A Blind Place

"If one can only see things according to one's own belief system, one is destined to become virtually deaf, dumb, and blind." 

-- Robert Anton Wilson

I'm blind.  Oh, my vision is corrected so I can see clearly enough, but I am blind.  I choose to be.    Everyone should have a "happy place" where they can park their mind.  I also have a "blind place" where I go to ignore stupidity, ignorance, and members of the League of the Perpetually Offended.  It isn't that I don't see their point of view, I just become tired of them jamming it in my face like I'm the one who intentionally offended them.  Sometimes I think they do it because they're pissed off that I'm not the one.  But, I think everyone should find their own "blind place" so they can escape frustration when necessary, like just before your brain explodes from listening to the mindless drivel spewing from a perpetually offended pie hole.  An example would be white racists touting the values of black racists, or like Sheppard Smith, on the FOX news channel, who demands that only black lives matter to the point he twice admonishes a person being interviewed for continually saying all lives matter. Shep is one of those mindless followers of the League who feels that "all lives matter" is politically incorrect and, therefore, seems to evidence a belief that his own life must not matter. 

I feel a rant coming on.  

Sheppard, being a gay white man from the south, is seemingly confused supporting an anarchist group which called for the death of all white people.  They're racist anarchists, Shep!  Even intelligent people of color see through their crap.  You're white and gay! Of all people who should understand that all lives matter, I would think you'd be all over this.  Wakeup!  This is like Jews who helped the Nazis kill the Jews during WWII. 

I used to like Sheppard Smith and would make a point of watching his news program.  I liked the humorous videos of bears he would occasionally share.  Then he started sharing his slanted personal commentary which slowly morphed into commentary which made little sense or had no basis in truth.  Confused ignorance, like Sheppard Smith, is why I have a blind place.  It is also why I own several semi-automatic weapons for personal protection.

You can't hate racism and support reverse racism.  It's still racism!  You can't love everyone, "except."  You can't support free speech from everyone except those people with ideas contrary to your own.  You can't run away from the horrors of your own country and then try to turn your adopted country into the horrors you escaped.  You can't love a country where you have so much freedom if you're using that freedom you cherish to turn the said country into the very totalitarian nightmare you escaped.  Morons are the reason I have a "blind place."

I have no problem confronting the League of the Perpetually Offended, but their numbers are staggering.  Sometimes you just need to escape and give it a break before you find yourself being perpetually offended.  You learn to give your opinion and simply walk away.  My dad taught me that opinions are like assholes, everybody has one.  If you can't discuss opinions like rational people, then you should walk away from the "discussion" before all people hear is two jackasses braying at each other.

You learn to recognize those offended people with a chip on their shoulder.  They don't hide it, they can't.  They carry it like a weighty yoke that crushes down most of their humanity.  They perceive some wrong perpetrated upon them and make everyone constantly pay for the offense they feel.  They're already pissed off at you before they even meet you because they expect you to judge them, so I judge them.  I don't judge them for what they expect, I judge them because they're perpetually offended and they've already judged me as being just another bigoted SOB they have to deal with.   This is why I have a "blind place."

This might sound like I'm just another coward in denial of what happens around me, and nothing could be farther from the truth.  I speak my mind and have my say, I just get tired of battling folks who just spew the party line because they're incapable of thinking for themselves, like people who deflect questions because they have no real answer. It's like they don't understand the words coming out of your mouth so they answer a question no one asked, instead.  Admitting you don't know would make you seem like less of a moron.

No. having a "blind place" isn't about sticking your head in the sand and denying the world around you, it's about not going postal when you find yourself wallowing in the mindless lunacy of people who thought it appropriate to open their pie hole and let the vinegar-laced filling dribble out.  It's about walking away from morons who refuse to have a cogent thought of their own, much less engage in intelligent conversation.  The trick is to find your "blind place" and don't stress over the moronic bullshit surrounding you.

The League of the Perpetually Offended suck the energy from you just like they suck the energy from any room they're in that isn't packed with fellow members of their league and, yes, even this self-imposed lack of diversity will offend them.  Perhaps if we all just ignore them they will go away or change.

Yeah, right.  Let's go with that.

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 an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those 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 22 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 the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved 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, and wages his "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 Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.