By the time many read this article, Thanksgiving will already have passed and their respective maws will be filled to the hilt. For those of you reading this post Thanksgiving, you might be able to use this information for future family gatherings. Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley and a couple others discussed how to avoid family fights during Thanksgiving by derailing various political arguments. For instance, one can lead a heated discussion of health care in to a conversation about Charla Nash, the woman injured in a chimp attack. She is currently awaiting a face transplant and learning how to live without hands or a face. Barack Obama is always a battleground, angering those who refer to themselves as either liberals or conservatives. If your family starts talking about an Obama, try to make it Michelle Obama, who with a 63% approval rating has started a garden, supported military families, and won Banana Republic on stage.
If the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan become a topic for discourse, try to put the focus on the respect we should have for the men and women serving overseas. Show your family videos of soldiers reuniting with their loved ones or their dogs. Finally, if Al Gore or the general subject of climate change comes up, lead the exchange towards the tornado chasing Henne family and the now famous “Balloon Boy.” At the very least your family will seem much more normal.
Satan feeds off of our arguments. He wants us to be split in to as many groups as possible. Ephesians 4:2-4 tells us be humble, gentle, and patient with each other. We are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Paul brings unity up quite often. Paul tells Titus (in chapter 3) to remind people to submit to the government and “to be ready to do whatever is good.” We were saved by the kindness and love of our God when we least deserved it. We are to avoid arguments and instead do good to all of God’s people.
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