That Facebook Friend That I Only Keep Around Because Of Some Massochistic Desire To Be Irritated By The Way He Thinks

  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?