A few years back some local politicians, mayors, city managers, what have you, began posting things on social media that made me sound like a Canadian, as in I pulled back and said, “‘Eh?!”
Say wut?
Things like “fascists are secretly meeting and planning to invade the area, so support me if you want preserve your way of life. We must fight the Nazis!” Imagine my vast surprise when I found myself getting lumped into that category, a racist, fascist, Very Bad Deplorable. I stopped going to city council meetings, I stopped trying to fight politically. The truth is, you can’t reason with false hatred, with blind ideology. I wasn’t a person anymore, I was a caricature of the enemy, a troll, a thing to be hated and feared.
This is a tiny town, I’ve been here for some 40 years now off and on, so I know a fair amount about the area. We really have no KKK meetings, no secret Nazi’s living in the trees. We had one once, an elderly man and he was a genuine Nazi youth, in his youth. Absolute, unrepentant Nazi, indoctrinated from day one, but also he spent most of his time drinking himself to death and vomiting down the front of himself, so he wasn’t much a threat to anyone.
I eventually quit working for him because I’d leave and have to sit in my car and just cry. He made me believe in hell again and the fact that there are people who actually choose it for themselves. That guy had some major demons stuck to him. He wasn’t an object of wrath at all, or someone to be loathed, he was someone to be pitied.
I’ve actually crossed paths with white supremacists, the real kind, a few times in my life. They really aren’t big, bad, and scary, what they usually are is broken, confused, and sad. Lost boys, like the ones who tend to join gangs, who want to fit in and belong to some kind of family. There is often a lot of meth, cocaine, and heroin abuse going on, and relationship struggles, issues around masculinity, problems with women, suicidal tendencies.
I promise you, real racists don’t make you think “man the battle stations and grab the pitchforks,” they break your heart, they leave you in tears, repentant actually, sad that we as a culture have so tragically failed to nurture them. A lot of them were horribly abused as children, grew up in single parent homes, and are terribly insecure. As a mom it really pierces your heart, because you can feel the ache, the loneliness, the despair, the need to be loved and to belong.
It’s so wrong to create division in this area, to try to build a cancel culture, to promote divisiveness, divisions built on lies, false rumors and innuendoes, gossip really. That is an epic fail of leadership, but worse than that, it is just plain evil. It is not about serving the well being of the community, it is about glorifying your own self righteousness and attempting to amass social power and political favor. It’s actually about being a bully, with your fingers in your ears going nah, nah, nah.
When I look at my local leadership that’s all I see now, self righteous smugness, a bunch of preening peacocks living in an echo chamber, praising themselves for their vast moral superiority.
I’m really silenced in this community and I feel as if “we the people” have no voice. Obviously I refuse to be silent, refuse to live in that state of being. I’m singing out from the rooftops everywhere I go, but the forces trying to silence people who actually live here is a tangible thing. Actually, it’s really kind of fascist.
I’m going to plead for change, I’m going to plead that we stop this insanity. We need to treat people with respect, with compassion, and to perceive them as individuals who have a right to exist. If you’re going to lead in this community than you need to remember that you are here to serve the people. Promoting hatred and divisiveness serves no one.
spartacus2030 said:
Perhaps humanity is no more than an experiment gone wrong, a passing fancy to be disposed of. We certainly seem to be doing a good job of that.
LikeLiked by 3 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Perhaps, but often I think we’ve been this stupid for thousands of years and yet somehow we survive. It must be due to some Divine intervention. So God, rather than perceiving us as a passing fancy, feels as if we are worth saving.
LikeLiked by 4 people
spartacus2030 said:
And how do you know that’s not a crock just like everything else?
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Well, people are pretty dumb and self destructive. Logic would suggest that “survival of the fittest” isn’t what’s happening. Something is bailing us out, something is keeping us alive. As for God, I trusted in Him without any real evidence at all and He started making His presence known to me. God Himself really asks nothing of us in return for His a grace and love, so He can’t be a crock. God can’t deceive us, only people can do that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
spartacus2030 said:
One thing I agree on. The Bible presents us with a strong sense of moral value vital for mankind’s survival! If only people would truly follow that instead of their phony “Sunday go to meeting buns…”
LikeLiked by 2 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Amen! I wish more people would get to know Jesus, read the Bible, and actually come to value and appreciate some of those morals that are so necessary for mankind’s survival. It’s also healthy for individuals, keeps us sane in an insane world.
LikeLike
Mel Wild said:
Yeah, the political spirit loves fear-mongering and creating division between people. It’s totally irrational. I’ve heard otherwise normal people tell me some pretty insane things politically lately. It’s like road-rage on steroids. The person’s visage even changes and contorts when they talk. Pretty freaky, actually.
So, on another note, my sons tell me your area is starting to literally resemble the ninth circuit of hell with all the fires! As far as air quality, Salem, OR was up to an equivalent of smoking 31 cigarettes a day. Where my sons live north of you it was only about a half-pack a day. Stay safe and don’t breathe too much! 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
mitchteemley said:
Amen! Sadly, hating the hateful, even the sadly deluded hateful, is the new fix-all.
LikeLiked by 3 people
mitchteemley said:
It doesn’t fix anything, but it makes us feel righteous. And that’s what matters, right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
dumbestblogger said:
Are you familiar with the Daryl Davis story?
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Yes! So cool! I know a couple of black pastors who actually minister to some real skinheads. I just love that, that is the Lord at work, that’s how He rolls. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
dumbestblogger said:
Absolutely.
LikeLike
Guiltless Passion said:
I’ve lost a few close friends on both sides due to political bias. It’s sad to see such gracious fun loving people just freak out over any little thing I don’t agree with them on. I’ve literally blocked friends on my social media for attacking me for my own stated opinions!
LikeLiked by 1 person
SLIMJIM said:
Wow that guy that was a former Nazi Hitler Youth sounds like he had some demons and must have been quite an eyesore from your description of his condition
LikeLiked by 1 person
jeffw5382 said:
The authentic bigotry exists within our “leadership” using identity to attempt to shame ordinary people into thinking it’s their fault when it is on them-leaving us at each other’s throats forgetting the actual people suffering in mental illness and addiction. Help Us, Lord!
LikeLiked by 2 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Amen, Jeff! That’s the truth. We should all be encouraged, built up, and provoked to have some compassion towards one another. That’s what good leadership does!
LikeLiked by 1 person
jeffw5382 said:
We’re the leaders now, that love as we’re instructed to🙏🏼❤️🥳
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Yep, amen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clyde Herrin said:
Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Thank you, Clyde!
LikeLike
Po' Girl Shines said:
Very discouraging but always make it clear who the real fascists are by pointing out what each group believes. They can say what they want but it does not make it true. Falsely accusing someone of anything can get you in huge legal problems. The left wings are bullies. Their actions are openly hostile & downright evil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Yes, amen.
LikeLike
Anna Waldherr said:
I wish our political leaders in both parties could see things this way.
LikeLiked by 1 person