I saw a shared post on Facebook the other night, where apparently “liberals” were offended by a car commercial (Cadillac). I went and read the article because I thought that it was an interesting concept commercial and didn’t understand why one might be offended by it. I was going to to link to the blog post, but decided not to. While many of his ideas were on track, the rest of the post was full of hateful nonsense trying to make the point. Way to take it too far.
But as I thought through it, I think I figured out what the real problem was. It’s not the liberals, and it is not the conservatives. It is the continuous stream of BS news about the liberals and conservatives. So much polar absolutism. So much rage. So much hate. How do these things get so out of hand? Spin. So… here it is… One or two people say something stupid about some topic. The news then gets a hold of it, and inflates it full of farm fresh hyperbole, and now all the (fill in the social group)s are ALL the side of said issue. From a guy who does not subscribe to either side, I don’t think there is anything to be offended by (speaking of the above mentioned commercial). If someone is deeply offended, and hurt by a stupid commercial, it is time to put on the big boy pants and get over it. This is NOT the type of thing you need to get into an uproar about. More, if you are offended, don’t demand to have the commercial pulled, demand that the media in general be pulled. The media has turned into educational programming in how, and why, you should hate thy neighbor.
I subscribe to the idea of looking at each thing and making up MY OWN mind (regardless of who else thinks the same). And guess what… Sometimes my thoughts are not what is popular. Sorry, hope this doesn’t offend you. If you feel the need to hate me, so be it. Unfriend me, or close the tab and be done with it, but I refuse to be sucked in by this polar stupidity.
If I am offended by something, I am offended by the perpetuation of hatred of my fellow man (or woman). Here’s a novel idea, perhaps look for some good in people. Try to find the things we have in common. Hmmm… Try loving one another. Try to focus on appreciating each other, for actually having an opinion, and perhaps try to look at an idea from more than one side.
Lastly, for the love of God, please turn off any talk radio, news show, tv show, or Facebook post that spins any other group of people as totally evil and wrong, or totally right and oh so saintly. Many of these sources of poison are NOT in need of reporting good, solid, fact based news, they are in need of sponsorship money. They will spin things in the worst possible way. Why? Because people are so accustom to hearing bad things, bad things need to be amplified in order to evoke an emotional response. So, they claw at all that makes us human to find that little ounce of feeling that we have left. They want into your brain. They want to control your thoughts. They want to sway your thoughts, feelings, emotions.
Why? Because a people that are divided have no strength. People who are divided will fight amongst them selves instead of dealing with the real threat. Be careful what you allow into your mind. Be careful about who you let control your thoughts. Be careful who you follow. Because guess what? There are many people/groups/organizations competing to get into your mind, trying to get you to think about things in ways you might not actually think (if you actually thought for yourself). If someone is teaching you to hate, to turn you against someone else, because by God, they are DIFFERENT than YOU (because WE tell you WHO TO BE…), while somewhat difficult in this era of history (infestation of media, and spin), please don’t listen. More, please don’t share, post, or re-post hateful garbage. You are not helping anything, or anyone, you ARE the problem, or you are just making the problem worse. Yes, sure, it is so much easier to hate. Hate takes no effort. Getting along with others takes some effort, but you can at least go to bed, tired for the right reasons.
