I know a guy, well I suppose I knew him years ago when I worked as the
"Worship Coordinator" at a Christian summer camp in Estes Park,
Colorado. The camp had a robust mission statement, but if folks were
honest, the target market was children whose parents couldn't keep them on a
consistent Ritalin schedule. That was a trip of a different color,
but nonetheless, a story for another time.
There was a dude that worked at that camp as a counselor.
He was a fine guy, we never really clicked, but co-existed pretty well, in as
much as we were neutral to the others existence. The summer came and went
and I, perhaps the victim of dubious little plot set to test and
expand the boundaries of my patience and goodwill, accepted
his friend-request on Facebook.
I began to notice trends in what he wanted the world to know
about himself. He started posting things... irksome things...thinks
that left me feeling peeved...wound up ... annoyed... bothered... maddened...
and a bit peckish.
One photo in particular stated, “My
parents spanked me a bunch when I was young and now I’m a cut above the rest of
you hippies. So you can bet that I’m gonna beat the hell out of my kids so they’ll
turn out as great as me someday.”
. .
.
or something like that. . . I’m working
from memory.
Parenthetically, I don’t recall ever
being spanked, and I’m WAY better than most people, especially this guy.
This week, I was nearly sent over
edge, around the bend, and any which way. He posted this article. I’ll pause
while you have a chance to read it…
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/12/10/one-million-babies-have-died-in-south-africa-since-nelson-mandela-legalized-abortion/
So what do ya think?
Now I’ll concede, this article was
written on behalf of group that has one track.
They lobby one thing and one thing only.
I’ll also give him some credit for using his first brief paragraph to
flippantly brush up against Nelson Mandela’s human rights triumphs; Essentially
saying, “Hey World!
Don’t think I’m a completely
uneducated prick of a puppet!” But HOLLLYYYY COOOWWWW! (said in my best Harry
Caray impression) Did not one person bother to think critically before allowing
this to be posted? Did not one editor think for a moment that there were some
gaping manholes, let alone trapdoors, in this article? For instance, how many
devastating punch-in-the-gut, throw-her-down-the-stairs, back-alley, forced
coat hanger abortions were performed before it was legalized, and therefore, made
much safer? The good folks at Lifenews.com thought it was more important to say "Hey World! Just remember that Nelson Mandela liked to sprinkle stem-cells on his cereal every morning"
I’m not trying to defend Nelson
Mandela, because let’s be honest, a man of his credentials doesn’t need
defending by the likes of me. I’m not even trying to raise public debate over
abortion, because for the moment, I’ve settled into the idea that that probably
won’t be my legacy.
But back my original thought, which
was “Why in the world do I allow myself to engage in this persons social media
when the outcome is inevitably my pissed-offdom.
And as gratifying that I think it would be for
a moment, I simply can’t allow myself to let the bell ring in one of those
absurd 45 post Facebook argument forums that leave everyone feeling a little
worse about everything in the world.
I can definitively say that I’ve
defriended this guy, mostly because I talk a big game, but God knows that not
much good would come from any actual confrontation, and frankly, I’d rather be
bitten by something than talk to this dude.
I don’t perform very well in the trenches of confrontation.
I tend to get frazzled and weird and can’t really
think or comprehend anything clearly.
Almost like I’d missed a few doses of Ritalin. . . huh?
