An Open Letter to my Dad ahead of the November election
Trying to understand the motivations of family
The more I think about it, the more I wonder, why? I think of how we grew up, and how we were always taught to treat everyone with respect, no matter what. You were strong in your faith then, as you would seem to be now. But something, somewhere shifted. I wondered what it could be.
I figured it out. I started with that paragraph, and stopped. But now I know what happened. You have been victimized. Along with a good percentage of the population. They took advantage of the fact that you received your information from a selection of sources. The Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, etc. selection to be specific. They have fed you a very specifically curated selection of information, in order to elicit specific responses. This might be hard to hear, but I also hope you can trust me enough to hear me out. One thing I pride myself in is having an open mind. In order to facilitate this, I have tried to absorb content from as many sources as possible. You taught me growing up to be curious, and I have done more research into these matters than you would believe. The internet is an in incredible trove of primary sources, and I preferred seeing raw footage. I have seen some shit, and I mean that very seriously. If you would like to actually discuss any of the topics that Fox has been feeding you with an open mind, I will be happy to do so. And I will bring sources to back up my thoughts.
Let’s say you decide to believe me, and we can go from there. I can help you find a selection of reasonable news sources. And I want to make something very clear. This is not because you are conservative, this is because you are aligning with the Republican party. Right now, the Republican party is something I have never seen. The level of corruption and simply evil people in some very powerful positions is something that quite literally resembles pre-WWII Germany. I can help you find the historians who are quite clearly making these arguments.
Please, I hope you can really rediscover your faith, and think deeply about the actual teachings of Christ, and some of the things you have been carefully led to believe. While I no longer consider myself a Christian, I think He had some very good points. But until we can get rid of the hate that is being fanned at an alarming rate, this country is in a state of emergency. The fact is, a country doesn’t have clashes the way we are unless both sides have valid motivations. The problem is that there are certain people who have carefully shaped a population’s motivations.
You have helped me recently, and I want to be able to do the same to you. You helped me realize I needed to reach out for some help. I want to repay the favor. I hope you are willing to give me that opportunity.
Your loving and concerned son,
Leo
