You Mean... ME?

Anyone who has been reading my blog posts, all one of you, knows that I’m certainly not angry about anything. As hard as it is to believe, my other reader called a recent post “so angry”? Can you imagine? Where do they come up with this stuff?

I guess they think I’m angry because the soon-to-be-former Administration, fueled by fanatical right-wing zeal, has run our country into the ground with a needless war, over a Trillion dollar projected budget deficit, hateful anti-gay referendums, trashed our economy, trampled our right to privacy and taken away our freedoms in the name of freedom (huh?), placed themselves above the Geneva Convention by torturing prisoners and going to the mat to defend that “right”, maniacally supporting Israel no matter what they do, failing to get Bin Laden, radicalizing more Muslims toward terror and last but certainly not least, doing everything they can think of to lead us toward self-fulfilling their dangerous apocalyptic prophecies/fantasies. Angry? What’s to be angry about?

Case in point; I am no longer angry about the tithing I was forced to pay to the Mormon Church when I was nine. It was pointed out that nine year olds don’t really have anything that doesn’t actually belong to their parents. The same person said that they teach their children to give some of their money to charity to learn the joy of unselfishness.

So if, as was just pointed out, it isn’t really theirs anyway, what did they learn? Ignoring the arrogant assumption in that statement that if the money doesn’t go to the Mormon Church, then it isn't charity, I'll point out that I do give to charity. I also did when I was nine, but I’m not asking for any of that back, since I did it that with my own free will. It’s interesting that they jumped on the tithing comment when the point of the post was really that we need to start taxing churches.

Then I’m told that I need to meet some of the true Holy Men, the ones who believe in the one true God, then all will become right in my Universe. Interestingly, not ALL are Mormons, though the teller has never met one who wasn’t Mormon, but he’s told they exist. I quote, “If you'd take the time to know these people too, you'd quit debating the morality of this that and the other and join their cause.”

Holy cow, why do I even bother with people who think like this? First, I’m not debating the morality of anything. My moral compass is very clear, no need to debate that. Of course, this comes from the assumption that we cannot have a moral compass without God or some “holy man” to give it to us. No, I have not debated morality, but rather, I have spoken out when my government does outrageously immoral things.

Insert deep sigh here. I’m not sure why I bother writing these posts. There are so many stinkin’ bloggers around and they/we all think that they/we have something to say. I’m not sure why any of us subject ourselves to this, All that ever comes of any of it is that those who agree tell us how smart we are and those who disagree tell us how messed up we are. Do hearts and minds ever get changed? I doubt it.

When my wife reads these posts or hears of some of my email exchanges, it is always followed with a heavy sigh and a groan, even though she generally agrees with my point of view. She knows what I’m still having trouble reconciling; that it’s all really rather pointless. I know that too, but there’s that other little voice in my head, the one of my great grandchild asking, “Why didn’t you do something before it came to this?”

“I tried honey, I really did, but everyone thought Global Climate Change was just an Al Gore PowerPoint thingie to get Government money under the guise of research. I spoke out but they kept making wars, kept spending beyond our means and overpopulating a planet that was already stretched to its limits. I guess the planet showed them in the long run, I was just hoping there would be something left for you. I tried and failed, but at least I’m not angry about it.”