Why All The Meanness?

November 5, 2012

It is now an official term:  “Campaign Fatigue.”  It is a malady suffered by the American population, it is suffered by the media, and it has been suffered by the candidates themselves.  We are just darn tired of all the haranguing and the rhetoric.  Our privacy has been invaded.  Campaign ads have violated our television sets. Our ears are tired from hearing about poll numbers and the analyses of political pundits. We just want to put the pillow over our head and cry out, “Make it go away!”

Campaign Fatigue has sucked energy out of me.  I have known how I will vote for several months.  I have been offended by the amount of negativity that has taken place.  It seems like every election candidates seem to be asking, “How much more can I get by with?”  The ugly pictures of the other guy, the strident voices, the bombardment of propaganda only contribute to the agony and tragic erosion of the human spirit.

An executive from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) issued a statement entitled, “Why All the Meanness?”  In his letter he grieves the way national elections just boil down to being mean.  He urges his people to simply not tolerate the mean-spirited theme that clouds America.

I have to agree.  As the people of God, we are better than that.  We should not have to stoop to such off-putting unconstructiveness that has permeated our culture.  I am not going to attempt to point to the sources but even after campaigns are over we witness and experience a growing incivility within our culture.  It may be the murmuring that goes on behind our back.  It may be the inappropriate language that we hear on the streets.  There are just some people who would kick the crutch out from under a cripple. We are a culture that has become malevolent and unrepentant.

To turn this incivility around starts with people ready to say, “NO!”  Cry “foul,” when we witness these violations of humanity.  We implement the nonviolent philosophies of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.  The way we turn the other cheek is to create an alternate pattern of behavior that does not tolerate rudeness and the disrespect of our brothers and sisters.

As far as campaigns, who knows how to turn around the animosity and bitterness we have now endured?  The people who can do it best are trapped in the system they have created.  If I ever run for office I am just going to have pictures of me surrounded by puppies and kitties waving my hand saying, “I’m the Interim Geezer.”

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   My email is:  klschaub52@gmail.com