Interestingly enough, I just pulled this up with the intention of posting something about the current state of affairs in the good ol' USA and what did I find? A rant, precursor if I may, of what we are experiencing right now. Anyway, if you haven't read the piece below, go for it, you might agree or disagree.
But stay tuned for my next post. MDL 3Feb2017
I posted this nearly two years ago, and although I have a bit more control of my temper the premise is the same. The memes are more numerous than ever, positing, poisoning, mean insulting memes. The events of this week lends themselves to full on madness from some quarters, great sadness from others, and reasoned/unreasoned fear from yet others. And to top it all off, our nation is in the middle of a presidential election that will prove to be the worst campaign season, including the 1968 death of Bobby Kennedy, of my life. I hope it isn't as disastrous as that one. Read, rage, and comment if you will. It seems that my voice will be heard once again. New material to come.
Today’s Debate----Tomorrow’s Fight
I think I called some one a nincompoop the other day. Of
course it was from the safety of my desk chair and my faceless profile picture.
No worries about the object of my scorn reaching through my computer screen and
breaking my nose. Maybe next time I can call him an F_ _ _in’ idiot (and no I
don’t mean any of the ‘F’ euphemisms). How un-civil do I have to be before I
have crossed that “damned rude SOB” barrier? Well, I am guessing not that far.
When browsing through Facebook posts, Tweets, email, God
blackmail (forward this a zillion times in 10 minutes or burn in hell), I find
myself building up a head of steam that only has a short safety valve on it.
When I don’t get control, it blows and Heaven help anyone or thing in the way.
I cuss at the TV, I swear at the computer. I bash the table with my fist (I
promised I wouldn’t crush the keyboard ever again), and have been known to kick
a wall or slam a door. Or, lately I have taken to writing scathing remarks in
response to something that I don’t agree with. Sometimes I delete them before
pushing the send button, sometimes not. My fingers will fly over the keyboard
and when I look up and see the missed keystrokes and mis-spelled words, it just
fuels the flames of indignation.
Another bad habit I have acquired, tit-for-tat meme posting.
I will search for what seems hours to find that perfect rebuttal meme or
article to slam down as proof that I am right. I have yet to see an article or
meme that has converted the sadly misinformed FB poster. For every pro article
I can find, there are dozens of negative ones. Pro-petroleum (jobs, healthy car
idling, what smog?) to the Negative on that Black Gold crowd (climate change,
stinky water, can’t see the bunnies for all that haze)…are good examples of
that.
I know that there are myriad definitions of what constitutes
a good “Christian” but can’t we all agree that we can be civil without bringing
faith into the equation? Faith provokes more conflict rather than mutual
agreement. My faith is better than your…just what do you call yourselves these
days? I hope you catch the sarcasm there. I am trying to remember we are each human beings and deserve respect for our ideas
and opinions even if we don't agree with each other. These days it is hard to
find a forum where you can discuss your opinions and bounce your ideas off
someone who isn’t invested in our ego. That’s what makes FB and the
Twitterverse and email lists so important. Just being able to provide feedback
on a news article (TV or print) is a wonder and seeing the different responses
(absent the rude SOB’s) is wonderful.
BTW what do you think of that woman who bought all of the T-shirts that
she thought pornographic from a mall store? (Explain that to your spouse,
“Honey, I spent this week’s paycheck buying all of the beer at the pub down the
street so that little Joey wouldn’t be tempted. Oh and by the way, I couldn’t
bear the thought of wasting all of that money so I had to drink it all before I
came home.)
Don’t get the idea that I am saying that you or I have to lose our
passion for the causes we feel strongly for. I hope that we can all continue to
respond to the issues of today with that passion and our opinions no matter how
messed up others think they are. Just remember, if you want the privilege of
spouting off about (name a topic) then you have to recognize my right to do the
same. Nobody made me the King of the World.
And like previous posts this is the Answer from the Great Basin, feel free to express (within
the conditions of my blog) the Answer from wherever you are.
