Things That Really Matter

Yesterday, someone referred me to a letter written to the public and posted on the internet regarding a statement that a well-known celebrity recently made.  The letter was brief, sarcastic, and has so far incited over two thousand comments.  While skimming through the first few of those comments, I had a nauseating realization.

My natural inclination was to reply directly to some of the responses I saw, but by the wording in many of them, I decided that the writers might be too worked up to take the things I wanted to say as anything but an insult.  Furthermore, those things would have taken a long time to write and I didn't think that would be smiled upon either.  So I'm writing some of them here.  I know that only a handful of people read my blog, at best, but I have to say something.  I have to react to this, because it's my world, too, and more specifically my country, that is reflected in that long line of discussion.

When, I wondered, did we become a society so set on violence?  When did it become so repulsive for anyone to express an opinion that is in any way contrary to our own?  Why is it that so many people, upon reading something that doesn't reflect their own views exactly, feel inclined to respond with as much venom as they can project?  I quickly lost count of the epithets, both toward the author of the letter, the subject, and toward others who had left their comments.

One highly unpopular comment following this particular document stated that "our society, as a whole, has fallen..."  If that's so, I think I can see why.  People were so up in arms about this letter and the resulting discussion that they were striking at each other in any way they could.  I don't think I've ever met a person who would look another human being in the eye and say to him or her anything of the repulsive, hateful nature of these comments.  And yet, there they were, spitting fire at complete strangers over the internet.  They might have been saying those things to their best friends or grandmothers, for all they knew.

It's not just this incident, either.  I've begun to notice that almost any article, blog post, etc. that 'goes viral' like this one, is followed by comment after comment of people jumping down one another's throats.  What is wrong with us?  Do we so thoroughly despise our neighbors?  Both among those who do and those who don't believe that we are all the children of one God, I did not imagine that we could put so little premium on the lives or feelings of others.  We are not our opinions.  We are children of God, brothers and sisters.

I know there isn't much rhyme or reason to this post.  For that, I apologize.  I was surprised to realize how upset I was at reading the letter and comments, and I had to get some of that out of my system.  So here it is, along with one final thought:  I mentioned that the letter that sparked the whole discussion was highly sarcastic.  During my time in anatomy labs and physiology lectures, it was easy to see the common thread between words like 'sarcoplasm,' and 'sarcomere.'  Just about any word containing that 'sarc' refers to muscles, flesh.  Combined with the '-asm', the meaning of the word becomes, 'to tear flesh.'  Whether or not the letter's author was right in his views, the manner in which his letter was written invited more vindictive words to follow.  It's almost Christmas, for goodness sake.  Surely the rush of adrenaline and the surge of anger that comes from attacking and being attacked cannot be worth the peace they cost us.

I know I probably sound rather high and mighty, to be writing this way.  I don't mean to be.  I recognize that my own tendency toward sarcasm is stronger and more evident than it ought to be.  Perhaps my little token of peace on earth and my gift to the gentle and loving Savior whom I commemorate this season, can be to temper those habits that hurt.  When I open my mouth, put pen to paper, or reach for my keyboard, may my words be kind.