My Sunday Thought for 021217: Terminal Stupidity

The Post:  "Seems people can't post things that someone might disagree with and have them just scroll past instead of spewing ugly comments. To that end, I'm bowing out of it for the unforeseeable future. I'm tired of being hurt."

My Comment:  "Sounds like you're dealing with my favorite group, the League of the Perpetually Offended. You can't cure stupid, nor should you try. Stupid will be with us always. 

What you shouldn't do is let stupid get under your skin. When stupid sees you back away, they just come at you harder because, generally, coming after you is all they have in their war chest, because they're stupid. Unfriend them, as I have with many, ignore the rest, and press on.

It stands to reason that if enough people unfriend the terminally stupid, the only friends they'll have are the terminally stupid. This might be the wakeup call they've needed, like a swift kick in the ass. Get those broad shoulders lathered in Teflon spray and let their bullshit roll off. There are so many more SMART people out here which love you.  

Just saying."

Comment Response:  Stupid can be cured with education, not with rejection.

The impetus for this post was the response, shown above, to my comment, and my comment should come as no surprise to those who read my blog religiously.  The woman who wrote the response does not read my blog, and has no clue.  Her response would be like me limiting my comment to, "Stupid will be with us always."  A one line response like this would easily deserve a, "WTF?"

I hate short, one line, responses when it deals with something as important as the original post.  If that's all you have to offer, better you not offer anything.  A one line response evidences a lack of investment in the subject, the person, and the obvious emotion.  If you're not going to invest yourself, why bother wasting your precious time?  I had a teacher in high school, back in the late 1960s, which had this responder's seeming rosy view of the world.  She was a hippie, Vietnam War protester, a devout communist, smelled of patchouli, smoked grass, and tore the classroom's American flag off the wall so she could stomp on it while trying to indoctrinate young mind's to her views.  This reminds me of most universities today.  She probably would have burned her bra had she been endowed well enough to wear one, but I digress.      

My comment, in the intro above, was prefaced so most of us could understand the target, if you will, as the 'perpetually offended.'  Again, those of you who know me understand the perpetually offended have no other goal in life than to always be offended at everything, hence the term, 'perpetually.'  Those who read me probably also know that my opinion of those people, who adopt this worldview of perpetual offense, is they are terminally stupid ('terminally,' in this case, meaning you have decided to perpetually remain stupid, forever.

I suppose one could define 'terminal stupidity' as: The permanent self-imposed denial of a perpetual state of belligerent offence toward an idea.  You can't cure this with education because the last thing people of this ilk want is to not feel offended.  They live for it, they crave it, and they find the idea of not being offended every second of every day as, well - offensive.  It is their right, and they're damned well going to exercise it ad nauseam.  You know - stupid.

So, in my humble opinion, with all I have offered above, the possibility this brand of 'stupid' can be cured with any amount of education would seem dependent on stupid's willingness to be educated to someone else's' point of view.  Yet, isn't someone else's point of view their entire issue?  The offended would find such 'education' tantamount to indoctrination, however, so standby for another accusation of offense at the very idea of being educated.

The irony, for anyone who has read Orwell's Animal Farm, studied the Soviet Union, Communist China, or Cambodia's reign of the Khmer Rouge, is the mass indoctrination and policing we would endure for everyone to get onboard with the perpetually offended desires.  Even if we decided to see things their way, they will be offended at us buckling to their will.  If we reject them, they will be offended at our snuff.  Either way, we're the ones who ultimately suffer due to their, oft times trivial, sense of perpetual offense.  Better to just let them go and walk away than to beat our heads against the proverbial wall knowing we'll get nowhere wasting our time trying to educate them.

I suppose you know my vote.

I had better conclude My Sunday Thought with a tad more tolerance.  No one is saying reject these folks out right, as all of us deserve to be heard.  There comes a point when you have to determine if it is a discussion or if you're going to be the other half of two jackasses braying at each other.  This point is easy for the person with good sense to recognize, not so much for the perpetually offended.  As with my friend who wrote the initial post, what is the point to being continually hurt by the comments of a jackass, even if they're a friend, or family?  Better to simply turn and walk away, unfriend, block, ignore, or reject, as circumstances dictate.  You are slamming the door in the face of their self-imposed perpetual ignorance of you also having rights.  I'm a firm believer in Pavlovian response to negative reinforcement.  If enough people slam a door in the face of their perpetual offense to life, maybe they'll remember everyone deserves the same rights, tolerance, and understanding, which they perpetually, and all too oft times belligerently, demand of others.

It is my fondest hope that my dear friend stays where she is, as she is so much better a person than those who assault her.  Isn't this what we should all strive to be, the better person?  It requires that you stay in the game.  It also requires you learn to pick your battles, and when to walk away.

 Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint, even if I might also believe it to be wrong. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research.  Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage battle in the guise of the Congregation's official, online, blog, "The Path," of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead chaplain, and Chaplain Liaison, at a regional medical center.