By State Sen. Daryl Schmitt (R-Jasper)
When our soldiers are on the battlefield, the politics of the person next to them doesn't matter. They have a job to do, which is protecting their fellow soldiers at all costs, regardless of race, religion or political party.
As your State Senator, and in my daily life, I work hard to live by this same idea.
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, our nation was attacked by terrorists that took the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent men, women and children.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, our nation seemed more united than ever as we honored the victims of that fateful day and worked to rebuild. We stood united as Americans.
Today, many in our country seem to have forgotten that there is more that unites us than divides us.
In recent years, we have seen too many politically motivated attacks throughout the country against people across the political spectrum.
On Sept. 10, conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was murdered during an event at a college in Utah.
In June, former Minnesota Speaker of the House of Representatives Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband were killed in their home.
We've also witnessed school shootings at Evergreen High School in Colorado and Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
In times like this, I am reminded of the close friendship of late Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While these two justices often ended up on opposite sides of Supreme Court opinions, they maintained a close bond throughout their lives on their common interests like opera music and their families.
The two often had fierce debates about important topics, but they left those debates in the court room.
As Americans, we can and should honor our moral compass while allowing debate about our differences of opinion like Justices Scalia and Ginsburg.
In the coming weeks and months, I hope we can all reflect on the state of debate in our nation and do our part to welcome civic and substantive debate in whatever circles of influence we may operate in.
As always, constituents can reach out to me with any questions or concerns by email at s48@iga.in.gov or by phone at 1-800-382-9467.
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State Sen. Daryl Schmitt (R-Jasper) represents Senate District 48,
which includes Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike and Spencer counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
