I don't need some scare-the-shit-out-of-you Christian to let me know that I have or might be "left behind."
Yesterday, I was reading some Internet to-and-fro about some hot-button topic. I forget what the topic was (gun control? abortion? war? acceptance by God?), but what struck me was the tenor of the comments the topic elicited. They were loud and they were rude and they made assumptions that seemed unable to excite research or reflection. Boiled down, they might have read, "You're an asshole and I'm not."
Somehow the tenor and volume really shocked me. How had all this happened? I don't generally read such things and somehow, in my absence, everything had gotten out of hand... all Facebook and Twitter succinct without visible substance. The other kids were playing out in the street and I, as a fellow human being, wanted to think I could go out and play too. But I couldn't: I had been left behind.
Even the moderating, oh-so-conciliatory remarks -- and there always seemed to be one or two of those -- agreed with the premises posed by the high-volume participants, tried to smooth things out and unwittingly contributed to the nonsensical nature of the discussion.
Where have I been? How did this happen? Really -- where did the notion arise that because I say so something is automatically true? Someone will have a long and well-lubricated explanation, but I guess it boils down to choice: You either play stupid -- loud and self-serving -- or you take your toys and go home. Faux (or Fox) news is the way of the world, it seems, and I am disinclined to bend a knee to the stupidity.
My bad.
It's a sad and scary world out there. Our generation came up through a small renaissance. But that time is passing, and the witch burners are on the rise. They can tie me to a stake. I won't argue.
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