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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

Division is something we all have to deal with sooner or later—whether it’s due to political disagreement, contrasting preferences on how to approach a task at work, or something as trivial as differing opinions about a sports team (imagine that!)—as long as there is a subject to discuss, people will find a way to disagree about it.

Since 2020, there has been noticeably more division amongst the people of the United States, and there are some obvious culprits. Technology isn’t doing us any favors in this regard—not only do smartphones keep people’s heads down in their own little worlds; they also allow easy access to social media, which allows people to share their innermost thoughts with the world with a degree of perceived protection.

Also, the pandemic of 2020 revealed disagreements about how to approach the coronavirus, split between liberals and conservatives as well as between those who followed the CDC’s guidelines and those who opted for a more natural means of avoidance. Then, when people were caught not practicing what they preached (regardless of which side), there were fruitless arguments and finger pointing in both real life and on social media, causing further division.

Political extremism is also to blame, and again, it happens on both sides. There has always been a wide spectrum of political stances, but as the left creeps further to the left and the right creeps further to the right, it becomes (seemingly) more difficult to reach across the aisle. And, of course, each side will say that it’s the other side’s fault.

We also have too many sources of information. People used to watch pretty much the same TV shows, and family members and coworkers would bond while talking about them either at the dinner table or at the water cooler. Now, there is so much niche programming that everyone watches something unique that is perfectly tailored to their interests. In a way this is a good thing, but take news, for example—there is so much propaganda and fake news bombarding social media and TV that it can be difficult to discern the truth. Much of it simply tells people what they want to hear, by focusing on certain issues and ignoring others.

My point in writing this column is that I want to see less division among people. Unfortunately, some of the “culprits” mentioned in this article will not go away, but I believe we can simplify things by eliminating a lot of the fluff that gets in the way. During times of crisis, we need to focus on loving people and meeting their needs. Whichever political party is in power, we should pray for our leaders and not stand in the shadows and wish for their failure. It is also important to realize that not everyone is going to see things the way we see them. But in the end, we are all human—and that should be enough to at least make an effort.