The Weaver's Web

Just wondering. Has Pat Robertson and his fellow shock jock type, evangelical brethren laid the blame for hurricane Sandy at the feet of all the evil “libruls” yet?

I’m guessing they will wait for the final carnage numbers before deciding which particular sector of the liberal agenda is most at fault, but you can bet LGBTs, and those pro choice devils will be near the top of the list.

It’s Facebook’s fault

That is what is known as a soundbite. Short, sweet and meant to grab your attention. Doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with the point the soundbite is trying to make. You paused, you took a split second out of your busy day to form an opinion based on it. It served its purpose.

My son has ask an interesting question: why are liberals constantly preaching tolerance when it comes to gay rights etc, but when someone doesn’t agree with their view they show absolutely no tolerance? He feels that liberals try to portray anyone who doesn’t agree with their views as evil idiots.

You won’t be surprised that I don’t agree with that assessment, but I think I do have an inkling about why he feels the way he does—why both “sides” feel that they are being portrayed as “the demonic enemy”. And yes, liberals feel that’s the way conservatives try to portray them as well.  

There is such a glut of “information” out there. 24 hour news channels, internet blogs, tweets, talk radio—all vying for our attention. We can’t possibly take it all in and stay sane so we scan for the “eye catching” title, the “controversial” tidbits. And because we are human we’re most likely going to focus on said tidbits that agree with our particular point of view on any given subject and/or the “news” that makes us feel, well let’s be honest, just a little superior.

It’s a fast paced world, we are fast paced people—busy, busy doo-bees—we just don’t have time to check the back story of that headline “news”, or to see if the claims made in that email we received are true or false, we have to get on with life. There’s no time to evaluate every single thing, right? And then election time roles around and there’s even more stuff “out there” that we don’t have time to evaluate so we just pass things along without thinking sometimes.

Shockingly, once in a while an attention grabbing sound bite will actually foster a discussion. (yes, even occasionaly on Facebook) You know, the kind where people talk WITH each other rather than AT each other. That’s when we find the chance to teach, and learn, that those who disagree with us are mostly just—well—human. That quite often we have a whole lot in common even though we may vehemently disagree on some things.

Do liberals believe there are some “idiot” conservatives out there? Yes. Just like there are conservatives who believe there are some liberal “idiots” in the world. In my estimation they’re both right. Idocy comes in all shapes, sizes and social/political stripes.

Unfortunately, (again, in my estimation) too many of those idiots have been given access to the biggest megaphones and, well intentioned or not, they foster our seemingly ever growing distrust of and disgust with each other.

And that, to me, is a pretty good definition of evil.

CHANGE is a four letter word

Conservatives don’t like change. Never have liked change. Change means moving away from those glorious days when the world was perfect and their way of life, like the ten commandments, was set in stone.

That was then, this is now.

Now change is terrifying, calamitous, evil, unchristian. Now conservatives don’t just dislike change—they hate it!

You see back in 2008 this black guy used change to get himself elected as President!

President of the United States of America for God’s sake!

The word change has been soiled.

So much so that the only way a God fearing conservative may use it without becoming a target of the righteous wrath of God (or fellow conservatives), is by combining it with any word(s) that conjures up the picture of that imaginary, idyllic past.

A time when people of color knew their place, women knew to keep their mouth shut and the poor stayed humble.

Change is a four letter word.

The evil of Girl Scoutery?

OK, so let me get this straight:

The patriarchal old boys club that chastised their female counterparts for spending too much time worrying about the poor and sick instead of going ballistic over what non-celibate adults chose to do in bed

The religious monolyth that has sheltered pedophiles for centuries and had to be forced to investigate the rampant child rape perpetrated by their members

is starting an “official” inquiry into the Girl Scouts?

Allow me to express my thoughts…BWAAHAHAHA!