Last week I posted something I did not think would be controversial. It was. What I wrote, in a nutshell, was that we cannot sling insults and accusations against people with, say, offensive tattoos on one side while ignoring them on the other side. I compared Pete Hegseth’s anti-Islamic tattoos to Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo. Of course, there is a difference; Hegseth defends and basks in his, while Platner had his remade into something else. But the responses I got, especially from anti-Trump Facebook page members, were incredible! They called me MAGA (if they only knew – or actually read the post), delusional, confused – and these are the words I will put in print. I also wrote that we can disagree with some of what a government does, but that cannot be lived out by supporting terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. That includes voting for politicians who attend pro-Hamas rallies, or that deny October 7th. It also includes the homegrown terrorists who committed violence at the January 6th Insurrection.
We all have biases, and that admission should keep us humble. I think that Pres. Trump is the most immoral and corrupt president in our history, but he is still our duly elected president. I don’t think that previous presidents always did the right things, but that can be said about each one of us. I do believe that an adult who puts a Nazi tattoo on their body shows terrible judgment and probably shouldn’t be serving as an elected official; just as a person who went bankrupt multiple times shouldn’t handle my finances – or government. If we are going to criticize a particular group for bad behavior, we should hold the same standard for those who we mostly agree with. We can’t scream about Trump or Hegseth’s infidelity and ignore Platner’s. We can’t point fingers at MAGA pedophiles and ignore them just because they are progressives. We need to be more fair and balanced in our thinking and conversations.
I’m not seeking perfection; I gave that up long ago. I am, however, seeking consistency. I know that it is a lot to ask, but I think we can do it. If we stopped and read all the information available – if we thought through the situations – if we asked deeper questions – maybe we would have less division and more agreement about what is right and what is wrong. And by the way, I left the one group with the incredibly toxic liberal/progressive adherents. I can’t be around adults who behave like toddlers, regardless of their politics. There’s a lot of growing up needed on all sides. I pray that it happens.
Prayer – Merciful God, may our minds and spirits grow into more mature, fair, and balanced versions. Amen.
Today’s art is “Lady Fairness” by Joyce Carreira.