If the revolution had begun on January 25, 2009 rather than 2011, my positions on everything would have been completely different. If I hadn’t had my daughters to worry about, my priorities would have been somewhere else. But my daughters do exist and our revolution hasn’t gone where we had planned it…
But here we are in post revolution Cairo and everyone we know thinks they’re the next Keith Olbermann or Noam Chomsky. Well guys, they worked very hard to get to where they are today. So when someone disagrees with your views and beliefs, accept it. Actually not just that, but I recommend you take it, learn from it, actually listen to what they’re saying and think about why they feel the way that they do. As for me, Shafik, Morsi, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t care who you are, if you promise my girls a better Egypt, you have my vote.
I think one of the most important lessons I’ve taken away from our unfinished revolution is the importance of tolerance. That is definitely something I would like to teach my daughters. I don’t want them to have “de-friend” someone for disagreeing with them. Our generation really hasn’t mastered that skill yet. Its like we want to jump ten steps ahead and demand democracy, when the essence of democracy is only drawn from tolerating the different beliefs of our fellow human beings.
Go through your pre- revolution Facebook and I dare you to find more than a status or two here or there that’s politically driven. We went from silly quips to revolutionary grandeur. And that’s fine. That’s great that people are giving a damn, but please not at the expense of our friendships.