“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
I saw this today and it almost made me cry a little. So many people today forget how to be a decent human being. Someone that shows love, compassion, humility, understanding. I try to raise my kids to treat everyone with respect while still having the ability to question authority. I want my kids to grow up in a world, where they can say “This Is What I Believe And Why” without someone calling them names, belittling them or being rude. I want my kids to be able to speak with confidence and know that sometimes people will not agree with them, but their opinions will be treated respectfully.
It made me get all teary-eyed for a couple of reasons. One, being that I’m starting to lose faith in the people that are leading (or who hope to lead) our country. And Two, the people that blindly follow these people, salivating over their every word because they have some great ‘Insight.’
It’s not really ‘Insight’ if you’re just rehashing soundbites or saying something controversial for attention. It’s these people that scare me the most. They don’t have any real ideas or opinions. They don’t think about what impact they’re making. They just assume they are right and everyone else can go to hell. They jibberjabber away in hopes that someone -anyone- will engage them. They’re incapable of having a civil discourse. What they do is make destructive assumptions, name call, belittle and rally all their equally isolated cronies to ‘their cause.’ They’re so devoid of real, meaningful human interaction that they’ve lost all basic decency. The world they live in is so small and dark. It makes me sad that there are people that live like this.
“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.”
-Ronald Reagan
It’s no secret that I love Reagan. I’ve read all the books, studied policy and out of all of it my favorite thing was the love him and Nancy shared. It continually warms my heart in the coldest of moments.
Tonight, I had one of those moments.
I can admit that I let someone get to me. Someone that has no place in my life. Someone that doesn’t even exist in my life, got to me. And it wasn’t so much them as an individual, as it was the past 3 weeks of cumulative jibberjabber hate mongers. I’m tired of them. I’m tired of being called names or belittled because my opinion is different. Is it right? Not any more so then theirs. But the difference is these people like to put words in my mouth. I say “If I pay for health insurance, I want it to cover my health.” They take that as I want the government to give me free health insurance and birth control. It blows my mind. I respond with “That’s not what I’m saying, I pay $647 a month for my health insurance. I want it to cover my health needs.” Then they tweet out “Everyone @LRJD wants you to pay for her birth control because she’s having to much sex.” Then all the cronies come, “Why should I pay for YOU to have sex?” “You probably want me to pay for your abortions to?” “Move to Canada if you want communist healthcare” And my point is completely lost. Never to be found again. Incapable of actually reading what I had written. Are my thoughts just too complex for little minds? I think I’ve made it pretty simple. I pay $647 a month for my family to have health insurance but I can’t get my monthly medical necessities, but yet my husband could get all the viagra and vasectomies and prostate exams he wants. Is that so wrong to want my health covered when that’s what I’m paying for?
Most recently I came under attack for the Trayvon Martin Case. I’ve been following the case and it’s very heartbreaking. I’m well aware of Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, and I’m a HUGE fan of it. I live in Washington and we have our own version of it. You must absolutely stand your ground if you are imminent danger. I have no comment on whether it happened like Zimmerman said or if it the incident happened the way Martin’s family is saying it happened. But we have a dead unarmed teenager who may or may not have attacked Zimmerman AFTER HE WENT CHASING HIM. What I do know is that the law doesn’t allow for you to go chasing after real or perceived dangers. Just because I have a gun doesn’t mean I’m running down people I perceive as dangers and if I run after them, they are just as likely to perceive me as a danger and stand their ground. I don’t have an opinion on whether Zimmerman should be charged with murder or manslaughter, the facts of the case aren’t public yet, if Martin did attack him then absolutely he was justified. However, did Zimmerman chase after him? According to the 911 tapes he did, he needs to be held accountable for his actions that led to the shooting. This isn’t a black/white/latino thing. This isn’t a cut and dry, already been decided either all or nothing. This is cause and effect. This is about the change we want to see in the world. Guns are not there for people to take the law into their own hands, to decide what’s suspicious or not or go searching for dangerous situations. I actually believed I could have a civilized conversation about the case. Discuss the ideas, the rationale, theorize. I stated that he could have avoided the situation and it was downhill from there. But sadly I was left with this gem (among others)
“Someone call the police. This woman @LRJD was able to solve this shooting from 2000 miles away from part of a 9-11 call.”
Once again, my point was lost and here come the cronies.
Of course I unfollowed, Of course I quit responding. And he just wouldn’t leave it alone. So I did what every grown adult does: resort to childish antics. I probably tweeted him twenty times with whatever letters my fingers could hit. And maybe that’s the reason I’m so upset. Is because of the way I acted versus the way he acted. I hold myself to a higher standard. I allowed myself to get upset about someone that doesn’t matter. Someone that has never mattered. And someone that will never matter.The only thing left to do is pray for him.
“The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas — a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.”
- Ronald Reagan