I believe some of the most amazing events and journey's started and will start with the wonderfully creative phrase, "What if..."
Not withstanding the calls for a less angry political dialogue in America, I believe the reaction to the attack on Rep. Gifford's meet-and-greet in Tucson will make the vitriol in the media (especially 24 hour news) far more heated and ultimately more destructive. Like the spoiled children of royalty, we toy with important issues that greatly effect the lives and futures of us all, because we really don't see any urgency to change.
Unfortunately too many enterprises, politicians and media personalities thrive on dividing us all into warring camps. Who do you agree with, Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow? Bill Maher or Bill O'reilly? It really doesn't matter, I predict from now on you will hear everyone blaming their opponents with more vehemence than ever before. And things will get much worse. Why? Because modern audiences will not listen to polite conversation. And as I've written before, whatever we "were espousing as the root of all evil before (the attack) was confirmed in (our) minds by a senseless killing." Sadly whatever news we hear tomorrow will have the same effect. But...
What if we no longer had time or appetite for this frivolous behavior?
What if we actually listened to the people we disagree with as if they were our neighbors? I mean really listen without telling ourselves "there's no possible way anyone who disagrees with me can have a valid point of view." We expend an enormous amount of energy to prove our superiority to our political enemies and to ourselves. Then we demand that the other guy finally become open-minded and adopt our unbending point of view. (If that sentence doesn't seem sadly ironic, read it again) What would our world be like if we instead used that energy for some other purpose? Any other unifying purpose!
What if we sat peacefully with someone we believe to be absolutely wrong and listened and explained a better way, with compassion and understanding, the way we would with our best friend? What if we were that someone learning another way? Could we accept that we might be wrong?
What if we didn't first check to see if the talking heads on TV have a D or an R in front of their name to tell us whether to agree or disagree? How could we function?
Don't worry it's never going to happen. Or maybe we should worry that it's never going to happen.
But What if...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Rhetoric v. Remembrance
The attack at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords's Safeway meeting was unwarranted evil. A man (I won't honor him by writing his name here) shot a member of congress who, by all accounts, is a wonderful person and a tireless public servant. She was doing what most of us want our representatives to do, meeting with and listening to the people she represents. Several of those people were either killed or wounded including a nine year old girl who was born September 11, 2001.
Via the news media and social networks, the outcry for reigning in vitriolic speech has been deafening. This of course makes perfect sense. When decent people hear of something so senseless and destructive, they want to act. And there's really nothing of substance we can do at this point. But is the answer to turn on each other when we should be turning to each other? Is the answer to this tragedy to curtail free speech if we disagree with it? Some are saying that's exactly what we should do. But what does that have to do with this massacre?
To paraphrase the current mood in the reports: 'the hate filled rhetoric from the right is what caused this man to try to kill this wonderful woman!' Did it? How can we know that? Even the professionals investigating the shootings, with the physical evidence in their hands, don't yet know why this apparently deranged man attacked a group of strangers exercising their constitutional rights. How can we?
Many of the posts I've read on Facebook have gone something like this: 'A murderous psychopath has shot a Democratic Congresswoman, this is Sarah Palin's fault!' You can put two and two together and it looks like twenty-two but it just doesn't add up. When I heard that claim I went to see what they were talking about and sure enough, Sarah Palin's PAC had posted a map in April of 2010 with gunsights aimed at the districts she wanted to win for her side. To make matters worse, I heard one claim (unverified) on national news that Palin used the slogan "Don't retreat, reload!" during the recent election. The map alone proves to me that Palin does not have the discernment to hold any public office. Any half-wit running for dogcatcher should understand that there are unstable people out there who will take the illogical next step and do something violent. But did she cause this man to shoot Rep. Giffords? No.
None of this finger pointing has anything to do with the attack, as far as we now know. We have to wait to see the evidence. And waiting is not what Americans are about. We want everything at microwave speed. Did he even have political leanings? Early news reports are saying he was anti-government and thought the government was controlling his thoughts. That's not a political movement, that's grounds for being committed!
What is down right unnerving to me is how quickly everyone reacted to either blame or shift blame. 'The Tea Party is to blame, Fox News is to blame, the availability of guns...' Whatever people were passionately espousing as the root of all evil before was confirmed in their minds by a senseless killing. Many of us have allowed the constant chatter of 24 hour news to divide us into angry camps who are certain that 'America will be a better place when everyone else opens their narrow mind and sees things my way!' All we really know at this time is twenty, TWENTY innocent people were shot. Six have died and Congresswoman Giffords is in critical condition. (It may not be your way, but I'm praying for them.)
