Are We Part Of The Problem?

Some days it is hard to be silent.  I see things posted and I so badly want to jump in the fray and force my screams and rants on everyone else.  Sometimes it is all I can do to hold myself back.

However, if I go off and do the screaming, ranting, and mocking that is so prevalent on the internet, then am I any better than the ones that I decry who do this?  I believe if I go out and do that which I abhor, then I'm not any better.  You can't chastise others if you're doing the same as them.

In fact, if I join the screaming and yelling online, I am really being condescending. It would be the same as me looking down at those who do this, while claiming I'm better.  Yet, I see this happen every day by every one it seems.  Online social media is filled with t his behavior.

I try hard to just not join in because to me, there is nothing to be gained.  No one is listening to anyone.  Everyone is calling each other names or saying despicable things about the ones they disagree with online.  So, what would I gain if I did the same thing?

Is that authentic and helpful?

I have a brother who goes to church on Sunday to a very fundamentalist church where they have all the answers and everyone else is lost and going to hell.  Yet, when you see his stuff he shares with others online, it is some of the most hateful things that I see posted.  He holds nothing back as to what he shares about those who don't think like him.  Is that helpful?  Is that authentic?  I think we could all answer those questions easily.

The thing is though, it isn't just my older brother.  It feels like it is everyone, not just of one belief or another.  If you don't go and respond to the bull-crap that's spewed on the internet, my hat is off to you.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure there are many that don't do this.  It is just too wide spread out there.

We give very little value to humanity...

If we are going to see everyone as either agreeing with us or not, then we give very little value to humanity.  If we are going to see everyone as being for or against us or some viewpoint, then we give very little value to humanity.  Surely we can be more than that as humans!

With what I've seen online, I'm so turned off to all of this.  No one is listening to the other.  It is just a free-for-all on all sides, not just one side.  Yes, there are some that act horribly, but if you engage with them, what does that say about you?  If you try to bully a bully on a playground, are you any better than the bully you despise?

I'm afraid that if we don't pull our daggers back in, we're going to cause irreparable harm to not only our country, but this world and more importantly, humanity.  We can't wait for the others to come around to whatever viewpoint we have.

We need to start acting like humans that are here to work together.  We need to show the love for one another like we claim to have for everyone.  We need to learn what really matters in a day and what is nothing more than noise on the continuum of life.

#TreatOneAnother 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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We Want To See Others Suffer

I know that this post doesn't apply to everyone, but it applies to many, especially in our country.  All you have to do is look at our political contest and see how the world views our political race for evidence.  It boils down to the fact that we want to see others suffer or get beat up.  We love to see the fight.

I just read a headline that says that last night's debate was the highest rated in months.  Really?  Yes, really!

It isn't like these people up on the political stage are saying anything knew.  They repeat the campaign slogans and one liners over and over.  If you don't know what they stand for by now, you must be living under a rock.

It isn't like these people up on the political stage really and truly care or want to do the right thing because if they did, their poll numbers would plummet.  They have to take positions that their core group of supporters believe in and so even while I'm sure they want to be trustworthy, they have all failed at this part.  I'm not talking party lines either because they all do it on either side to the same degree.  Neither side is better or exempt in my view.

Year after year, debate after debate, it is the same questions that get asked.  Yes, they pepper a few different twists and thoughts into them, but it is the same thing regurgitated all the time.  It is like telling a kid no time and time again.  You've got to keep repeating it over and over and they still don't hear it or listen to it.

Yet, through all of this, the people who watch these things are the reasons these so called debates of horrendous human disrespect continue.  Do you think the "media" that everyone assails would put this stuff on the air if it didn't sell advertising revenue?  If you do, then think again.  Its about the money!

People want to see others suffer, although they will tell you otherwise.  People act like they love one another in Jesus name, although their actions say different.  People say they believe in one thing, but then the opposite side of that political belief is rejected without proper justification.

I would like to think that this political foolishness will spin itself out of control one of these days so we can get back to a normal discourse, but I'm doubtful at best that it will.  Each political season, we stoop lower and lower.  We spend more and more.  We tear each other apart better than the other guys and we wear badges of honor when we portray this behavior.

I honestly could care less which party anyone belongs to or blindly follows.  They are all the same, spending so much money to allow the ego to grandstand on the stage of politics.  Everyone that follows this stuff to the nth degree is nothing more than a blind follower of one of these political egos.

It is sad that we want to see others suffer.  It really is.  The only way our civilization will endure and survive through the challenges we face as inhabitants on this planet is by working together.  We've lost that as humans.  All we seem to know how to do now is to attack one another.

To those that turn the TV off and don't participate in this spectacle, my hat is off to you.  That is the vote that will change things for the better.  Making a choice to not engage the inflated ego of politics is the more sane option.

If you want to comment on this blog post, feel free to leave your thoughts, but it had better be respectful.  I moderate all comments and if you're here to tear anyone apart or show disrespect, your comment will not be published.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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