COSMIC POO POO

My living room shrine table

Silver Parnell

copyright (c) 2018

I am politically schizophrenic. I fall on the "progressive" side when it comes to protecting the rights of the vulnerable, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and being kind to the prisoner, but I fall into the "conservative" camp when it comes to abortion, euthanasia, and the strength of the family as the crucial pin upon which all the cogs of society are attached.

I am not at home on either side of the progressive/conservative divide, except in regard to specific policies. My fractured political leanings are informed by my very cohesive and deliberate religious orientation. I try, to the best of my ability, to adhere to the commandments of Jesus. Whatever Jesus said was a positive good is what I vote for. It can be a challenge, as should be obvious.

My friends and associates are every color of the rainbow, but one thing has made itself obvious. Both conservatives and progressives have developed x-ray vision when it comes to the thoughts and motivations of other people. Isn't that remarkable? (Sarcasm.)

I read a conservative post this morning in which a conservative claimed that "the Left" hates the Constitution and basically wants to destroy America. All lefties are commies. Every progressive cause is funded by George Soros.  I don't know who he is, but will someone tell me his email address so I can get my check? Seriously. I want my check. If you know this topic well enough to be so sure that he is funding all the progressives, you'll have his email address.

A conversation by mostly left leaning people, on the other hand, claimed that the motivation of conservatives is that conservatives want to stop abortions, for instance, because they want to control women! It is all about the subjugation of women. Excuse me, but I know that to be crap. Just crap. Of course, there ARE personalities in the world who like to control others, but that's a different topic. 

In my experience, conservatives want to outlaw abortion because they want to save babies from being killed. They are coming from a position of love, though claiming love as a motive while excusing cruel governmental policies at the same time puzzles progressives. It seems hypocritical. I don't know the answer to that one because this is a complex issue.

At any rate, each side believes the other has evil motives and intentions. This is ridiculous and it has to stop.

I DO know of a few sociopaths who would be delighted to destroy the world, or just enough of it to ensure that only they and their servants are left. That does happen. (I have one in the family, and she scares the crap out of me.) It isn't that these type of people don't exist, it's just that their numbers are small, thanks be to God.

Devotion to the truth, alone, should dissuade us from imputing evil motives to half the population of America. My personal experience, with both the left and the right, have convinced me that nearly everyone wants the best for America. We disagree on method and particular vision.

So, how did this happen? It is probably due to political messaging. Politicians energize their base by stoking animus against their opponents. They claim evil motives. They throw some lies in there to excite our fear or loathing about the other candidate, and we fall for it.

If you only talk to or listen to people who already share the same ideas about the methods of best running the country as you do, you're just sitting in an echo chamber. It might feel good to have your views echoed back to you all the time, but it isn't good for you. 

So, what do we do? Well, I suspect that the first thing is that everyone who is attached at the hip to a particular politician or party needs to attach themselves to Truth instead. Truth has gotten a terrible beating over the last few years, and I'm not just talking about all the gibberish that comes spilling out of Donald Trump's mouth. Truth is not always readily evident, and we have to invest some energy in digging it out from all the social noise. Don't just listen to one radio station or one personality or one group of people.

There is something uniquely peculiar in the case of Fox News, for instance. Donald Trump watches hours of television every day, and he reacts with twitter rants as a direct result of whoever is talking on Fox at the moment. Sometimes, he even announces policies in response! Before the shutdown, he had agreed to sign a funding bill that had already passed the House and the Senate, but when someone criticized him for it on Fox, he reneged on his agreement. That's why we have a shutdown.

Meanwhile, many of his supporters ALSO watch only Fox News and they don't read newspapers - so there is this echo chamber of ideas bouncing around inside that little bubble. Fox is not just "biased." It barely qualifies as news. It is telling the president of the United States what to think. It is telling his supporters what to think. Fox News is running the country.

The odd thing is that what happens on Fox is not reflected on the rest of the news outlets. Some conservatives say that all the journalists in those outlets can't be trusted because they are "biased" and therefore not truthful. Upon examination, it is obvious that this CAN'T be true. You're talking about millions of people having to be "in on" the conspiracy to report something OTHER than the real news. It's just not feasible. And some of the newscasters that Trump says are "liberal" are actually conservative, but they disapprove of his many questionable activities.

I am not saying you should stop watching Fox. I watch it, selectively, but I can't say I get much factual information from it. Most of it seems to be a cheering section for Donald Trump and the Alt Right. Just remember that "news" consists of who, what, when and where. If the outlet is giving you a lot of "why," it is commentary, not news.

I watch many different newscasters, including Fox, and I read quite a few newspapers daily. You may not have the time for quite as much as that, but you can develop your own version of absorbing information across the spectrum.  One day soon, I will write an article about my research techniques. I DO truth-test just about everything I post on Facebook, for instance. 

In the meantime, I suggest that, instead of pretending to be Madam Zelda with the crystal ball who knows the motives and thoughts of millions of people, take the time to talk to someone in the opposing party - not with the idea of converting them, but just in the interest of information gathering.

Now, this will be difficult, because most of us are so angry now that we often fall back onto griping about the other side. I would suggest asking the person what they want for America. What is their vision? Ask people about their motives. Don't assume. Ask.

I will be so glad when this phase has dissipated and I can take some attention off the topic of politics. If the right wing hadn't crowned Trump with the (false) crown of Christianity, I wouldn't be doing this now. It has put a crimp in my peaceful meditation time, and I look forward to eliminating the distraction, but I just can't stand idly by while Jesus is misrepresented so heinously.

I just encourage all of us to devote ourselves to Truth with reverence and discretion, and behave accordingly.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose