Incivility

Taking the Count -- Eakins

When did everyone turn into Mini Me versions of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk? When did name calling, callous insults and other assorted bully boy/girl behaviors become acceptable, the norm even?

I spoke of the company I worked for before my current, fab gig, where the manager seemed to feel that condescension and assuming the worst about a person were real, primo, winning and productive methods for managing his team.

Eh, not so much, man.

Silly me, I think that my non-work milieus will be free of this kind of fucked up shit but noooooo.

On my Facebook page the coarseness, the dissing usually comes from my acquaintances who claim Jesus as their personal savior and role model. These folk don’t seem to understand that they’re being blazingly, insultingly rude -- discourteous to the max and back. They truly don’t seem to grok why their vile pronouncements are met with heavy duty indignation and scorn. After all, they seem to feel they’re just speaking the ‘TRUTH’ and that makes their ill advised, fact free, Tea Party denunciations of my very existence AOK.

Right? WRONG!

 Sadly, they seem to have done a profoundly selective reading of their god’s teachings, totes missing Matthew 25:40:

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Luke 6:35:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

oh yeah and Matthew 5:9 too:

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Saint Sebastion -- El Greco

But what do I know -- I’m an evil, left wing agnostic!

What I want to know is this -- do these folks really think they’re making a great case for their brand of judgmental and exclusionist religion? Do they believe their god’s all pleased as punch with their attacks or are they just trying to set themselves up as martyrs because, ya know, Saint Sebastian totally rocked!

So, then -- I should be safe from the slings and arrows of outrageous bullyboy/girl-dom while perusing my fav left wings blogs, eh?

Once again, not so much.

I was following one particular blog -- left wing definitely but also a practical bunch who understood that real, lasting change/progress, takes time, a shit ton of effort and a solid, deep understanding of the opposition. We can’t undo the damage of the Bush administrations in one swell foop with one Magic Pony president. Want more progressives in government? Start electing them at the lowest levels and work up. Even if Nader could’ve gotten elected he never would have been able to get anything done. Like minded congress-critters, LOADS of them, are imperative.

But I digress...

This was a smallish group blog written by a band of friends. I thought they were friends anyway. One of the writers, at some point, became a born again Firebagger. When met with anyone who disagreed, she would immediately fall into full blown righteous, wild insult mode. Contrast? Diversity? Respectful debate? Nah, that’s for pansies apparently.

She did this with her fellow bloggers and with us the reading public, thus displaying a complete obtuseness on how to:
a) validly support an argument
b) convince unbelievers of the wisdom of your POV
c) build and maintain an intelligent, engaged audience.

I got it though -- she was looking for fans not discussion. I don’t know if she was shown the gate but I do know that she killed her previous good reputation. She moved on, blogging on another well respected small site for a time and then started her own (which, I believe, faded away).

What was she after, besides fans? Was she, like my ‘right wing’ martyr wannabes, overly enamored of Saint Joan?