I didn’t see Jean Rohe last night. I had a good reason, I’ve been going out every day, I saw her twice in the last two weeks, and the WFUV Member Drive starts tomorrow and I need all the rest I can get. I still feel bad I missed the show. I’m being stupid enough this drive. I’m going to John Platt’s On Your Radar tonight and to see the Anna/Kate band on Thursday even though I have to be up at 5 AM the next day. Anna/Kate is going on hiatus so I can’t miss it. That’s sad as I just discovered them this year and they became instant favorites. The world isn’t fair.
This being tired all the time is getting old. I have to fight closing my eyes and falling asleep as I write this. I hope it’s the sleep apnea, then there is something I can do about it. The ultimate cause is my nasal congestion. My nose is an anti-TARDIS bigger on the outside than on the inside. The breathing strips help but not enough. I wonder if there’s anything that could be done about that. I’ve had it my entire adult life, maybe my entire life, I have nothing to compare it to. I just know other people can breathe through their nose.
The topic of today’s sermon is outrage; I’m against it. So much of our political and social problems come from people not just being against something but outraged by it. We have developed a culture of outrage. It would be fine if people were outraged by things that are outrageous. As I argued with one of my professors, those that weren’t outraged by slavery are the ones that look bad in retrospect. But those kinds of issues are rare, people get outraged by minor things.
Some outrage is orchestrated by people with an agenda. The perfect example is The War on Christmas. Conservative talk radio whipped people into a frenzy over others trying to be ecumenical and inclusive; as if saying “Happy holidays” was a personal attack on Christians. That’s one of the keys to stoking outrage, making it person. Another is making it part of the great Manichean battle, good versus evil, which becomes us versus them.
This is not a left/right thing. It’s not a Manichean battle. Though I think they are wrong, being outraged by abortion is not outrageous. If you think that zygote is a person, then getting outraged over one being killed is understandable. I’m sure that for some it’s hypocritical and they want others to think along those lines even though they don’t, but there are plenty of people that are sincere about it. They are wrong, not evil. There’s a huge difference.
One of the things that upsets me when I’m on Facebook, is seeing how quickly disagreement can grow into outrage. One person makes a joke, not a blatantly offensive one, and it can inspire instant outrage. I don’t want to outrage any of My Gentle Readers so I will make up an example instead of using a real one. You will all recognize that this is the kind of thing that happens. There was a light feature in the New York Times: The Torture of Dressing for Your Office Holiday Party. As soon as I saw that I realized that if I had written it and posted it on Facebook some people would be outraged. “How can you compare dressing for a party to torture? People are getting really tortured every day! People are being whipped, mutilated, sexually assaulted, and you are making a joke of it!!” There are always exclamation points with outrage. There was an example similar to that on Facebook the other day and a friend asked me what the argument was about. It was just a joke. All I could say is that the person who reacted could go from zero to outrage in 5 seconds. We see it all the time. We might even do it ourselves.
Outrage feels good. It’s a way of feeling morally superior. That doesn’t make it right. It can be counterproductive. It lets people discount when you are outraged over something serious. One celebrity or politician said one thing five years ago that was offensive. Since then they’ve shown that it’s not what they now believe. Either they’ve changed or it was taken out of context or simply phrased poorly. There are those that want him to pay forever. Then when another celebrity or politician currently and consistently takes an offensive position he or she is defended by saying it’s just the political correctness police making noise.
Know what’s serious and what’s not. I am always offended when people make comparisons to the Nazis. If someone isn’t committing genocide don’t call him or her a Nazi. But I know enough to not get offended at jokes like Seinfeld’s “The Soup Nazi.” That’s clearly hyperbole done for humor. It’s so outrageous nobody should take it seriously and be outraged.
The tough part for me is not becoming outraged and other people’s outrage. While I think the culture of outrage is terrible, and one of the things that led to Trump becoming president; no one episode is going to lead to the downfall of civilization so doesn’t merit outrage on my part.
There’s a great self-teaching tool. When you encounter someone doing or saying something that you think is wrong, like being outraged at “Happy Holidays,” consider situations where you do something similar. Don’t say, “I never do that!!!” Notice the exclamation points. Make a serious self-evaluation. You’ll understand others better and you’ll learn more about yourself.
Tonight I’m off to John Platt’s On Your Radar. There are still tickets available, On Your Radar feat. Katherine Rondeau, House Of Hamil, Eric Lee. It’s going to be a great show. I just realized the artists are in the wrong order and they misspelled, “Hamill.” The order of appearance will be Eric, then Katherine, then HoH. You are supposed to list performers in reverse order of appearance. I will have to do a better job of keeping on top of things next month. I am not outraged.
I will also not be outraged, just annoyed, that Harold Baines was elected to the Hall of Fame. He isn’t close to being a viable candidate. This was cronyism. I’ll allow myself to be outraged that Phil calls Die Hard a Christmas movie as that will lead to the end of civilization. Learn to identify hyperbole and sarcasm.
Wise Madness 