Words and Stones

I am witnessing what strikes me as a very disturbing trend. It seems that people who don't agree with everything you think are nothing more than your enemies.  

This weekend I posted a piece about Memorial Day with a number of quotes pointing out why we would honor the sacrifice of people who died defending freedom. I was surprised by the number of angry and vitriolic replies to that post. One gentleman didn't appreciate my warmongering statist propaganda. Another informed me that most of those soldiers did not die for freedom. 

This morning I noted the death of poet laureate Maya Angelou. A number of people have remarked that they do not mourn the loss of progressive leftists. 

I also recently wrote about the jump to blame the atrocities committed by Elliot Roger on the left, the right, guns, and woman haters. 

After posting about a woman stoned to death for marrying the man she loved, I was asked how that differs from Christian conservatives not wanting gays to marry. 

When Nelson Mandela died there were a lot of folks who wanted to point out what was wrong with him. 

Likewise when Ronald Reagan died there were many who had bad things to say about him. 

There was a lot of animosity toward Michael Sam and also toward those who disapprove of Michael Sam. 

One would think that both Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling are both personal disciples of Satan. 

Enough is enough, people. 

I am not a progressive, or a liberal, or a statist, or an authoritarian. I don't like those ideas and ways of thinking. But that doesn't mean I dislike everyone with those ideas or ways of thinking. 

Maya Angelou was a progressive. I disagreed with many of her ideas. But I recognize her talent as a wordsmith and poet. I acknowledge the sincerity of her position. And I can respect her and disagree with her at the same time. 

Ms. Angelou, who was in her 80s, grew up in the same era as Mr. Sterling and Mr. Bundy. It was a different era, and a different society than what we have today. 

As for Memorial Day:

Had we not fought a Revolutionary War against the British we would have continued kneeling to a King. 

The blood spilled in the Civil War ended up freeing men from slavery. 

The totalitarians whose aggression started World War Two were not going to be stopped by appeasement but by military action. We really tried not getting involved and we got Pearl Harbor. 

Without adding in the first two, we lost 405,000 brave young men in World War 2 alone. And the single Battle of Gettysburg saw as many men die as the entire Vietnam War. 

So the vast majority of people who we honored this weekend died not for statism or warmongering but to defend freedom. 

As for the woman stoned to death for marrying the wrong person and conservatives who disapprove of gay marriage there is a vast difference between words and actions, between ignorance and malice. Words are not stones and hurt feelings are not death. 

We can respect people without endorsing, agreeing with, or approving of their ideas. It is not necessary to disrespect or silence them.

I do not remember Maya Angelou referring to "right wing but jobs" or demanding that other people with other views be silenced. 

And lest I be a hypocrite let me say I am happy that all those folks were free to make their angry, vitriolic comments. Get it off your chest, but also try to listen to your own words and reflect on what you are saying. 

Stand your ground and defend your ideas without attacking the people who disagree with you. Don't aim to silence or shame them but instead try to change their ideas. 

And maybe, perhaps, chill out just a bit and show a little respect for those who have passed on and are no longer here to defend themselves.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? 

Why are you beset with gloom? 

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? 

Bowed head and lowered eyes? 

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you? 

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? 

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs? 

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Maya Angelou