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A post by my nephew, who lives in east Texas, on my Facebook
page caught my attention the other day. The gist of the item was that he didn’t
care where Obama was born; his concern was where he lived right now. Okay, that’s
his honest opinion, and he’s entitled to it.
Simply to give another view and perhaps provide a gentle
chiding, I commented that apparently the President was living in the house
where 51% of the American public wanted him.
I was totally unprepared for the vitriol that came back at
me. Not from my nephew, but others who had “liked” his post. The absolute hate
was like a slap in the face. Fool, idiot, and stupid were some of the milder
epitaphs. How can a reasonable, inoffensive comment draw such hatred?
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My friend’s question is a legitimate one. The easy answer
is racial bigotry or a deterioration of common etiquette promoted by the
anonymity of social media or a combination of many things. You can come up with a dozen answers of your own.
But I
believe it’s prompted by fear. The world is changing, and that is frightening
for all of us. But some are less prepared for it than others. Just as Israel is
facing the problem of remaining a Jewish state while holding to its democratic
heritage, we are confronting the reality of demographics. Many feel
their privileged positions threatened. Rather than reaching out to build new
relationships to deal with what is coming, too many of us are retreating into a
siege mentality. That's a shame…worse, a possible tragedy.
Not a deep assessment of the problem…just my superficial
thoughts.
Next week: We’ll get
to Farmington as it is seen in THE BISTI BUSINESS.
New posts are
published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.
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