Do you find yourself getting angry when you scan through your Facebook Feed? If so, this could mean two things. One, you need to rethink your “friend” list. Side note, FaceBook friends are not really your “friends.” Some may be real friends, but most don’t even come up to the “acquaintance” bar. I’m not the type to “unfriend” someone who has opposing views, but if you expect me to swallow your opposing view without benefit of debate, or refuse to debate, or are quick to initiate a personal attack because of my opposing view, then the chances of your “opinions” being deleted and you being ignored are pretty significant. Take that for what it’s worth. Second, and most important, getting angry over the stupidity of FaceBook or those who use FaceBook as a weapons platform are bad for you on so many levels. The many posts that have the intended purpose to anger are growing exponentially. Trolls step in and throw fuel on the fire just for fun; their intent is not to discuss but to make people angry then they step back and watch. Don’t play their game.
FaceBook may have started as a social network to bring people together; that ship has sunk. (Factoid – FaceBook was initially created to score the aesthetic value of women; it was referred to as “hot or not” game. A law suit shut it down so they redirected their efforts.) FaceBook has a good purpose, it allows real friends separated by distance to remain in close contact. But other applications have been applied; it is also a tool used by those who wish to implement divide, create dissension, and obscure truth. If you have not yet figured that out you have not been paying attention.
If you are easily angered then you unwittingly allow yourself to be manipulated. We all have “buttons” that, when pushed, initiate a specific action; that’s what buttons do. Hide your buttons. If a word, phrase, action, or attitude from others initiates your anger, shifts your focus, or narrows your scope of observation or influence then they own you. If the actions of others shift your attention to unwanted or unimportant areas, then you have given public access to your “button” that can be pushed by anyone at any time in order to control your actions or responses; they own you.
If your “public” buttons are known, one has the ability to intimidate, persuade, mislead, or manipulate you. One can use a button to focus your attention elsewhere, allowing them free and clandestine movement in much more important areas that you would otherwise be focused on; your focus is now elsewhere so they can move about and act without you knowing their real agenda and intent. If someone pushes your anger button for no reason, it is ok to be angry, but be angry in private; refocus your attention on what is important, it could be the imposed anger is a misdirection meant to mislead and help hide their true agenda from you. Politicians do this on a regular basis.
Everyone has buttons. The key is to know what your buttons are and hide them. I’m not saying a hidden button cannot be pushed, it can. If a hidden button is pushed, hide the response. Don’t make your buttons public. Some will push your buttons for the entertainment value only; don’t be someone’s toy.
Never let your anger be public.
It’s OK to get angry, but get angry on purpose and on your own terms. Find a private place to release your anger.
Being politically correct walks hand-in-hand with and fuels the “woke and cancel culture” that is so prevalent today; plus, the foundation of “politically correct” changes on a daily basis. Phrases praised today will bring about your public demise on social media tomorrow. How can anyone live by a set of standards or a code of conduct when the “rules” change so rapidly? The obvious answer to this glaring question is, “You can’t.”
Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers, said, “He who does not offend, cannot be honest.” Actually, I’m not sure if he said it or if it was a phrase in a published article. If he said it, someone was taking notes of his oratory which allowed for the notoriety. Those who take notes on (or record) what we say today do so, in part, to use them against us tomorrow when the “rules” change.
Those who work at being politically correct have a list of words, phrases and actions itemized in columns that are labeled “Acceptable, Unacceptable, or Avoid at all Cost.” Words, phrases and actions shift between these three columns with no warning; even referring to “…Founding Fathers…” is offensive to some and violates today’s PC guidelines. As a quick sidebar: a question that always comes to mind is, “Who decides?” Who decides what is acceptable and what is not? What action facilitates the change from acceptable to totally unacceptable in an instant? Is it a secret committee who meets for coffee and scones each morning to decide which way to twist the day? How is this information disseminated to the public? Where do they meet? How do you get invited to such meetings? It’s a curiosity to me.
A code too fragile to face adversity is no code at all.
