Up until recent years when it came to politics in all its senses and social issues in all their sense I could be pretty judgemental and unforgiving, some times from A Left perspective (there are dozens, upon dozens of them) I was journeying down a totalitarian state re-education of ‘offenders’ road. At the same time in that way Humans do I was being very worried about the extreme views of others. After a while an old saw ‘Well I know I am right’ just wasn’t sounding as solid as it used to. This post is not not so much one solid argument but a collection of musings based on recent evidence- although Truth Be Known I should have learnt this earlier. This will be a journey with Tricky Issues and ‘Questions’

Do Those Folk Realise How That Makes Them Sound?
Naturally it wouldn’t be a good old Warning Post if there wasn’t some censorious commentary, but be careful there will be a sting in the tail.
Anyway let’s consider some of the statements and sentiments I have encountered of late.
1. FaceBook
There was this post about a fellow being attacked and killed by a shark. What I couldn’t figure out were the Likes and Laughing emojis. I posted that up in Comments. To be told that it was because the event took place is Israel and the guy was either an Israeli or a visiting fellow religionist.
Oh for (bad word)’s sake! Was my reaction. Whichever way you look at their reaction apart from being cruelly insensitive it was racist. They knew nothing about the victim, and yet because they were currently horrified by the Israel Government they thought it fair sport to vilify and cheer when a person with a tenuous link died. That actually puts them in exactly the same mind set as that government and its supporters, and it is no use trying to wriggle out of the charge.
‘Don’t worry little starving traumatised Palestinian Orphan, for I have laughed about possibly Jewish man being eaten by a shark. There does that not make you feel better?’  -Yeah,..right.
2. FaceBook
One of the anti-theist sites. A place where folk whose knowledge of the Faith and the Bible is somewhat limited. I started visiting one because being bemused by their lack of understanding. The conversations are never an exchange of views, I ask a question about their statement, they make an accusation. Anyway in one brief exchange where the fellow was saying how bad the faith was and all of the priests and preachers were bad too. I asked him how did he feel about say Maximilian Klobe  who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in Auschwitz. His response was ‘even bad people do good sometimes’, and then he hurried on with more condemnations. That was one big wall of a statement, to have a view that unconditionally judges everyone on the other side as ‘bad’. A bit like racists who hurriedly say ‘Oh, I know there are some good ones’

Basically we have two examples there, originating from points of view, ie Against the excesses of Israel & questioning the unconditional belief in a God – broadly both of which are seen to be liberal and progressive. And yet amongst all the genuine people with constructive beliefs, who would take issue with Intolerance and Hatred there lurk a minority who embrace exactly those shortcomings in their own outlooks.
We have to ask ourselves. At some stage, at some time, on some subject ‘did I stray down similar paths?’ We can point a finger at FaceBook and other media sites and try to blame them and say ‘we’ don’t use them, anymore; then we have to ask ‘but have I espoused such comments elsewhere?’
It gets more complex.
In this first sub-heading you will note certain elements of condemnation and judgement. Now I can say in my defence, I chose my ground carefully and made my comments with elements of qualification. The trouble there is, we get a bit of a conundrum. In writing these words have I given some folk ammunition to take issue with all critics of Israel and all atheists? It was not my intention, but the tricky thing with writing ‘stuff’ in public is that you never know how the reader is going to react. Therefore dear reader, these words are an example of a door swinging both ways Writer and Reader – Reader and Writer. And sometimes the Writer’s time-honoured lament ‘That’s not what I meant’ sounds just a bit weedy to someone who was injured by the commentary.
In short – we should always be careful how we write what we write and how we read what we read.
That’s why this portion was so long. Arguably the qualifiers took up more time and space than the message. And yet? Did it wholly get across?
We all carry ‘baggage’ in these turbulent times. And it is not always easy to balance between ethically justifiable statements and downright vilification. They seem to be polar opposites, but amongst our many Human flaws we have adopted as a weapon ‘Justification’

The Whispering Which Leads to Shouting (What We Think, Not Always Saying)
Anger: There are times when most of us cringe as we go through a ‘What Was I Thinking?’ interlude. Where through a combination of circumstances maybe on one bad day, or which have been building up we just lose control, and either embarrass or scare ourselves. We do try to keep those times under wraps, but…..but.

Anyway we shall talk anymore about those; shall we? We move onto the other side of Anger, the part we institutionalise, within ourselves. A place which is not neatly boxed up but is a tangle, a sprawl of urban ruins or a jungle long left to grow of its own accord. Where we go to when something or someone who represents something comes to our attention and triggers a reaction. We might well sound off on some outlet and craft our opinion into a fairly reasonable comment in mature and restrained language, because we do not want to come across as one of ‘the ignorant, ill-informed masses’, we value our opinions and views too much. And that is laudable insofar as it goes.
Yet at this stage the question we need to ask ourselves is. Where does the motivation come from?
Have we checked our views just to make sure they are up to date? Is that quotation correct in word and attribution? Are those ‘facts’ we are quoting actually ‘facts’? What was the source? Do we feel that strongly about our point of view, or are we just so much against the other we’ll grab any ammunition?
For the challenge we face here is not so much the issue we are against or defending. It is how we view those on the opposite side of the fence. And who built that fence anyhow?
So coming this far. How do we feel about the opposition? Not just the vocal or the loud ones, or the ones who are in it for the material gain. I am referring to the vast majority of the opposition. The ones you would walk by the street and unless they were wearing something to advertise their allegiance, you wouldn’t know would you? Mercy forbid that you have actually formed in that place which is not neatly boxed  a profile of an opposition supporter. Well you stoutly deny that, you do not think that they all look or dress or sound like……What?. And yet another niggling question is, have you formed an idea of what type of person they are? And how does that work?
Well distance for starters. It is far easier to be suspicious of someone who you know nothing about apart from one casual label, than a person who is just an average member of the community, steady family person, employed, and well kind of likeable?
It kind of spoils the place where you secretly go, to know out there, there might actually be basically ‘Good People’ who just see the world differently to you. You can of course reason that their choices are threatening your way of Life; the problem there being they can say that to you too. Does that stop you banding together and asking what’s being done about those potholes in the main road into through and out of town?

A Resolution? Maybe?
The Divisions are once more even bigger and better these days. There is and always has been a whole industry built around making sure they stay that way. Its practitioners are either feasting on Hate and Division because it keep them sharp, or they are getting high on the Vanity Kick on account of the number of likes and followers they are harvesting, OR, they are just getting plain wealthy from the kickbacks they get through the Media Outlets in pursuit of subscribers and advertising revenues. Here is a question? How much come from our own strong beliefs or how much are we being used? That’s another tricky one. You might say it is an unfair one to ask- fair enough question my motivation, my first response will be ‘Now you are getting it’
Question, analyse, study, think, conclude. Position yourself by all means. Then when you meet someone of the opposite view, look for the common ground, both of you and place your feet firmly there and resolve to work this ground and harvest its richer crop.
It’ll be tough. But then the worthwhile always comes with that price.

 We still have some time folks.