My unsolicited advice to people:

Back in 2009 I was hell bent on hating the new President of the United States. I was crucial and critical of EVERY move he made. I would rant and rave about it, make facebook comments about it. Did I have any impact on the President? No.

But, I did have an impact. I had an impact on myself. I found myself so engrossed in the hate that I became a bitter person, I even lost friends because they didn't like the person I had become. It wasn't until I had a close liberal friend pull me aside one day and say, "Brian, you have let this engulf your life so much, you're not the fun person you used to be." It was at that point I took a step back and realized how many people in my life had started to pull back and separate themselves from me.

I made a personal change, did I become a supporter of the POTUS, heck no.

Still do not support him, but what I did was start to use critical discussion, and not fire-branded, tent revival condemnation/screaming. I also got involved in educating myself more, started attending community events, started a t-shirt line to help promote the 9-12 movement.

During this new growth, I found even within my new circles people that looked oddly familiar, they were acting how I was acting. I saw the failure in that model. I saw that doesn't accomplish anything, even worked to remove them from the circle or leave the circle myself. What I didn't do was demand anything from anyone, I didn't expect anything in return, what I did demand was that we all start having civil conversations about current events. I learned how to have a conversation with a liberal without attempting to convert them, without forcing my thought process on them, I learned that sometime the best conversation you can have is to not say anything at all and just hear the other person.

I write all of this because it's the only advice I can give to the people out there who have let hate control their everything, I see it in their posts about the current POTUS. I am not asking you to like him, you don't even need to support him. What I am asking is, respect the title, and respect YOURSELF. If we all have the same goal, end hate, then spewing fire-branded, tent revival rhetoric will never get us there. Take my word for it, it cost me many friends.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

- Brian Bononi