Here is the gist of this narrative. If you are “politically correct” you basically stand for nothing. How can you? Your “standard” cannot sustain itself; again, what is acceptable today, what meets your standard based on what is in today’s “acceptable” column, may not be politically correct tomorrow. Which means what you proudly stood for yesterday is found repugnant by your senses today. In the PC world there is no absolute truth, only personal perception based on personal and often petty and self-serving desires, which means you must shift your standard left or right to remain politically correct. A standard that can be uprooted by a slight wind is no standard at all. Truth today is not truth tomorrow. What is good today may be evil tomorrow and, most disturbing, what is truly evil today is praised tomorrow as indulging in choices you can be proud of. (Isaiah 5:20)
Barring man’s law, which is often self-serving and unjust, I believe in a moral absolute. Your disbelief in a moral absolute is irrelevant, it is a hard and unforgiving fact that is not altered by personal choice. I also believe we, as a society, have willfully allowed, and often times intentionally implemented, the decay of the moral absolute. By proclaiming a moral absolute, I have just offended all those people who choose to be offended by the truth; it’s not that what I said is wrong, it’s the truth that is offensive. And sometimes, if one person says or does it, it’s bad, but if another person says or does the same thing, perhaps someone rooted in the PC culture, it’s OK and even praised; this alone should clearly demonstrate how misguided it all is, but it doesn’t. It’s an oddity at best. I refuse, with God’s consistent help, to live by a false standard that can shift based on the arbitrary and unstable entries in the “acceptable” and “unacceptable” columns; I will endeavor, again with God’s consistent help, to proclaim the truth that so often appears in the “Unacceptable and Avoid at all Cost” columns.
I believe political correctness is a cancer that has infested the moral fiber of our society. Before I go on, I want to make a couple of things clear. I am not an academic, I am not a physician, psychologist, sociologist, philosopher or theologian by any stretch of anyone’s imagination. I am just a man with life experiences, experiences that often count for more than any coveted college degree or certification. My life experiences tell me that much emphasis is placed on mental health and how poor mental health can adversely affect a person’s physical condition; this is all true. However, I also believe a vibrant and strong mental function is dependent on moral and spiritual absolutes. If a person lacks a moral absolute or has a weak spiritual foundation, then they may fall prey to mental and physical disorders.
Some will see the last two paragraphs as hate speech and will condemn me for it. Another quick sidebar: Take just one moment and honesty debate with yourself this conundrum. Why is it hate speech if I, based on my personal beliefs, question what some see as an acceptable life choice, but it is not hate speech when others, based on their personal beliefs, question what I see as an acceptable life choice? If your answer boils down to nothing more than, “I’m right and you are wrong” and it is all based on “your personal opinion” then I submit you are either the harbinger of hate or you know I speak truth but are too afraid to proclaim it. Fear not. Point of order: if you are offended by truth or your feelings are hurt by my words, I am sorry. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not sorry you’re offended or hurt, your emotions are on you, I’m sorry you have been convinced that truth is a lie and that lies are truth.
Case in point: This current generation (much more than past generations) has been overrun with narratives that shift boundaries based on an arbitrary and obscure agenda (narratives that are altered on a whim) causing confusion, cynicism, distrust, and self-loathing. It is not politically correct to say these past generations are fatherless, have had no mentors who demonstrate a moral stance, and is basically without a sense of self-navigation. To tell a person they have no ability to self-navigate is offensive, it is not politically correct, but that does not mean it is not true. Our youth today are desperate for guidance, but at the same time, society is telling them nobody has the right to tell them what to do; nobody has the right to interject a moral absolute; nobody has the right to insist on accepting responsibility for personal actions. To do so is hateful. Many of our youth (and adults), who have swallowed the whole politically correct agenda, ridicule and belittle those who earnestly seek truth; educators across the spectrum wear down the student with a vengeance. Educators no longer educate, they no longer teach an ability to debate and discuss, they indoctrinate. Is it any wonder we have a lost generation? (Isaiah 5:13) All of this so we do not offend. To clarify, am I saying every fatherless or motherless child is destined to be morally inept? Absolutely not, I’ve known far too many single parents who live and teach a moral life to their children. But, what I am saying is when you discredit, without thought of moral consequence and for the sake of being accepted by the politically correct populace, the value of a dual parent household or discredit a moral or spiritual foundation you do a discredit to the cumulative value of an upbringing; there will be a missing component.
Let’s move on. Do not concern yourself with the feelings of others so long as you speak the truth. If you have spoken truth, and you speak without being abrasive or toxic, and it offends, it is truth that offends, not you. Never lower or set aside your standards or violate your code of honor or code of conduct in order to sooth the feelings of those too weak to bare the truth. It is a mandate of any moral code to speak the truth when truth needs to be spoken. It is not your problem if a person cannot handle or does not want to hear the truth. (Psalm 119:165)
Political correctness is a grandiose and misguided venture to never offend anyone. If it is your intent to never offend anyone, then you will live your life as a hermit in a cave never interacting with anyone. And of course, there will be those who will wish to end your hermit existence because they are offended by hermits.
