A bit of inspiration, an excerpt from the humor blog "Clients From Hell" - entitled The Forbidden Fruit.
Client: Hey, just one final question before I send the deposit. Do you use a PC or a MAC?
Me: I use a MAC.
Client: That is a problem. Do you have access to a PC? I am not a supporter of Apple products.
Me: No, I don’t have access to a PC, but this will have little to no effect on the work itself.
Client: I am a Christian and Apple products are sinful, I do not want our website to be created by a product made by this corrupt group. You need only look at their logo, an apple with a bite taken from it. Do you not know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? If I allowed you to create my website on a MAC I would be just like Adam, taking a bite of the forbidden fruit.
[Silence]
“Take my advise, destroy your mac and repent for when judgement day comes. It shall be you who is cast to hell for your sins.”
Me: [Block Contact]I was having a conversation recently about a similar issue, and when I read this article I felt that I had to share it. This is a great example of my biggest problem with modern American politics - generally speaking if you know a person's person's view on one issue (like abortion), you know with relative certainty their view on any number of other unrelated issues (like hybrid cars). For a good list of these issues, see Geoff Nunberg's book "Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show." (See also the actual campaign ad on which the title was based - http://nyti.ms/aRLW8K). Apparently you can add "Apple Computer Products-Using" to that list. I swear I didn't know this when I bought my Mac, I guess I should destroy it and repent . . .
. . . Moving on, let's be honest. These issues have nothing to do with each other. A rational mind can be pro-choice and for SUVs, or for both nuclear power and gay marriage, or for both guns and Apple products, or love sushi and detest Hollywood. But these days, people on either side buy into the propaganda that if you're a good conservative/liberal republican/democrat (delete as appropriate) you need to hold all of these beliefs, otherwise you're a "Republican in Name Only"/"Blue dog Democrat" and therefore worthy of scorn. Democrats scorn Joe Lieberman (in 2006) and Barack Obama (present), because they don't match up with their beliefs enough; and the same can be said for Republicans and John McCain (2008), Arlen Specter (2009), and Charlie Crist (present).
I've said in the past that we need more moderates in Washington, more RINOs and Blue Dogs... and I admit my old point is oversimplification. In truth, it's not just our representatives that need to change, it's ourselves. We are the ones doing the scorning. We are the ones demanding ideological rigidity. People from both parties complain that Congress doesn't work; that's why in recent years it has such low poll numbers in comparison with the executive - both under the Bush and Obama presidencies, and with both Republican and Democratic majorities in Congress. But so few recognize, or are willing to admit, it's as much our fault as it is theirs. We are the ones electing members of Congress who are unwilling to work with each other.
And this brings me back to the Apple Computer hating client from the humor website. I know what you thought when you first read it - she's crazy, ignorant, and offensive. Whether we like to admit it or not, many of us are more like her than we would like to admit. It's natural, everyone has strong beliefs on political topics like nuclear-power, wind power, health care, hybrid cars, off shore oil drilling, taxes and abortion. And that's fine; frankly I don't care what you believe. I just want you to be able to respectfully articulate their thoughts using reason and facts, and be willing to listen to alternative perspectives, and be able to look at things from another's point of view.
That's what it means to be a moderate. I take pride in the fact that my close friends are moderates - I hope you are one too.
