I’ve been disheartened by the amount of animosity thrown at Georgia over the past few days. Their Governor will re-open portions of the state’s economy on Friday and his decision is controversial, to say the least.

It seems that there’s only two options:

1. Support him.
2. Hate him. Say he’s killing people for money.

The virus is now a political wedge. It’s Red vs. Blue. Everything is.

Executive leaders carry the power to open and close portions of our society, so the partisan wedge is amplified at all levels of executive government right now. It’s Trump vs. Democrats and Cooper vs. Republicans.

We even see it in Fayetteville, with the only Republican on the City Council, Johnny Dawkins, coming out in favor of re-opening and against Democratic Mayor Mitch Colvin’s curfew order.

I think the common thread in all of this is our tribal desire to be “right.” This comes at a cost. Our need to “win” diminishes our ability to reason. We lose empathy and compassion, and we become less human when we see our fellow man as the opposition. I do it too, sometimes.

But back to Georgia…

Things are a lot worse there. More people are sick. More people are dying.

And so, North Carolinians, I ask that you pray for Georgia. Pray the suffering doesn’t increase, because no true American should ever desire the suffering of his fellow citizens.

Here’s a more practical reason: if Georgia’s “gamble” pays off, it means that the virus is not as bad as we fear.

It means our leadership in N.C. will follow suit.

It means we can put this nightmare behind us.

Even if we were wrong.