Dave's Not Here

I don’t know if it’s just me, or if things have drastically changed. But it seems that internet / social media posts have become more and more hateful. And, mostly filled with ignorant hate. One in particular caught my attention this morning. It went something like this:

>A communist, a muslim, and an illegal alien walked into a bar. The bartender said, “Hello, Mr. President”

I have several problems with this joke, but, I’m not sure if this is just early onset “crotchety old man” syndrome.

###Political Hatred

So, for the first time since . . urm . . Jimmy Carter or Reagan, a guy I wanted in office made it. And, I don’t know if that’s the source of some of my discomfort. I was happy to share Dan Quale quotes, or point out when G Dub did something stupid. But, looking back, it seems like the jokes were simply funny back then, and not hateful. But, like I said, maybe that part is just me — maybe I can’t take a joke pointed at “my guy”. (Not to wax political, but, I am *not* happy with Obama’s two terms. He did not, at all, live up to my expectations. But, I would have still voted for him again, considering his opposition)

So — am I just seeing hatred in the jokes because they’re hitting my guy, or has the world just gotten viciously cruel?

###Ignorant Hatred

In our free country, why are these now considered evil, or insults:

* Religions
* muslim – While the ignorance here is calling Obama a muslim, when he isn’t, I take more offense at using a religion as an insult. Yes, some muslims are terrorists. Yes, some christians are terrorists. And, I’m too lazy to search, but, I’m sure that Jews have done some atrocities, too. Why do the ignorant need to use a mostly-peaceful religion as, not only an insult, but also a reason someone should not be president? I read a little factoid the other day: Satan killed 10 people in the Bible (the seven sons and three daughters of Job). How many did God kill? (Noah, Moses, Passover). What religion should be used to qualify a president? When Kennedy was elected, there was huge concert that the Pope (he was Catholic) would now be running the government. Shouldn’t we keep all religion not only out of presidential selection, but also out of politics? (Since we’re supposed to have a separation of church and state?
* atheists – I will admit. Today, most vocal atheists are ass-holes. I’m not sure how to better describe them. They take a lot of pleasure poking at the tender parts of peoples’ religions. But, at the same time, why would they ever be considered evil? Even the Crusaders didn’t think people without religion were evil. They were simply heretics. Definitely doomed to hell, but not bad people. I’m not sure when our “free” country became a “free if you are Christian” country.
* Politics / Economics
* communism, socialism, democracy, republic – Why are communism and socialism thrown around as bad words? Are we really still living in the 1950s? Do people even know what communism or socialism is? Or, why we are supposed to hate it? In the 50s and 60s, the word communism (and red) were used to describe our enemy, the USSR. Since the USSR was not only converting countries to communism, and retaining control over them, our fight with the USSR turned into a fight against communism (and, in turn, a fight to spread Democracy). But, is there anything inherently bad about communism? I don’t think so. It’s nearly impossible to work, but, the word is pretty benign. And, while we were trying to spread democracy, we don’t practice pure democracy ourselves, we’re a democratic republic. And, if you think we’re doing things right, then you haven’t traveled much. There are plenty of other countries and other political systems that do many things better than we do.
* immigration crap – Unless you’re an American Indian, you, or your ancestors, were immigrants. While illegal immigrants might be a current political issue, that does not mean that there is anything wrong with immigrants. And, for all the people who say, “learn the language” — have you traveled to a foreign land? Did you speak their language? If you suddenly got an opportunity to visit, say, Japan, would your first task be to learn Japanese, and not travel until you’re fluent? Or, would you be like most Americans, in a foreign land, trying to find an English speaker to help them. Don’t get me wrong — I definitely fall into that last category. I have been to Prague, France, and Belgium, and have had trouble communicating — But, when I’m at home, I don’t bitch about our visitors.
* impeachment – If you have had even an opinion about a president deserving impeachment — since Nixon — please read. Research what it really takes to be impeached. Research what is illegal -vs- what is not. The Patriot Act is illegal. Or, it was until it was ratified. And, even now, it breaks so many constitutional rules, it should be illegal. Yet, I do not remember a single person asking for Bush to be impeached.

###No More Hatred, Please

Just because you don’t like someone’s opinions, does not mean that you get to claim some kind of power over them. Maybe you hate people because of their positions. Maybe you don’t like their religious beliefs. Maybe their skin is a little too dark, or a little too light. Maybe you don’t like what acts they like to perform with other consenting adults. You are allowed to not like those things. You are allowed to have an opinion. But you do not have any kind of “right” to enforce your opinion onto them. You have the freedom to have your beliefs, just as they have the freedom to have theirs.

Please — think before you post. Funny is funny. Funny is many times racy. Funny is many times offensive. But, funny should not be hateful. Feel free to let me know if you think I’m wrong. Like I said before, I could be sensitive to Obama posts.

I love dirty jokes. I love offensive jokes. You should see the crap I want to post but Tammy won’t let me. But, as offensive as I can be, I don’t think I’ve ever been hateful. I have offended people, many times. But, somehow, I think that’s better. I’d much rather be offended by the content of the things I see posted, then be offended at the blatant hatred behind them.

Anyway, my mini-rant has become far from mini. . . . maybe I won’t even share this 🙂