This summer I started writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper. (Remember those?) I did this because I have been concerned about the growing division between Americans. There has always been political discourse in this country, but things have gotten bad in recent years. Some people are actually talking about another Civil War. So in the interest of taking the temperature down a few degrees I offer these letters to a wider audience, Add my voice to a growing call for reason and compassion. So, without further adieu, here is my first letter.

Over 90 years ago, in the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated into the office of President of the United States and told a worried nation “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” I believe that statement to be as true today as it was then.

Today we have people telling us that we have many things to fear. For example, one group of people tell us that things are terrible, the country is being ruined, our fellow citizens want to destroy this country. According to polls, roughly half of this country’s eligible voters hold this view. So, look around. Half the people you see apparently want to destroy this country, according to this view. Half of your friends, relatives, fellow church members, half the police, doctors, clergy, and grocery store clerks want to bring this country down. I can’t believe it.

The one underlying truth is that most Americans value the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the Constitution. They value it so much that whenever we are attacked by a foreign power, we step up in mass to defend that constitution and the nation it governs. That tells me that the one thing the diverse population has in common is that we all love this country.

So, if you are one of the many patriots in this country, take your responsibility to vote seriously. Actually listen to what both sides have to say. Look at the evidence supporting their statements. Please remember that your friends, neighbors and relatives are not idiots, they are concerned American patriots.

And now for something completely different: I was 5 years old when the 1960 election was held, yet I remember the day clearly. I had not yet started school and my parents were going to leave me home for a few minutes while they went to vote. Being a very curious kid, I was full of questions. I had never heard of voting. I remember my father answering my questions, but very carefully avoiding telling me how I should vote when I got old enough.

Both my parents were staunch “FDR New Deal” Democrats, yet they believed each person should make up their own mind. I think it was Mark Twain who said, “The older I get, the smarter my father gets.”  I have found this to be true many times over the years; and this is one example.

I will admit to supporting the Democratic party. As part of that support, I have participated in numerous parades. One of the things I have noticed is the large numbers of young kids with stickers on their shirts supporting a certain candidate. I have also noticed that the majority of vocal hecklers seem to be adolescent boys—too young to vote. Clearly, many of my fellow patriots do not believe, as my father did, to raise your kids to be independent critical thinkers and let them make up their own mind who to vote for.