As I listen to the wireless and other media reports about the tragic cultural wars ravaging this land we love, I wonder if we on the conservative side are shooting ourselves in the foot and burning bridges we should not burn.  If we hope to Make American Great Again, is it a good idea to destroy our political opponents?  Isn't it a better strategy to win them over to our side with good arguments and open hearts?

I started listening to Rush Limbaugh in the early '90s and continued until his death last year.  I still miss him.  I now listen to Chris Plant, Dan Bongino, Tucker Carlson, and sometimes Mark Levin.  I share many of their opinions and appreciate the insights they offer.  I commend all of them for their dedication to conservative principles.

Burning bridge by using public domain images.

Here comes the but.  All these fine men, unfortunately, take near sadistic pleasure in attacking the left.  The commentators on the left draw and quarter us verbally as well.  How are we ever going to reunite with those we so viciously attack?  Didn't Gandhi once say, "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind?"

Some years ago, we had a conservative talk show host in Baltimore named Ron Smith.  He had a verbal flamethrower, and he knew how to use it.  When the neocons went wild for the Iraq War, Ron spoke out against it . His courageous stand led many of his listeners to abandon him, but he stayed true to his convictions.  Ron kept voicing conservatism his way until he came down with advanced pancreatic cancer in 2011.

In the final days of his broadcast, old friends and adversaries came on his show to make peace.  As he was facing his death, Smith sheathed his razor edge, decommissioned his flamethrower, and spoke instead of the things we all have in common with his audience and his guests.  It was a teachable moment for this listener.  Ron Smith, AKA The Voice of Reason, exited gracefully, saying in his own words something very like "love one another."

Here in 2022, the culture wars continue to rage.  The left claims to know the way forward.  Many of us want to make America great again.  God in His wisdom knows where all this is headed.  As a conservative, I will continue to fight for the causes I cherish.  I must believe that is possible without burning bridges.

Ned Cosby, a regular contributor to American Thinker, is a pastor, veteran Coast Guard officer, and a retired career public high school teacher.  His newest novel OUTCRY is a love story exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to report and discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people.  This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real. Cosby has also written RECOLLECTIONS FROM MY FATHER'S HOUSE, tracing his own odyssey from 1954 to the present.  For more info, visit Ned Cosby.