We actually sound a lot alike, AS.
I think people are drawn to blogs or places like Free Republic because we CAN speak our minds and hash things out without jeopardizing the close relationships or social acquaintances in our “real lives”. This is a good place to get into the controversies, and even the people who only lurk can hear the sides while having time to think and process.
The difficult part is the segment of society that is never exposed to viewpoints other than what the media gives them. I think they probably usually surround themselves with people who are similar to them, which would be no problem if they all just refrained from voting. But that is the democrat voting base, and they are dangerous.
Maybe the stuff the media considers an “outrage” can be an inroads to those people though, too, because they may think that everybody is so entrenched in that view that they make some sarcastic or cryptic remark - say, about pregnancy after rape being God’s will - and that can open the door for the people in their REAL life to ask probing questions about who is the author of life and when the inalienable rights are endowed, etc. Or they could give them facts that have been misreported.
A situation like that occurred when one of the girls at the after-school program in the middle school where I work acted out Romney in the first debate. She was supposed to act out something to do with America, and when we couldn’t guess what it was she started talking about Romney. A lot of the kids are Hispanic and they said that Romney doesn’t want them to be able to live in America, and that’s why Obama is so great. I mentioned Fast & Furious, and one of the girls said that those guns had chips in them. I said that when the Bush Administration did gun-running they had chips in them but the Obama people removed the chips. She asked why they would do that. I said they won’t answer that question, which has led a lot of people to believe they intended those guns to be found at murder scenes in Mexico so that everybody would say Americans shouldn’t be able to sell guns.
The girls got very quiet and the ringleader said, “I don’t like him any more.”
Kids are smarter than adults sometimes. At that point they knew that Obama is a bullsh!tter, to use his own language.
But that opportunity opened up because the kids were so sure that everybody there knew what a terrible person Romney is because he doesn’t want Mexicans to live in the US. They had no idea of the facts or the deeper issues. And those are the kinds of openings we get, if we’re ready for them.
Those are reasons why I really want to address the deeper issues with what Mourdock said, instead of just being frustrated with him saying it the way he did. Yes, our politicians need to be ready to give smart answers. I hear what you’re saying on that and agree with it. But even when they don’t, the “outrage” that is generated can actually be a blessing in disguise because it can open up opportunities for non-thinking people to start discussions where they are given some new perspectives or facts - if we’re ready when the openings arise. And that’s what I want to help people with. I want to help them think it through for themselves so they can be ready when somebody in their life parrots the media line.
Two of my kids don’t like to get into anything very serious but the other 2 are constantly asking my thoughts and asking for facts about what is going on in the world. My son because he is a deep thinker, and my daughter because she loves to process things with her friends. She is confident, outgoing, and able to engage people in a good way.
I get the sense that your wife must have been a deep thinker as well, and her sons are a good part of her legacy.
My wife was a do’er. She was an art teacher by profession and was on a campaign to make the world more beautiful. Of course, she did that just showing her beautiful, sweet face.
She was mechanically inclined, kinda Tom-boyish and gorgeous at the same time and loved the flower beds and improving her home. I, on the other hand, was terrible at most all that. She was a highly energetic girl and a terrific wife and incredible mother. Our boys show her drive and ambition.
When one wants to discuss God it must always be remembered that it will be reflected in news bites which cannot reproduce the thought involved. There is a good reason that there have been millions of books have been written on the subject. Having the media illustrate religious thought is like a comic book trying to reproduce the Sisten Chapel.
Generate all the “outrage” you like - next month.
I am sure we could get along fine and hash out any apparent differences. I want to agree with all patriots.