Jan. 6/2021(Right after the Senate runoffs in Georgia):America is clearly a divided country! On one side we have the so-called liberal,progressive Democrats.On the other side we have the right-leaning Republicans-pro and anti-Trump.No viable third-party alternative has emerged,mostly because all parties and their supporters are strategizing and manipulating to avoid that option-an option offered in almost every other democratic country,

So( the newly forbidden word from the liberal grammarians lol) the liberal/progressives believe the right-wingers are foolish,backward or to use a Clintonian expression “deplorables” and the Republicans believe that the liberals are immoral,atheistic and radical Socialists.Now,(the next word for the grammarians to prohibit lol) this might look like a black and white issue for many.I would have been in that camp in my early years of political activism.But(another dubious word lol?) I no longer see it quite the same way- since I embarked on a spiritual path many,long years ago.Btw one of the turning points on my path was attending a meeting of left-wing activists in Quebec and clearly “seeing” the evil on their faces! That was the end of my Marxist phase!

Given my past ,it is easy to see the point of view of the leftists.It took a longer time to be more sympathetic to the right-wing-especially with their morally corrupt leadership under Trump.Please note that it wasn’t always that way.I was struck,even as a left-wing activist,how the marriages of the Republicans (think both Bushs and Reagan) seemed so much better than the marriages of the liberals(think Kennedy,Clinton and all the way back to F.D.R.!)Already,in the local left-wing groups, I could see that evidence of relationship corruption and promiscuity amongst my colleagues.So the nuances were already there in the back of my mind.

So(there we go again)how can I defend these backward Republicans.Well,they are often simple folk.The “salt of the Earth” so to speak.They are believers,they are God-fearing, go to Church sincerely(unlike some of their politicians),they support traditional values like heterosexual marriages,no abortions,fidelity in marriage and honesty.They hate the half-truths and manipulations of the left-wingers and they hate political correctness.So do I! One example comes to mind,here.As a “progressive” you were not allowed to criticize Obama.He was sanctified.Whenever you opposed his actions,like I did in the Syria issue,you were labelled”racist”. That is ideological Fascism and there is plenty of it to go around.

Now(oops!) as a Muslim,I believe we have a lot in common with these “fundamentalist” Christians.We are both believing,God-fearing people of a book(whether it is the Quran or the Bible).The major issue that divides us is the state of Israel-a thorny issue no doubt.The evangelicals see the Zionist state as a prelude to the second coming of Jesus.The Muslims see Israel as an oppressor of the Arabs of Palestine.Both may well be right.But,we have a lot in common.And,I have been thinking for a long-time that we should join forces.This is the real”Clash of Civilizations” Mr. Huntington aside. The oldest clash we know of-believers vs. non-believers.There are no national and racial issues here. All religions have had to clash with opposition to their Revelations.

The bottom line:(to use an American expression). The political schism in America is not as black and white as most Americans would like to think.I am sympathetic to the progressive wing’s attempt to be well-informed and think through the issues in an intelligent way.I am not sympathetic to their hypocrisy,their “political correctness” and their clever attempts to cover-up their biases.I am sympathetic to the right-wingers attachment to their religion and their traditional values and their attempts to be straight-forward in their communications.I am not happy with their lack of knowledge,their knee-jerk reactions and their lack of understanding nuances.

So there it is-go figure! Salaams,Ibrahim