This is an blog that
has been lurking in my head for many a day
Perhaps many a
week
Perhaps years
I was watching
the dog the other, as he very single mindedly
“chased the ball”
I can almost
guarantee you there was nothing else in his brain
But that ball
Ball, ball, ball
Is suspect that
is rarely more than one thing in his mind at one time
Ball, cat (he
likes to play with is buddies)
Food, nap
Scratch, lick
It’s a simple
life
This day he saw
nothing but the ball
And so in a huge
rush he not only ran over a cat
But he forgot
about the ice, and went spinning into a rock wall
Boom!
Didn’t phase him
a bit
The ball was all
that counted
Not cat, not the
wall, just the ball
What I have been
thinking about is people who are “one issue people”
So focused on one
issues, or worse on one facet of an issues
That they lose
sight of everything else.
And who,
Losing sight of
other concerns, and in too many cases, other people
Actually become
people who, while trying to do good
End up doing real
harm
Let start with a
‘safe’ issue, the economy
For many in
America the most important issue around is the economy
Specifically they
what an economy that generates profits
And so they are
willing to give all kinds of breaks to those they see as driving the economy,
the very rich and the very powerful
They are so
fixated on the economy, and on the GDP, profits, and the Stockmarket that good
and evil are defined by the numbers.
But there are
some very important things that can get lost in the rush for profit
Equity
Fairness
Justice
There are big
moral/ ethical questions attached to the economy
Is it OK to
create an economic engine that produce huge profits if you under pay your
workers, forcing them on public assistance? Is it OK to produce large profits
if only a few benefit, creating ever increasing economic inequity? Is it OK to
abuse the earth, and destroy the environment, dooming future generations to
misery, and possible death?
Or there is the
issue of security. Sure we all want to
be secure. But at what cost? At the cost of being kind? Inclusive?
Generous. If all you think of is
security you might love a border wall.
Without thinking about the impact on other people. The people on the border whose lives will be
disrupted. The land and animals
harmed. The people who won’t get social
services because the money has gone to a wall.
The immigrants who have legitimate reasons to flee, who will end up
lined up behind the wall, because our intake process is such a mess. You might think it’s OK to hold the lives of
800,000 public servants (yes, I said servants) and their wellbeing of their
families for that wall, but I don’t. One issue illness.
What about guns?
(we are getting in to even touchier territory here) I get guns.
I grew up with them. I have
some. I used to hunt with my dad. But it seems to me that people can get too
fixated on guns.
So fixated that
there is no awareness of any other issue than the issue of whether their access
to guns, any kind of gun, might have a few limits placed on them.
So they insist on
no controls. Without thinking of all the
children gunned down in schools. Or the
spouses killed by angry husband and wives.
Or the depressed people who have shot themselves. And the children shot by accident at
home. They forget all the adults, shot
down in places like Orlando, and Los Vegas, simply because???? In one case simply because they were
there. In the other because someone was
full of hate
If a person is
not a one issue person, perhaps that person can also powerfully moved by the
deaths of children, or abused women, or policemen. By unnecessary deaths, some of which could be
prevented if some guns were illegal, and there were fewer guns in fewer places.
Some places will
always have, and need guns. Ranches, for
example.
And that’s
OK. But if the focus can move from that
one, blinding issue, perhaps reasonable controls can emerge.
Now let’s get to
the big one. Abortion. I hate abortion. But I also really, really struggle with right
to life extremists. Not because I
disagree with their goal of trying have fewer abortions, but because they do so
much harm when denying everyone an abortion is their only concern.
They forget the
pain, the trials, the limitations of those who are struggle with a dangerous or
unwanted pregnancy. They never think
that it might, for this person, be the lesser of two evils. For them it is all about what they would do.
The other person doesn’t count. They are
willing to trade one life maybe many others lives, for the one life that has
not even drawn breath.
These same
people, who seem really to be pro-fetus, not pro-life, are willing to vote into
power people who say they are anti-abortion, but are truly anti- children,
anti-mothers, and anti-life.
You can’t say you
are pro-life if you fearfully demand a huge military and aggressive
action. You can’t say that if you are
willing to support people who cut important safety net programs for the poor,
such as Medicaid and SNAP, and Medicare.
You can’t say you are pro-life if the people you have put into power people
who cut funding for housing, and education.
And refuse to provide good birth control programs. And support the proliferation of guns (which
kill children)
There are many,
many ways to kill women and children, even if some of them do it slowly.
It works the
other way as well
Those who are
more liberal have their own sacred cows, their own ways to be harmful. And sometimes the behavior of the far left
makes me cringe.
Liberals can be
greedy too
They can seek
power at any cost
They are willing
to ignore the feelings, the beliefs of others
And they are
willing to push their agenda to the detriment of others
And I am right in
the mix… more toward the middle
But I still have
my blind spots
Where my issues
blind me to others
Blind me to
fairness, to generosity, to kindness
Boom
I go roaring over
the cat
Boom
I hit that wall
Then maybe, maybe
I wake
I have no great
solution
Only a plea.
Please don’t
become so blind because of your blind preoccupations with certain issues, that
you lose sight of the complexities
Loose sight of
other people
Lose sight of
fairness, generosity
And love
We all have so
much work to do, to create healing
In our world
