Civil War?

No, an uncivil war maybe. Bad feelings among groups of people appear continuously throughout American history. Strife. Violence. Nasty interactions among groups that look and act differently from each other.

We did it with German immigrants. We did it with Irish, Italian and every other immigrant group marked by their nationality. We discriminate among groups with different religions. Doubt that? Ask Roman Catholics, Jews and Protestants how they feel marginalized and singled out. They have stories to tell you.

Live in the west? Ask about discrimination from the east coast. Or, southerners have lots of stories to tell about northerners and vice versa. Tensions exist. Some are funny. Some are silly. All are discriminatory.

Will a civil war break out? I don’t really think so, at least not on regionalism or religion. The one exception I hold in reserve is political differences.

The US is abuzz with conservatives against liberals, liberals against conservatives, libertarians against everyone else, everyone else leaves libertarians alone because they can’t agree on what they are.

We have terrorist groups alive and well in America. They normally call themselves militias but they live in secretive neighborhoods and rural locations. They are armed. They talk about violence. They steel themselves against the violence from others and usually attack first, making them the violent ones. Think Oklahoma City bombing; that was a militia-related event. Read the research provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They monitor hate groups and extremists throughout the nation and share that information with law enforcement authorities to stave off violence from those groups.

It is surprising how many hate groups exist in America. At least it is surprising to me. These folks are normally gun lovers, haters of people different from themselves, and usually follow a strict conservative ideology. Extremism is bred in such settings. They are a threat to the peace and tranquility of the nation. Yet they are protected by current gun laws and freedoms of speech and assembly.

Our society’s openness is actually a breeding ground for violence. Sad. But true.

I do not believe, however, that a civil war will happen in my lifetime. Nasty incivility? Yes; but then we already have that. We get used to this with misgivings, but we allow the haters to exist in the name of freedom.

Too bad they don’t respect our freedom to do the same.

June 6, 2022

  

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