I have an inkling that this post is going to cost me a follower.
So, before I start, may I please ask any and all who do read this blog to keep my friend Christine in your prayers.
She is a sister, a tribe member and a helluva writer - those of you who have read the Chicken Soup for the Soul series have probably been treated to her talent - and she is under the weather. Today the doctors are going to be shoving her into an MRI machine and jostling her around...so please, prayers for Christine. Thank you.
As you all know I often rant, cry, laugh and pout over the antics of people at The Hive. No big wooop - after all we are a bunch of small town blowhards who like to pretend we are important enough to make a difference when we post our opinions.
And you also know that there has been an element of school yard fighting at that site for years. Disagree with someone and the names and epitaphs start flying. You're a hater, no you are, well you started it, you are a drunk, no you are, well then you are a transsexual and fat, well you are a Nazi well you are a liberal well you are a fascist....blah blah blah.
I have not been immune to this behavior, nor have I not been guilty of it from time to time. I think one of the best ways to keep yourself humble is to have to apologize to someone who hates your guts. It's even better when you are not real fond of them either and you STILL have to apologize for bad behavior.
I digress...
The absolute pinnacle of bad behavior was displayed by someone I thought was a grown up. On Sunday I opened up my FB account to see a posting libeling another blogger on The Hive.
I do not mean disagreeing with him or calling him a big stupid jerk. That is not libel and it is not slander.
I mean that FB was a post that included a picture of a man wearing a Nazi uniform and giving the Nazi salute...and the picture was clearly labeled as being the blogger everyone loves to hate on The Hive. It had his name under it and a sentence that said, "This is ________at a White Supremacist Rally". The post went on to claim that the blogger in question was periodically attacking and stalking a Modesto politician for one reason only - the politician is a Jew, albeit a self-proclaimed Christian Jew.
Listen I am not the brightest bulb in the carton but I knew right AWAY that the guy in the picture was NOT the blogger in question. He didn't look like him at all...it is OBVIOUSLY someone else.
So, of course, now it is a cyber crime because the Modesto Politician who posted the picture on FB (and later proclaimed that he had done so on purpose and sent it out to over 700 people via FB) knew it was not the Other Blogger...the one everyone loves to hate.
That is bad...that is really bad. You know what is worse?
The MoPol's stated defense for this action:
He started it!
Now, let me get this straight....
Because the OB doesn't always play fair, calls you names and disagrees with you, he can be subjected to illegal activity and YOU can attack HIM????
I have often wondered if the Catholics and Christians of today would have been able to survive the persecutions of the 160(s) or the 200(s).
After reading the exchanges regarding this horrible post, I wonder no more: We would have caved under the blow delivered to us by a Roman soldier; giving up our faith, our homes, our families and our dog if it meant we wouldn't be afternoon entertainment trying to fight a bear in front of thousands of cheering idiots.
If, the ModPol is indicative of an era then we are in trouble. Why? Because if, at the age of 45, the best reason someone who claims Christianity can come up with for doing something so hateful, horrible and illegal, is "but he's been mean to ME too!" then we as a society are doomed.
I have tried to be friends with both of these men and what is so sad to me is that the only one open minded enough to be friends with someone he disagrees with a lot is Other Blogger. The one who is dedicated to helping the poor?
Well, let's just say I think I am going to be less a friend after I hit the 'publish post' button.
3 comments:
You are not telling this story correctly. I am not the one that made the site. Look at it how you want to, believe me or not. But that is the way it is.
If you persist in allowing this post to stay stating what it does as fact, you just might be hearing from my attorney. Neither one of us wants that.
Just wanted to clear that up.
Robert Stanford
Please feel free to direct your attorney to me at any time. I have not used any names and I am describing the incident as I see it. The opinons I express are my own. I have committed no crime. You are in my prayers.
"He started it...he did!!!" "No, HE DID!!!"
"yah - but I am going to finish it!"
When we as Christians pass along gossip, (culuminate) we are guilty of bearing false witness, or in current terms, gossip. When a person sees a situation of another person posting something on a website, that person rightly assumes the person who posted it made it....OR at the very least, approved of its message and therefore felt comfortable posting the information again.
Robert - I had no idea, and still have no idea as to whom Leslie is writing about. You say that you are the person she is writing about.
So, let me ask you - did you, Robert, post something that brought defamation to another person? Did you, Robert, pass along something you knew not to be true?
If you did, then it is your duty as a Christian to remove the offensive material, apologize and try to set things right.
People may or may not accept your apology.
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