I'm Not As Good As Some People

I really don't keep much track of where the things that I write here end up. I pour out whatever is in my heart and on my mind, and then I am pretty much done with it. Most of my regular readers know that I don't even respond very often to comments left right here on this very blog.

Sometimes, not often, someone will ask if they can link to or quote from a piece I've put here, and as far as I can remember, we've never told anyone "no." Other times, I'll hear from someone that they've put up a link to one of my posts, or the stats will go wild, and I'll go look to find a link, and that is just fine too. That is precisely how I got wind that a friend had put up a link to the bit of silliness that I wrote last weekend about the awful billboards that blight the highway north of town. I saw the bump in the stats, and went to look:

It wasn't hard to find My Stuff Linked On LJ (Remember that I showed photos of the offensive billboards, and then stated that on Saturday morning, the farmhouse at the place was engulfed in flames. I noted that as ironic, and stated the hope that no one was hurt), and I was surprised that there were as many comments on the thing there as there were right here on The Heronclan. I was particularly interested to find this bit of judgemental commentary --

I don't think the 'verse works like that. Don't think that tragedies and calamities are the work of an angry G-d. Don't think the Universe throws your misdeeds back at you in the form of a burning house. I've lost too many good people who hadn't done anything to earn the tragedies and calamities that befell them, to believe in that kind of Universal tit for tat.I know the poster is a friend of yours and I am worried that what I'm about to say will piss you off, and I regret that - but in good conscience I have to say it.I'm sad that the person who originally took and posted the pictures on the internet thinks it is funny or in the least, ironic. No matter how hateful those billboards are (and they're pretty bad!) there is an element of "HA!" in posting those pictures. If there wasn't? They wouldn't have posted the pictures and commentary, no matter what kind of small qualification they put at the end about the farmers having shelter. Because the message is not, "Oh how sad, gosh I hope those people are okay." it is, ultimately, "Look! HA! Served them right."

Now. Clearly that commenter had to come to this blog to look at the entry in question. There is absolutely no barrier to commenting here, and so this sort of gossipy, snippy, holier-than-fucking-anybody snideness could have been put right here in front of ME. It wasn't. The commenter didn't dissent to my face. The commenter went off somewhere else and proceeded to talk smack. Such junior-high-girl-clique nonsense!


But. That's how it WAS handled, so let me address the plain judgement of the comment that was deliberately put where I would not have that privilege or opportunity:


I never once said, implied, or thought that to have the home burn to the ground "served them right." Read what I wrote. I noted the irony of the situation. I will stand by that. I find it rich with irony that someone who puts billboard size threats on the side of the road gets zapped by the same "divine omnimpotence" that they would undoubtedly insist is gunning for "people like me." I don't buy that sort of theology. I just note its existence and find it interesting in this particular circumstance.


Beyond all that, however, I do find these billboards offensive and hateful. The people who put them out there on a public highway are entitled to subscribe to whatever sick, irrational, nasty belief system they choose, but I do not have to endorse it or embrace it or give it any quarter in my world. The fact is that "those people" are protected by law and by social custom and prevailing assumptions. They don't need me to like what they do. They are entitled to their point of view, and they are entitled to put it in my face. They are of the majority culture. They may be at the fringe of that majority culture, but they are "in" where our household is "out."

Those billboards are, in my opinion, HATE SPEECH. They are intended to incite a certain segment of the population to go out and hunt down infidels and stamp them out. No one with an ounce of sense believes that those roadside diatribes are going to change MY mind about anything. Clearly, those signs are not aimed at me, but the hatred that they are meant to generate IS.


I do not believe that anyone has the right to incite others to HATE. I do not believe that people who work to create hatred and violence against those who are different have any right to continue in that endeavor. I believe that people of decency and integrity ought to clearly identify that sort of thing for what it is and stand to say, "This is wrong."


So... in response to the snide and catty person who called me to task over there -- I don't know if you will ever see this, but your opinion is your own, and you are entitled to it. I find it sad that you were too cowardly to address it directly to me. I'm sorry that my simple observation offended your sensibilities, but I make no apology for my views on people who spread hatred and intolerance.



swan