Live by a moral code of absolutes. Absolutes are written into our soul; absolutes that are ultimately and immutably defined by God. To deny them, to intentionally turn your back on them for the sake of a PC mantra, invites the cancer of moral decay. Unchecked, this cancer will spread into every fiber of our existence and destroy our relationships, our families, our lives, our personality, and in the end our souls will perish (Romans 2:8). Never intentionally lower your standards, never alter your inscribed code, do what is right based on God’s absolute truth, not based on what does or does not offend. Hold firm to Godly principles, embrace and abide by the hard truth of right and wrong. Will we succeed every time a choice of right or wrong confronts us? No, but do not filter your failure through a PC mantra in order to turn it into something to be relished, don’t accept wrong because it’s easier, accept responsibility for your actions and learn from them. Eventually, some will want to know the truth and they will seek you out because you will be the only one with the courage to speak it.
“This narrative is an extensively dissected and detailed explanation of a short, and admittedly, flippant response I gave to the post mentioned in the 1st paragraph below. My original response to the post was, “Wow, you really need to take the blinders off and remove the head-phones.” The original post needed a more elaborate response but very few are willing to read a response that extends beyond the boundaries of a bumper sticker. So, here it is, all 1400 words of it. It is not likely the author of the original post will read it; they unfriended me not long ago.”
I read a post not long ago marinating the belief that bigotry is out of control and regulates our everyday lives. You could smell the smoldering hatred from that post; much like the lingering stench of wet ash after putting out a fire by peeing on it. It went on to enlighten the deplorable illiterates that people were better off 100 years ago and bigotry is in us all and growing exponentially with acceptable glee. The post went on to say, “…and our country will die because of it.”
I agree with some of what the author wrote in the post, but not as the author intended. I believe it is an orchestrated and efficiently marketed sort of new bigotry that is growing exponentially and yes, with some, gleefully. There is written history that, without objection through even a casual glance, shows that 100 years ago it was much worse than it is now for women, for minorities, for children and the elderly (of any color or gender), and even our pets. So, the premise of the original post is beyond bogus and is in fact a fabricated lie that has but one purpose—to fuel the new bigotry. The utter oddity of believing such a statement seems to give the believer a sense of grandiose morality that places them on higher ground; minions of lower stature gazing up with admiration and desire.
We have made great strides, learned from our mistakes, bettered ourselves, and intertwined into ourselves the desire to do better, to treat each other better regardless of internal and external differences—knowing full well we will often fail in big and small ways. However, even the failures, if taken at true value, can be a learning experience to impress upon us the consequences of our actions; consequences to ourselves, our families, our neighbors, coworkers and especially strangers—that is if we take the time to embrace the courage needed to apply the lesson learned. I can tell you stories where I was dismissed without cause because I retired from uniform as a high-ranking Sergeant with decades of experience rather than an Officer. “You were never an Officer so how could your opinion possibly matter when compared to one who did retire as an Officer?” Is that not bigotry?
Everyone, regardless of profession or position, color, race or nationality, gender, or age has been dismissed because of who or what they are—or are not. If you seek the truth you already know all this. Anyone with any level of compassion, self-respect, or even the slightest respect for all humanity (not just their hand-picked parcel) knows this already. Those with true purpose, compassion, and self-respect are not now, nor will they ever be the audience the puppet master will be able to manipulate, so long as they stay vigilant; those who lack any such attribute can be manipulated and made to believe that the 100+ years of progress never happened and things are worse now than before; therein lies the new bigotry. If you cannot be manipulated, you must be discredited. Is this not systemic bigotry?
As individuals, many of us see what’s happening and recognize it by sight and smell; as a society we are blind and willfully ignorant of the manipulation—as a society we are being played. You have a PHD, I have a GED; does that make you better than me? Does it really? There is bigotry in us all, just like there is anger, envy and jealousy; deny that and you lie to yourself; deny that and by default, in your own mind, that makes you better than anyone else—is that not bigotry?
We all know the story of the two wolves who fight inside us all; which one do we feed? Divide us, convince us we cannot trust the other, persuade us to hate without reason, persuade me to hate the person who does not hate the same people you do, and we feed the bigotry that is in all of us (regardless of color, race, or gender) and as a society we will turn on each other like rabid dogs and we will crumble and fall. I will apologize for my faults, but the condition of my birth is not something I feel compelled to apologize for. Nor would I expect an apology from others for their conditions of birth. Is one gender better or worse than the other, is one nationality or race better or worse than another? Is a rich person better than a poor person—is an under-educated person better than an educated one? Pick any two diametric scenarios and apply the question.
