A young man who is in his first year of college made an attack against an entire political party and stated it was because of one man.
Now, for the record, this young man felt it necessary to make a comment to a Facebook posting that I had done back in April. I did not solicit for responses, but I made the post on my wall, so it was open. By the end of the postings, he had discovered that I was of the "opposite" political party than him, and he made a thinly veiled comment that I was racist. Ahem - it was perfectly acceptable for him to make fun of Bush because it was political, but I could not poke fun of Obama because that was my bashing Obama's race.
Hmmm. Ok, there was no reasoning with him back in April, and I let it go. I had hoped that my arguments were thought provoking so he would not make these comments to others while in college and be harmed, but I know this family and was hoping that it was just "new adult sydrome." You know what that is - someone who just enters adulthood and knows it all.
Well, then I saw his posting yesterday. It had been over a month. I thought about leaving it alone, but I felt that it would be a travesty because he really was spewing hate towards an entire group of people. While what this one man did was wrong, it was no different than anything done by members of the other party as well. I am sure that you will agree that Republicans and Democrats sling mud on each other - and their families - very well.
My intent was to simply show that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes. I wanted to also show that you cannot hold an entire group of people responsible for the mistakes of a few. That is not what happened at all:
Posting: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201005280025.Once again Glenn Beck crosses the line I don't care if he apologized the only reason he did it was because he got caught. Just proves the Republican party is living up to its name!
mediamatters.org
Glenn Beck, who repeatedly and angrily tells his alleged persecutors to "leave the families alone," spent a good chunk of his radio program this morning mocking and attacking the intelligence of President Obama's 11-year-old daughter, Malia.
So, an entire Party is bad because of one person's bad judgment? So, by your logic, the next Democrat who makes a bad decision should not be forgiven if they get caught and the entire Party should be held responsible? That would also hold true for the Independent Party, etc. What about all of the people who made fun of Sarah Palin's daughter for being a teenage mother and made fun of her son, Trig, for having Down's Syndrome? That was perfectly acceptable for them to do, but going against Obama's daughter is wrong? Shouldn't making fun of children be unacceptable no matter WHAT the political party affiliation??
Posting:
Kasey I know what you are now so anything you say doesn't affect me.I don't like Republicans! they party carries a bad name and your a part of that!
Kasey Klein Koehler
Wow! All I was attempting to do was to show how logic and reasoning should be used, but you chose to make a personal attack against me. Apparently, attempting to show you that no one is perfect and everyone has some unclean hands was unsuccessful. For the record, "Republican" literally means "one who favors or supports a republican government," so your statements are unclear to me. By your latest statements, you also cannot be friends with anyone who is a registered Republican. Was your intent to really alienate an entire group of people from your life because their political views are different? How can you, as a Christian, make the statement that one entire group of people are wrong and bad? So, since you are a Democrat, you voted in favor of Gays and Lesbians having the right to marry? Do you support a woman's decision or is abortion wrong?
Posting:
Kasey it wasn't a personal attack its truth. And most of my friends are Democrats or don't care about politics.Me being Christian has nothing to do with this. I don't feel the need to tell you what I support and what I don't support.
Now, my intent was clear apparently to some. There was one of his friends who made comments on a different thread that politics was not worth a friendship. Unlike his brother, this young man never took my class at the high school they attended. If he had, he would have recognized that I was demonstrating the fallacies of his "logic:" you cannot "hate" an entire group of people for their political differences, you cannot state that your political party is the only one that is correct, but then admit that you do not vote or agree with everything that your political party believes but crucify someone else who may or may not uphold their political party, etc. I wanted him to think that people may not support all of their Party's decisions, which is why I asked the questions about religion. I know this young man's background, and I knew the answers.
To make matters worse, there was another thread that was begun. I did not realize that this later argument was going on since I wasn't home. I could not believe that he was accusing that person of "bailing" me out. I am sure that this young man was not aware that the person he was arguing with was also a Democrat because by his earlier argument, Democrats are not held accountable for their statements. Hahahaha!
Seriously though, it was very disappointing to me that a young man who attended the high school that I taught at, and where I had been a teacher for his brother, who attack me personally for no other reason than my registered party affiliation. I have known this young man for three years, and he decided to slander and defame my character not over anything that I had done, but because I seemingly voted differently than him. His arguments were circular and there was no reasoning with him.
I thank my other friend who attempted to "bail" me out, and I appreciate the statements that were made to try to explain what I was tried to do. My sweet husband even tried to point some things out, but this young man completely went off on him as well. It was not until Ken pointed out that as a former Marine, he had fought in a war to protect this young man's and Glenn Beck's right to say whatever they want did the young man finally back off of my husband. The young man even went so far as to say that he was surprised and hurt that Ken would comment that he felt that the young man hated him. This wasn't about hate, apparently, it was about the fact that I was wrong and he felt that I had attacked him. Again, this second thread had no comments from me whatsoever, and I wasn't even aware of them.
At the end of the night, I went to bed saddened that this friendship was shattered and irreparable simply because of ignorance. I understand that he is young, and I fear that his pedestal will stay where it is because he refuses to listen to anyone else's arguments. The reverse discrimination that this young man threw at me was hurtful to say the least, and the fact that I was unable to teach was a personal loss for me.
For others, I really hope that everyone will take the time to remember that their views are not always perfect. I have my world view, and I am aware of how I see things. I understand that my paradigms have shifted over the years, and I accept what kind of a person I have become. As someone who believes in America as the best country on earth and that the Constitution was the greatest document ever written, I cannot say that young man should have never said those hurtful tings to me, but rather, I hope he will remember them forever and one day realize his error in his logic and reasoning and not make this mistake with others.
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