I've tried to remain silent....I really have. But, it occurs to me that silent apathy is the most dangerous and destructive force on earth. And, I've lived a long time and I really feel like I have just as much right to express my opinion as anyone else. In fact, I think I have as much right to be offended as anyone else. And yet, I am usually able to smash down my offended self with my logic and sense of humor. I grew up Oilfield Trash. Was that hurtful? Sometimes. Was I damaged for life? No. Was I offended? No, because I was well aware that my daddy worked like a dog for us and while some might hang that title on us - I knew we were not. Was I able to laugh about it - then and now? Absolutely.
But, some are not. Some view symbols, songs, taglines, and flags as dangerous things because of the message they convey. Let's face it people, symbols, songs, and flags are not dangerous in and of themselves. Those things cannot make anyone do what their heart will not allow. But in the hands of the wrong person, anything can be a tool of destruction. I could kill someone with a Q-tip if I wanted to badly enough. Does that make the Q-tip evil? Should ears go uncleaned for the rest of time because I killed with one? Should Wal-mart, eBay and Amazon stop selling them because someone MIGHT decide to follow in my cotton killing rage?
The issue is not one of objects or intangible messages, the issue is one of heart.
For at least 4 decades of my life, I have watched our country march forward to a better collective mindset. We have, for the most part, been scrupulous in our desire to foster a world of tolerance, love, and equality. And progress we have. I can remember riding the bus from Pampa, TX to Jacksonville, AR as a young girl and watching black people get on the bus with their paper bags full of belongings and automatically walk to the back of the bus. That is no longer the case as everyone today has the right to be, live and sit where they choose. We have not only elected but re-elected a black President and yet...since that moment...racism, intolerance, hatred and venom have been spewing harder and faster than ever.
We are now teaching children who had NO knowledge of racism exactly what it looks like. We are marching backward into a very dangerous past.
You can spout the symbolism all you want and if you delve into things deeply enough you can find plenty of history to shore up your argument on either side of the dividing line. But the bottom line here is that it is impossible to find anything these days that doesn't offend someone. And those who are most offended are usually the ones who have done little to make a stand about anything.
I find it fascinating that you seldom see conservative, Christian, white people rioting, looting and burning down their own cities. Why is this? Probably because they are all too damn busy working, trying to raise good sons and daughters, pay their taxes, and live inside the confines of the law. In short....we don't have time to be offended - we are busy. A lot of the burden of society falls on the working class and one has to wonder what would happen if Atlas did indeed shrug.
If everyone who provides the lifeline of America simply said - "No, I'm tired. I'm going to sit at home and let someone else take care of me." What if they became offended about the disrespect of the American flag and the fact they have to watch someone stomp on it and burn it? What if they became offended because their children could not wear a t-shirt to school with a religious message on it, while someone else can wear one supporting a drug using rock band? What if they became offended because their next door neighbors were flying the flag of a rival football team? What if they became offended because their pastors were being forced to water down their messages for fear of reprisal? What if....what if?
When did someone else's right to be offended become more important than my right NOT to be?
This is a dangerous mindset and a slippery slope - for where do we draw the line? How much bending over must we do before it all breaks apart? The very people who are against flags, and guns, and soldiers will be the first to position themselves directly behind those same things when danger rears its head. The sheep know to fear the sheepdog but when the wolf enters the pasture, the sheep know the sheepdog is their only hope.
The message of peace, love, tolerance and equality is a great one, but it is also one that cannot be a one sided issue. We can love our enemies with everything we have and everything we are, but if they still hate us it cannot go further. And let us not forget that while we might be okay with our enemies hating us it does not stop there. They want to destroy us, our way of life, our faith, our families...everything about us must be stopped and stamped out. There will be no happy ending for the offended until that which offends them is gone and unfortunately the line in the sand keeps getting redrawn. Everyday their list of offensives grows. Today it is a flag, a song, or a school team name or mascot. Tomorrow, it could very well be a town, a school, a church, the elderly, babies (oh wait - those are all starting to look suspect to the easily offended.)
In closing, I would like to say that I am personally offended by skinny people with rocking bodies, exceedingly good looking girls in bikinis, people with a lot of education and little common sense, and people with a lot of money. Y'all try and knock that off before I decide to make you the subject of my next blog post.
Peace My Friends.
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