It was a interesting talk presented by the author. But a phrase stuck in my mind. He was talking about Mrs. Roosevelt's 75th birthday gala. (Former) President Truman was angered by the left wing of the Democratic Party doing some extreme talking and threatening to drive more moderate members away. Eleanor had a different way of seeing what was happening, and told Harry that. Yet, they did not let their conflict detract from/injure/destroy their relationship. The author said...

They could disagree, without being disagreeable.

If only we could be as good. So many times I have dealt with people who, having found a small inaccurracy or error [such as, wrong age, or color difference of paint, different spellong of God/dess/s' name, etc.], use it to invalidate the other person. How many relationships have been destroyed over personal things the other people involved had no stake in? What about the need of some people to be right for all people, to the point of bullying, attacking, or trying to destroy people/organizations or their reputations who hold different opinions/abilities/information? WTF PEOPLE!

Where do these attitudes come from? The 'you are with me or you are against me'? Can we trace it to World War II, where many of our parents lived through the unconditional surrender of the Axis, and that attitude was taught to us? No other war in the 20th century has ended like that, yet I see it in our culture daily. Even Dubya believes it, much to the detriment of the US. People who climb the corporate ladders closing off their path to success to others. People, who's opinions must be right, cannot accept that others' opinions are also right- the 'one opinion to rule them all' requirement. On and on. It's some of the reasons we, Pagans, Americans, Terrans, are being systematically separated, held apart, and kept ineffectual in the world today. Not only are the forces of government, politics, culture, religion, and society keeping us disunited, we've done it to ourselves.

When did it become required we must be disagreeable to each other, should we disagree?

More importantly, how do we break the cycle? How does each of us change this within us?

May your God/dess/s help you on your way to change within, and express it outward.

I've had a fond place for Eleanor Roosevelt. One year, the famous 'I'm not an orphan' vacation* in NY, we visited Hyde Park. And I've loved the Eleanor Roosevelt mysteries written by her son Elliot**, many set in 1930-1940's Washington DC (before the illegal occupation).