On 3/8/14 10:17 : , Bob Whitmire wrote:
> Today, I believe things have changed. Instant communication and what appears
> to be automatic polarization has led us to a place where we regularly insult
> one another for no apparent good reason. I suspect we will work through this,
> too. Frankly, I’m glad the lunatic fringe on both sides of the equation seems
> to content itself mostly with posting scurrilous comments on Facebook rather
> than working toward actually fomenting revolt.
>
> I have a FB friend from way back who is radically right and religiously ultra
> conservative, and for a while after President Obama was reelected, he would
> post memes from a group called “Secede or Die”. After about the 10th share on
> his timeline from this group, I commented that I wished Secede or Die would
> do one or the other. I told him I would prefer them to just die, but if they
> wanted to secede then they should proceed.
>
> As far as I know, the action is still limited to Facebook, which is a very
> good place for it to be.
>
>
I've blocked people because of radical political ranting that borders on
"guy in a cabin in Montana with an arms cache", including my one uncle.
They can deny it all they want, but a lot of the insanely violent
ranting against our current president is racial. I'm not going to argue
his policy one way or the other, but I can't remember this level of
vitriol being spewed against any other president who wasn't
African-American.
As far as religion, I have my own faith, I'm comfortable with it. I
know other people with other faiths, and that's fine as well. I also
have a couple of friends who are either agnostic or atheist. To each
their own.
But what really irritates me is that a couple of the atheist ones are
militant about it. There's no room for tolerance, no room for others'
beliefs. I almost blocked one on FB because most of his postings were
blatantly anti-Christian, and his attitude is pretty much if you believe
in any of that, if you believe in the Bible, then you're a stupid, blind
moronic sheep that deserves whatever bad things happen to you. He's
said the Bible is nothing but a made-up fairy tale for weak-minded
stupid people. If that's his belief, fine. But don't berate me for
having my own beliefs.
I realize there are Christians who are like that as well, and I also
cannot deal with them.
I have room in my life for both Faith and Science. I don't see them as
mutually-exclusive, and while there are a number of people that I
respect greatly because of their scientific accomplishments and
knowledge, when they go off on the same fairy-tale ranting, my opinion
of them drops significantly.
This is one of the big problems with the internet. There have always
been fringe nutjobs, but the internet now gives any fring nutjob with a
smartphone or a computer a global platform to spew from.
--
Paul Braun
Certified Music Junkie
Valparaiso, IN
"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever." - David St. Hubbins
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life" - Harlan Howard
--
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