What is it about political views that makes people "blind" to facts, and willing to accept the most outrageous lies? I really do not understand it.
I am well aware that politicians are human, and that even the ones I support have their moments of stupid "DUH" actions, but the way some people act confuses me and makes me shake my head in dismay. They'll put their favorite politicians on a pedestal as if they were "nine notches about Jesus Christ Himself" - to borrow a phrase from my father-in-law. Conversely, the politicians they despise are viewed as if they were "nine notches below Satan, and in league with Adolf Hitler, too."
A special mention needs to be made about Adolf Hitler. If you have the desire to rate your particular political nemesis with Adolf Hitler, stop right there - do NOT say it aloud, and most certainly do NOT post it online for all the world to see. Seriously, don't do it.
While you might get agreement on the issue from some, you will automatically be dismissed by the smarter people, who will label you as an idiot without an intelligent point of view. You will be seen and talked about as if you are ignorant and uninformed.
I stopped one gentleman cold when he tried to compare then-President Bill Clinton to Hitler, and I also reacted angrily. While I have absolutely no doubt that Mr. Clinton could have been a lot better president, and he had a lot of poor life choices, he does NOT even rank with someone as evil as the leader of Nazi Germany's Third Reich.
Several years later, I had the same reaction with one of my co-workers who ranked then-President George W. Bush with Hitler.
Do not use Mao-tse Tung, Joseph Stalin or Pol Pot, or any other late (and unlamented) dictator, either. History has recorded what each of these leaders has done, and odds will always be that your particular political bogey-man will NEVER be on that level.
When I hear people make those stupid comparisons, it makes me wonder how they did in their high school history classes. After all, you can still graduate without a working knowledge of history.
With former President Barack Obama, though, it seems as if the lies and Hitler-comparisons are at an all-time high. What is it about Mr. Obama that generates such fear, loathing and lying like a dog?
Some of it is certainly racism, mixed in with some latent guilt. The evils of institutionalized slavery still linger to this day. Some white people wish that slavery still existed - for African-Americans, that is. Others fear a retribution for the past sins of their ancestors.
Many people still freely use racial slurs, and actually feared that Mr. Obama was going to enslave the white people of the United States.
Yes, quite a few people actually believed that. There are also quite a few people who believe that an overweight armchair mercenary needs his guns in case he has to fight against the government if it ever becomes "dictatorial".
Actually, I believe that the first action that will happen when said armchair mercenary comes up against armed U.S. soldiers is the feeling of warm urine running down his leg. The second action will involve getting out of his wet pants, so as to not catch a cold.
It is hard to suppress my laughter at such stupidity, sometimes. I will say that I do not believe in collective guilt. I will not be judged for someone else's sins - nor will they be judged for mine.
I do not know what offends me more: the ignorance, the lies of the persistent syndrome of the persecuted hegemon.
Hegemony is a word that means control or dominance. Anyone who knows their U.S. History knows that the hegemony in this country has been and still is that of white male Christians. The election of Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008 did not change that one little bit.
A lot of while male Christians lately have acted as if they have been viciously and persistently persecuted. Usually because people are resisting their control, and are actually trying to exercise their own rights under the First Amendment. Too many of those white male Christians want the situation to be "Freedom for me and mine, not thee and thine."
If you want to have freedom of worship and speech, you have to allow others to have the same rights.
A special mention needs to be made about people who call themselves Christians who lie about Barack Obama.
When you lie, or pass along lies, about former President Obama, then you are not just discrediting yourself. You are damaging your witness, and by relation, you are attacking and damaging the witness of other Christians. You are giving the undecided and unsaved an example of why they would not want to be a Christian.
Why would you do that? Why would you take such a risk?
The Butterfly Effect has many positive results, but there are negative ones, as well. If you call yourself a child of God, and a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, then the urge to lie, or spread lies, about President Obama should not even exist at all. And if you do lie about the man, then you should be convicted. You should feel guilty for what you have done. If you are not convicted about your lies, then that tells a lot more about you than you should be comfortable with. And that's sad.
That is all for now.
Peace be unto you.
