Earlier today I wrote a diary that summarized Conservatism’s rise to dominance over the past 50 years. I managed to piss off just about everybody who read the damn thing. Among the offended are the person who inspired it and a whole bunch of people that I’d probably like to have a glass of wine with. Too late now, but what the hell.
In an [unlinked] piece that I wrote earlier today, I made vast condemnations and used the coarsest profanity available to me to describe a profane state of mind. Attempting to write about how some people think, I used the words they think with. These words are used, in thought and communication, by vast numbers of our voting public. People add their own perjorative nature to the words. To bigots, the words become a blanket curse inspired my fear. To progressive thinkers, it’s a dividing line; you either use them or you don’t. And my community (because you are) demanded with justification my justification for using such profanity. Our progressive reasoning is humane and taut: if we stop using these words, won’t they eventually go away? Perhaps. Maybe my kid’s fever will go away too if I ignore it. But if I have a remedy, a tool to confront the malady, am I not compelled to use it? And here’s where we find the tree splits into two trunks.
How does conservatism hold such sway over the people that use these words? Conservatism is built on bullying. Find someone weaker and make them responsible for your own insecurity. The best way to confront a bully is to ask them the obvious: why are you doing what you are doing? What do you gain by victimizing the weak? Why do you use words that are meant to provoke and demonize? We know why. It’s so much easier to create despair than hope. But, if we recognize their intention from the outset, and neutralize it by saying, “I don’t rise to cheap bait” the dynamic becomes our's to control.
If I take a word that you think offends me, and then I remove your ability to insult me with it, what power does it have? When my teenager gives me a dirty look I always ask, “And what’s that supposed to do to me?” When I hear someone use the word that offended so many of you, I don’t get mad, that’s the desired response. I smile and then ask them if Jesus ever used that word in the Bible. It’s a hoot! Try it sometime, even if you ain’t churchy like me.
Earlier today, my attempt to control words went out of control. Please accept my apology. I admit to my own stupidity in attempting to separate provocation from outrage. Mea Culpa. Dona nobis pacem.