Throughout history, brave men and
women have risked life and limb in the pursuit of truth and justice. In the
face of untold dangers, our forebears made their stands and often paid a high
price for doing so.
Over 200 years ago, patriots were
willing to suffer and die for that ephemeral promise of “life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.”
Much further back in time, God’s
chosen people spent 40 years wandering the wilderness in the hope of finding
the Promised Land.
More recent history is populated
with protestors and civil resistors from across the country who struggled to
end repression based on race or gender.
I missed out on most of that. And
I’ll be honest, I’m glad I did. My guess is the folks involved in pursuing those
worthy goals spent a lot of nights scared, hungry and otherwise uncomfortable.
Changing minds is hard work and
the people whose minds most need changing are the same folks most resistant to
it. So I don’t try to change minds.
I may criticize what some of my
friends think, who they vote for, what music they listen to, who they love,
hate, worship or despise. I’ll sometimes make fun of their ideas, compare them
to lower primates or – in rare cases (I’m thinking of you, Steve-o!) – to icky
invertebrates.
But that’s only because I love to
argue. Most times I’m not even sure I’m right. I just like the fight.
Socrates once said, “Where there
is no controversy, there is no advance in truth.” Despite the fact he often
went out in public wearing a bathrobe, Socrates was a pretty smart guy.
I’m not as smart as Socrates; not
as smart as a lot of folks, in fact. Still, I get a thrill out of debating an
issue.
Actually, “debating” is too
high-falutin’ a word for what I do. Sure, it starts out as debating. In the beginning, my intentions are usually
honorable. I stick to the topic, avoid slanderous and potentially libelous
comments. But in the end, it always devolves to name calling and schoolyard
taunts liberally laced with the most heinous profanity known to man.
Let me give you a for-instance.
My aforementioned buddy Steve, whom I’ve known for nearly three decades, is our
president elect’s number one fan. I’m much further down the fan list. In fact,
given that there are about 7.5 billion people in the world at the moment, I’d
say I’m Trump Fan Number 7,500,000,000,001. Or thereabouts.
For the past 18 months or so,
this has given Steve and me a lot to talk about on Facebook. We do most of our
talking there because there’s no way to throw punches online. Were we to
discuss politics in person, it would almost certainly end with a police
investigation.
Despite his politics and the
likelihood I may one day have to kill him (or vice versa), Steve is one of my best
friends. I’m hoping he feels the same way about me.
Our conversations go like this:
STEVE (In a meme): Only two more
weeks and we can start making America great again!!
ME (Commenting): And by “we,” you
mean middle-aged white guys, right?
STEVE: Hey Mike, you commie
@#$%!! I thought you were moving to Canada.
ME: They wouldn’t take me. I
shouldn’t have mentioned on the entrance form that I knew you. It’s a “guilt by
association” thing. Canada has a strict “no Nazis” policy.
STEVE: Nazi? Me? Who’s the one
that supported Obamacare?
ME: What’s Obamacare got to do
with 1930’s Germany, #$%**!?
STEVE: If you were smart enough
to read a history book, @#$%!!, you’d know!
ME: The last book you read,
@#%%%@!!, was “Green Eggs and Ham,” and you got confused by the eggs part.
STEVE: $$@!@#$%^&*!! you
@#!!$%^!! and the #@#$% you rode in on!
ME: Hey @#%##!, please feel free
to @##$!! my @#*+@#! all the way into next week @#!!$%%@!
OK, not exactly Socrates, I know.
Still, we have a good time with it. Though I’m guessing we both walk away from
the encounters feeling a bit soiled. I know I do.
Point is, we get to enjoy the fun
of disagreeing without any of the dangers faced by the post-Pharaoh Jewish
nation, our 1776 forefathers, or the brave black kids who dared to order from
the Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960.
Free discourse – even discourse
as idiotic as Steve’s and mine – isn’t something we should take for granted. A
lot of folks paid a high price for that freedom.
Hmm. Maybe next time Steve and I
have it out, I should try to focus more on the issues and less on the @#$%!!
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