Trump followers dangerous

I don’t think Donald Trump will win in November. And that scares me almost as much as his winning. His candidacy has unleashed a segment of America that is frightening to all we consider sacred about this country.

Views different from our own, whether on religion, sexual orientation, racial identity, gun ownership, school curricula, trade, the military, the U.N., NATO, taxes, political identity, have long been subjects of disagreement. And why not? It is the American way. Indeed, the right to agree and disagree is foundational to this amazing country and fundamental to our rights.

Leadership Trump now has a large and vocal camp that considers those fundamental rights no longer valid. Only the words of Trump, led by what sells to those followers, are valid. And I fear those strong opinions, often harsh, violent and unreasonable, will become more so if the election does not go their way. Then this country will become even more divided and dangerously so.

My world is populated with people with whom I agree, people with whom I disagree and everybody in between. I can try to change the way they think or I can learn to live with the way they think, peacefully. That’s the country I want to live in.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Trump followers dangerous."