Of course this is just my little soapbox. You may disagree. But may I ask a favor of all of my friends who were instantly sure they knew that their political enemies were at fault here? Before you continue the Facebook threads and work yourselves further into a frenzy, would you commit the names of the victims to memory? Say a prayer, light a candle or whatever you feel is appropriate to remember them. Then we can all go back to hating each other for having a different point of view. After all, it's our right as Americans, isn't it?
jtb
Names of the victims (from Wasghingtonpost.com):
Christina-Taylor Green: A "Face of Hope," this 9-year-old politician often wore red, white and blue in honor of her country.
Via the news media and social networks, the outcry for reigning in vitriolic speech has been deafening. This of course makes perfect sense. When decent people hear of something so senseless and destructive, they want to act. And there's really nothing of substance we can do at this point. But is the answer to turn on each other when we should be turning to each other? Is the answer to this tragedy to curtail free speech if we disagree with it? Some are saying that's exactly what we should do. But what does that have to do with this massacre?
To paraphrase the current mood in the reports: 'the hate filled rhetoric from the right is what caused this man to try to kill this wonderful woman!' Did it? How can we know that? Even the professionals investigating the shootings, with the physical evidence in their hands, don't yet know why this apparently deranged man attacked a group of strangers exercising their constitutional rights. How can we?
Many of the posts I've read on Facebook have gone something like this: 'A murderous psychopath has shot a Democratic Congresswoman, this is Sarah Palin's fault!' You can put two and two together and it looks like twenty-two but it just doesn't add up. When I heard that claim I went to see what they were talking about and sure enough, Sarah Palin's PAC had posted a map in April of 2010 with gunsights aimed at the districts she wanted to win for her side. To make matters worse, I heard one claim (unverified) on national news that Palin used the slogan "Don't retreat, reload!" during the recent election. The map alone proves to me that Palin does not have the discernment to hold any public office. Any half-wit running for dogcatcher should understand that there are unstable people out there who will take the illogical next step and do something violent. But did she cause this man to shoot Rep. Giffords? No.
None of this finger pointing has anything to do with the attack, as far as we now know. We have to wait to see the evidence. And waiting is not what Americans are about. We want everything at microwave speed. Did he even have political leanings? Early news reports are saying he was anti-government and thought the government was controlling his thoughts. That's not a political movement, that's grounds for being committed!
What is down right unnerving to me is how quickly everyone reacted to either blame or shift blame. 'The Tea Party is to blame, Fox News is to blame, the availability of guns...' Whatever people were passionately espousing as the root of all evil before was confirmed in their minds by a senseless killing. Many of us have allowed the constant chatter of 24 hour news to divide us into angry camps who are certain that 'America will be a better place when everyone else opens their narrow mind and sees things my way!' All we really know at this time is twenty, TWENTY innocent people were shot. Six have died and Congresswoman Giffords is in critical condition. (It may not be your way, but I'm praying for them.)
Of course this is just my little soapbox. You may disagree. But may I ask a favor of all of my friends who were instantly sure they knew that their political enemies were at fault here? Before you continue the Facebook threads and work yourselves further into a frenzy, would you commit the names of the victims to memory? Say a prayer, light a candle or whatever you feel is appropriate to remember them. Then we can all go back to hating each other for having a different point of view. After all, it's our right as Americans, isn't it?
jtb
Names of the victims (from Wasghingtonpost.com):
Christina-Taylor Green: A "Face of Hope," this 9-year-old politician often wore red, white and blue in honor of her country.
Gabe Zimmerman: Recently engaged and one of Giffords's aides, he was known as a master in dealing with other people.
John M. Roll: A widely respected federal judge, Roll received death threats in 2009 after his decision allowed a case brought forward by illegal immigrants to proceed to a jury trial.
Dorwin Stoddard: A fixture at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, Stoddard blocked his wife from gunfire, eyewitness reports said.
Phyllis Schneck: A great-grandmother, the 79-year-old retiree admired Giffords's stance on border safety.
Dorothy Morris: The 76-year-old retiree, Dorothy Morris, attended the event with her husband and high school sweetheart George Morris.
Twenty people in all were shot. The above names are those who did not survive.
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