so many labels being tossed around these days where the intensity and passion of those in the debate are once again rising to dangerous levels such as those during wwii or any of the other dark and tumultuous times in human history.

passions are running high and our nations collective will is being tested...there is such a passionate divide in our country that the labels are being poured into molds of concrete and pretty soon the dye will be cast and we will have all backed each other into a concrete wall...can it be avoided? i wish i knew.