A man was murdered. He had a wife. Two kids.

And I honestly couldn’t believe it when I saw people (many of them lawyers) joking about it. Some even celebrated. They claimed it was due to his “toxic” politics.

But the thing is…

This wasn’t about his political views. It was actually about them.

Somewhere along the way, they stopped seeing him as human.

I've sat with this for months. It was too raw to write about immediately. But it's stayed with me. And then, I saw people on the “other” side of the aisle celebrating another (more recent) death.

Different “sides” of the political aisle. Very different positions and beliefs. Same behavior.

Behavior that reveals something important. About society. And where we are right now.

• We reduce people to categories.

• We "other" anyone who thinks differently.

• We say things online we'd never say to someone's face.

And feel righteous for it.

Sadly, I see this happening with lawyers (more and more frequently). Which is pretty ironic since we are trained to:

• Hold competing truths.

• Identify (even embrace) nuance.

• Challenge our assumptions.

• Get curious about opposing viewpoints.

• Separate emotion from analysis.

When employed, you know what this produces?

Intellectual humility.

Tolerance.

Openness to a change of mind.

Something our society needs more of (a LOT more).

Whether or not you’re a lawyer, here’s something to consider:

How you think is how you live, Friend. Rigid thinking (even if just in the political realm) will bleed into your judgment, your leadership, your credibility.

The good news is that the incidents referenced above also gave me some hope.

In both cases, I also saw people on the “other” side of the political spectrum who called out those who celebrated.

Without any qualifiers. Without saying, “I didn’t agree with him, but…”

Just: He was a human. His life had value.

[And in the case of murder, this was a tragedy.]

Full stop.

The world doesn't need more partisanship. It needs more:

Thoughtfulness.

Restraint.

Curiosity.

Openness.

Compassion.

XO,

Heather

P.S. For more about how easily our human need for belonging, identity, and certainty can lead to toxic partisanship and how to overcome these instincts (and instead, lead in a positive direction), listen to this week's installment of Life & Law >>> here.

Although I do come at this from a lawyer angle, it's beneficial for everyone (you don't have to be a lawyer to benefit from it).