Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand~ Matthew 12:25b NIV

 My husband jokes that I grew up in a family that argued politics for the sport of it.

 His assessment is not all that far off.

 My parents were politically liberal. They grieved openly when they discovered I had registered as a Republican. However, they recovered slightly when I changed my affiliation to Independent. Both of them were intensely interested in all things political. We watched the news every single night while I was growing up. No matter how tight the family budget got there was always enough money for a newspaper subscription.

 Sometimes at the dinner table my Dad would explain both sides of a political issue to us kids and then have us debate our political viewpoint with him and each other. Thanks to my parents, I am a weird political junkie. To this day nothing makes me feel warmer, fuzzier, or more alive than a robust political debate or the drama that surrounds a presidential election year.

 I am no sissy when it comes to spirited political discourse. I have no problem hearing someone else’s point of view (even if I happen to think it’s utterly stupid and morally bankrupt). I was raised with a deep respect for the 1^st Amendment and I will defend the right of anyone to say anything, even if I believe with every fiber of my being that their view is senseless and worthy of mockery.

 However.

 For the first time in my life I am deeply disturbed by the political discourse I’m hearing. Even “hard” journalists working for legitimate news outlets have taken to making inflammatory statements that would not have met the editorial “standards” of even the cheesiest tabloid opinion page a decade ago. Some of those statements ought to scare anyone with any sense at all, liberal or conservative.

 Two weeks ago an armed gunman (unhinged lunatic and Bernie Sanders disciple) attacked a group of unarmed Republican lawmakers during a baseball practice. Before he began shooting he was careful to confirm the lawmakers were indeed Republicans. Four legislators and one lobbyist were shot; one nearly died.

 America grieved for roughly fifteen minutes before things got weird and nasty. Newscasters blamed the Republicans who were attacked for being attacked. One well-known (and respected) journalist from CBS called the shooting “a self-inflicted wound”. Others said on-air (and no I’m not kidding) that Republicans deserved what they got for being opposed to gay marriage and not standing with the group Black Lives Matter.

 Sadly, this is not the only example of anti-conservative bias. Newscasters habitually refer to Trump as a “chump”, “fascist” “lunatic” “boob” “racist” and “loser”. Actors have taken to musing about assassinating the President while audiences cheer.

 Words like “revolution” “resist” and “obstruct” have become the petulant war cry of mollycoddled middle-class snowflakes and politicians that howl about and sometimes even riot against all things conservative and capitalist. These folks appear to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that their cushy and sheltered existence is a direct result of the system they claim to loathe.

 Perhaps the most telling indicator of our discord is revealed by fact that 29% of liberals and 8% of conservatives have blocked or un-friended someone on social media because of their political views. Most liberals and some conservatives admit they cannot imagine sharing a meal with someone whose political views differ from their own.

 We’ve become a house divided, and we will not stand, unless we make some smart changes fast.

 We need to recognize that it’s risky to call for a revolution unless one is actually needed. Recent history gives some alarming examples of what can happen in nations (Yugoslavia, Venezuela, Cambodia, Cuba) where socialists and rabble-rousers have screamed for revolution. Revolutions are messy, dangerous things that seldom end well. Never once in the history of forever has a heart or mind been changed by force. As a result, revolutions typically require a lot of killing to accomplish any significant social or economic transformation.

 We don’t need a revolution.

 We need people with common sense to stand-up and peacefully end the verbal madness before it escalates into something significantly scarier. Folks need to write letters to corporations that advertise on television networks where the vitriol has gotten out of hand and ask them politely to stop supporting the hate.

 If they refuse we should quietly stop purchasing their products.

 Legislators who have hopped on the “obstruct” “resist” “revolt” and hate for the sake of hating bandwagons need to be besieged with phone calls, e-mails and letters demanding they dial down the hate and get back to doing the work they are paid quite well to do.

 We also need a revival.

 And not just in the religious sense (although that almost goes without saying). We need a revival of common sense, common decency and common courtesy. We need a revival of people who use logic to draw conclusions rather than unrestrained emotion, we need people who will listen more than they talk and actually hear the other side out.

 But mostly we need people who will look to God rather than government for answers.