Editor’s Note: One thing I’ve noticed during this latest media-driven “current thing” that is blowing all of us apart, is that young people tend to be able to see through the fog of war more readily that the old guys. Case in point: This was a FB post written by a guy half my age who’s been in television journalism for many years. He’s been on both sides of the camera and obviously has a good feel for how people can be manipulated by what they see on TV. He gave me permission to post/publish his comment in the pages of The Remnant newspaper. This is not a partisan piece. Tony strikes a good balance, and I hope readers will find it useful to the larger effort to turn the temperature down, at least with those who call themselves Christians and for whom Faith trumps politics every single time. MJM
It’s intellectual dishonesty. That’s all it is. People reside in their echo chambers, totally avoiding civil discourse because the world is full of narcissists who only want to shriek like banshees and try and force people to agree with them. They only talk with those with whom they are comfortable talking, and that just ends in an infinite, positive reinforcement loop, which, in turn, distorts reality.
You can disagree with something, and that’s fine. You can argue points, and that’s also fine. But when you can’t argue objective truths, simply because it does not align with your political allegiance – this is where I get concerned.
Too many people set aside objective truths simply to argue why perspective A (theirs) is right and perspective B (the “bad guy’s”) is wrong. You see it all too often. People throwing principles, nuance, and objective truths out the window in favor of just trying to defend “their side” or “their party.”
Many times, two truths can occur at the same time, and it feels like nobody can see that anymore. It’s just arguing to defend your political alliance while totally ignoring objective truths, morals, and principles.
The Right cried out for days when Obama changed the name of Mount McKinley to Denali. Those same people cheered for the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
So, can we rename things or not?
The right cried ad nauseum about Obama’s drone strikes in the Middle East because they were acts of war, not approved by congress. Those same people cheered at an unapproved act of war and midnight raid in Venezuela to capture Maduro.
So, can we bypass congress to commit acts of war or not?
Obama and Biden deported millions of immigrants, while the left remained silent. They now cry out and protest in the streets when Trump does it.
So, can we enforce immigration laws or not?
There are a million examples of the left and right arguing and fighting, just because the other side is in power and they feel like they need to call each other out.
Sowing division causes confusion and anger. That sells. That gets ratings. That sells ads. That fuels the machine. But at the end of the day, we’re all caught in a rat race where hypocrisy reigns and confusion and division fall in line because, well, if you aren’t “good” then you must be “bad”.
Is there no intellectual honesty left in America? You can disagree with something, and that’s fine. You can argue points, and that’s also fine. But when you can’t argue objective truths, simply because it does not align with your political allegiance – this is where I get concerned.
Everything is inflammatory now and it seems nobody can boil things down to the point and debate the very core of something. And the thing is, the vast majority of people just want to be left alone. The 1% on the far right and the far left often get all the publicity. They make the most noise and people are then left feeling like that represents the majority. Meanwhile, the middle has been cornered and bullied into feeling like they have to fall in line. They have to put their foot in one camp or the other and go along with what the shrieking voices are saying, even though it makes them uncomfortable. We’ve seen how people have been demonized for silence. How the mindset has turned to “if you don’t speak up and out, that means you support ____ bad thing.”
Sowing division causes confusion and anger. That sells. That gets ratings. That sells ads. That fuels the machine. But at the end of the day, we’re all caught in a rat race where hypocrisy reigns and confusion and division fall in line because, well, if you aren’t “good” then you must be “bad”.
It must stop!
