If This Post Happens To Offend You, Well... You're Welcome

I think we've mistaken our identity, as a nation. Commentators and bloggers, alike, have offered the thought we have progressed to an enlightened state, and we continue to "mature" philosophically. Hatred is something we, as a larger community, abhor; bigotry is openly rallied against; and anyone who doesn't defend the minority is ridiculed and properly placed outside polite society.

Bull.

We, in fact, have digressed as a nation. We have mimicked the witch-trials we claim to learn from. We are reflecting a hatred we have sought so long to eliminate from our ranks, and we are doing it with a self-justified, self-righteous ignorance, long graced with a smile.

It is time we face the "hatred." It is time we listen to the opposing view, regardless of whether it's what might be considered appropriate for "polite society." We should be grateful we are offended when we are offended, and seek to understand the offender and why we are offended.

I hate to say anything about facts. I believe we all struggle with any number of issues in our lives, we all have some sort of vice, singular or plural. This is what I believe, but I cannot claim it as a fact; not in the mortal/temporary understanding we've been granted. I will, however, base my writing on this belief. Every one of us, in one way or many, (excuse my bluntness... or don't) are terrible and offensive.

Social issues are an incredibly large part of the American psyche. Is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Regardless, they tend to control how a person reacts to another person on a grand scale. Recently, the Supreme Court, a collection of nine human beings - very similar in design as the other seven billion on the earth - decided on a social issue that has not been in question for thousands of years.

Social media was on fire, for all intents and purposes; both pro and con. Some called the supporters of the decision ignorant, fools, hypocrites, destroyers of our children's future. Some called the opposing view hateful, phobic, (also) hypocritical. Commentators, both professionally and profane, attacked religious beliefs, the Bible, and anyone who was willing to stand for their traditions. On the other end, slurs have also been lodged, the Bible has been used to call for a punishment of a class of people, and vitriol has replaced reasonable response.

Yes, we suck. We are a desolate and hateful breed of soft-skinned, multi-pigmented, prejudiced intellectual creatures. Heck, my skin's thinner than most, and this is meant to be a creed sent, spittle-drenched and louder than Iron Maiden set on '11,' in my own face, as much as it is sent to anyone else.

We need to be offended on a regular basis, in my humble (but covered in snide remarks to hide my humility) opinion.

Heck, I'm offended every day just driving to work! And, you know what? I need to get over it! Better yet, I need to realize what I am doing to the other drivers who are "driving" me crazy...

I see a face inside a car, I know who they are and can diagnose their mental/emotional/sociological deficiencies in a matter of milliseconds as I drive by - or watch them drive by. Similarly, I've been able to figure out someone's issues when reading a post on Facebook, or a commentary on some news source: I don't even need to see their faces.

Is this the same for most people? I would assume so (yes, I know what assuming does: it makes an 'ass' out of 'u') if only based on the reality I haven't been able to find a good paying job profiling every citizen in our fine country. I really am that good at psychoanalysis... you?

We have walls between us. We have automobile doors and the air between vehicles, we have the ethereal internet, which is like the wind: it isn't seen, but we know it's there, somehow. We post things on social media, we write blogs, we put commentary about items on Amazon.com. We know we are writing to people, but those people are a faceless sac of emotions; "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals... and you know it."

I think we need to have tables; tables with chairs, but without tablets, phones, or game consoles. We need tables with chairs, and butts in those chairs; we need voices coming from the other end of those butts, and we need ears open while mouths are shut. We need to bring our beliefs and ideas, ignorance's and prejudices to those tables and lie them out when it's our turn to speak. We need to be able to listen to the hatred coming from other's mouths, even when the acid used to take proteins from food burns in our gut. And, quite honestly, I need to be the first one to listen.

I have lived by a credo with those around me: you don't like what I have to say, get over it and move on. No, I don't proclaim it outright; I'm not that brave, or stupid. But, in my silent little tornado, it is a clear voice. I care so much what people think of me, but don't want it getting in the way of what I believe. And in my sensitivity toward others there is also a defiant anger. This is changing, in me, slowly.

I started writing a blog a few weeks ago, which was similar in intent, but when I got stuck trying to get my laptop fixed (it wasn't broken, after all; I just pushed a button I shouldn't have). While awaiting my situation to fix itself, I took a very wise woman's advice and reread what I was writing (thanks, Babe!). It wasn't bad, but even more convoluted than what I've put down here. I also spent a lot of time thinking and praying about what I wanted to write.

I am a Christian, and continually refer to my faith when writing, talking, watching television, listening to music and sinning. Jesus, if you believe the Bible, was not a man who set out to offend people. He managed to do that, just the same, but I've never been given the impression it was His intent to be offensive. His intent, being God, was to show the world the error of their ways. And, if you look at His story, He was determined to tell the truth; not His truth as a man, but THE Truth as only God knows it. 

Truth hurts and convicts; Truth is a reflection each one of us looks into at one time or another and causes us to walk away ashamed of the horrid image we know is there. Truth is what whittles away at our false exterior and reveals to us what we can, and should, become. Truth is always in our scope, but we choose whether to believe what we see or look away and ignore what is there. 

We have an opportunity to no longer ignore what is there. Whether you have a faith in something, or a faith in nothing, we all have a belief of some sort... and it needs to be shared. We need to listen and we need to correct; we need to argue and we need to be willing to modify our beliefs when faced with a reality we might not have been expecting. 

We need tables and chairs and butts and voices and ears.

We probable need to stock up in TUMS, while we're at it.