We all have faults, some more than others. If you were to focus on only my faults or were I to focus on yours, we would eventually despise each other. Even if society suddenly lost all bigotry, all hate, all anger, and every form of jealousy and envy there would remain the scattered individual who find these harsh attributes tantalizing and will embrace and implement them for personal gain, for the excitement, and for no other reason than it makes them feel important; like the bully we all dealt with on the proverbial playground. Short side road here, if you did not deal with the “bully” then chances are you were the bully and you may, subconsciously of course, be one of those scattered individuals. Just a thought worth pondering.
It’s easy to get caught up in the back-and-forth trashing from behind a computer screen and justify it as our right to be heard or our right to defend our opinion; and both platforms are true. We do have a right to be heard and we do have the right to defend our opinion, but we have taken these “rights” to a new level. We now believe it is our right to trash and hate those who do not share in and defend our opinion. And some even go so far as to seek out others with opposing opinions so they can spew this self-righteous hatred—it is their jihad. “You disagree with my opinion so you are obviously misguided and deserve to be silenced!” Is this not bigotry? This is manipulation from the puppet master whose ability to portray hate and lies as moral truth far surpasses the abilities of Joseph Goebbels. “Let me control the media and I will turn any nation into a herd of pigs.” He’s doing it again but we are too arrogant, too educated, and far too sophisticated to believe we can be manipulated. How dare anyone think such antics can be applied in this day and age? Is that not bigotry? At least Joseph Goebbels stood in the open and did not hide his actions or intentions. Today’s puppet master hides in the shadows and speaks through manicured puppets.
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” Joseph Goebbels
If building a team, we must seek out and engage the differences in order to gain every advantage. If everyone on our team is the same, how can we possibly have all the bases covered? How can we observe and act upon threats if all the vantage points are not manned? Is the U.S. not a team on a global scale? Can any team that discards a member for unwarranted reasons stand against an adversary? What about a Corporation? Is it not a finely tuned team? What happens when you discount a team member because you care not for their politics or religious views? The puppet master has convinced many to see our differences as faults and has used that as a wedge to divide. I totally agree with one aspect of the original post—we will die from this newly marketed bigotry.
I refuse to cower to the puppet master—but it requires a daily commitment.
Mistakes should hurt; there should be scares. Mistakes should have consequences. The person who made the mistake should be held accountable at whatever level of recompense required to account for an irresponsible action. That could mean anything spanning jail time to having to say, “I’m sorry.” Realizing you made a mistake should be a defining point of your day, maybe even your life. A mistake that results in a painful outcome, or a mistake that is accompanied by significant adverse consequences is, at least for prudent people, a teaching moment; the lesson to be learned, “Don’t do that again.” At the very least, mistakes should enforce the need to calculate second and third order affects of our actions. “What are the possible outcomes if I hang outside a moving train to get a selfie?”
“Nothing to worry about Mom, I’ve done this lots of times and never been hurt.”
Some mistakes (even those repeated time and time again) go unnoticed until the Law of Chance comes to collect its debt; then a minor mistake or misstep will extract its toll in blood and broken bones, or death, in quick order. So quick can be the collection of the debt that the perpetrator has maybe 1/100th of a second to realize a mistake has been made; that 1/100th of a second will last the rest of their life. You ever read stories, or watch YouTube videos of “The Darwin Awards?” I believe, those who appear as a recipient of the Darwin Award, or at least a large portion of them, are people who never took the time to learn from their mistakes; they never applied that life lesson or, more truthful than not, were never held accountable for their mistakes and/or irresponsible actions. Their failure to properly apply lessons offered up by their mistakes resulted in them being remembered not by what they did in life, but rather by the ridiculous nature of their death or, a much scarier scenario, the death of others.
I believe, as a society, we’ve ushered in this ill-conceived concept of not forcing an acceptance of responsibility for a bad act; and we have done so from an impractical vantage point; one we call moral but is anything but. Rather than learn from mistakes we, as a society, have taken it upon ourselves, in order to avoid damaging their ego, to no longer allow people to take responsibility for their own actions. It’s always someone else’s fault—the public education system failed, it’s society’s fault, let’s blame global warning, let’s blame the parent who is not present, the environment or national history. Blame anything or anyone you want—just don’t blame the person. Unless of course that person is of a different political persuasion then we have every right to blame them for the ill-effect of sunspots and gall-force winds.
If you are unable to take responsibility for your actions and/or unable to learn from your mistakes, then you are doomed to make the same mistake over and over and quite probably pass the trait of irresponsible action on to the next generation.
The ill-conceived notion that we are not responsible for our own actions propagates itself like cancer and with the same result. If you know a person who does not learn from their mistakes, and I suspect we all know at least one, then that person should be shunned and disregarded; nothing good can come from an association with such people… other than maybe another segment for the Darwin Award.
