Worth a Thousand Words...and Emotions

A few days ago, a young lady named Lindsey Stone took a photo next to a sign near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.  What I am sure she at first thought was a clever and witty photo, has turned into a firestorm in social media and in the media. 

Here is the photo she took and posted to her Facebook page:

Being in the military, the circles I keep went ballistic with their anger and comments toward Ms. Stone.  At first, I agreed with many people who were outraged.  Then, I took another look.

I graduated with a BA in Journalism from South Dakota State University.  During my courses, especially the photography courses, we were taught that one of the purposes of a good photo was to elicit an emotion.  The picture of a cute puppy or a little baby makes most people give an "awwww".  The photo of a fireman carrying a small child from the rubble of the World Trade Center draws out rage and a desire to avenge that act.  However, the same picture may get a different reaction from different people.  That cute puppy may not get an "awww" from someone who hates dogs.  It may be dislike or simply a much more muted response.

In the case of this photo, from a strictly journalistic view of it,  I believe it is a brilliant example of a photo eliciting a strong emotion by its content and was superbly done.  The irony of the picture cannot be lost, this person has a good eye for photography.  I am sure, that Ms. Stone does not hold those feelings inside and did not realize it would become such a viral image.  I am sure there are others, whose opinion of the picture is that they agree with the picture 100%.  The great thing about this country is that we can have different opinions of the picture and freely share them.

We are quick to judge sometimes when all we need to do is ask ourselves, how does this image make me feel and why?  Sometimes, our reactions are better kept to ourselves, or shared without attacking the photographer.

Losing Your Point Within Your Words

Over the past few months, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has been an outspoken supporter of the same-sex marriage amendments that were on ballots across the nation, not just the one that was voted on in Minnesota.

Back in August, a Maryland state delegate wrote a letter to the Baltimore Ravens owner about comments Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo ha made in favor of a Maryland ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage.

Delegate Emmett C. Burns, Jr. stated in his letter that the Ravens owner should "inhibit such expressions from your employee."  That comment urges a gagging of Ayanbadejo's freedom of speech and his letter was taken to task by Kluwe.

I have long admired Kluwe for his punting skills and I also admire him for having such conviction when it comes to a cause.  I can definitely relate.  What I do not admire him for is, the way he addressed the Delegate in his letter to him.  He wrote Delegate Burns a scathing letter (OK so far) that was so profanity-laced as to make it lose all credibility.  Kluwe is obviously a well-educated man who writes quite well, but his use of profanity caused me to almost ignore the points he was trying to make...and they were not without merit.

Below this story, in the comments section, was a well-written response from a Catholic Conservative who tried to explain why he was against gay marriage without being at all anti-gay.  He had commented that Kluwe's letter, with all of its profanity, actually came across as more hateful than the delegate's letter had.  He told of how he raises his children to respect everyone and not bully or call names, etc.  He focused on his teaching his children about marriage between a woman and a man and why he considered that the only proper marriage.  Again, it was well-written, respectful, and asked for Kluwe's response.

The immediate response, from a gay man, was the only time I had ever seen a respectfully written response to a traditional marriage view.  He kindly and clearly gave his counter to the post.

Unfortunately, the next response given was the usual, hatred filled degrading of the gentleman.  In response to the Catholic Conservative's post, he said that "hate is defined only as a failure to embrace progressive values, and that tone or language is irrelevant as long as you're on the right-minded side of an issue."  Well, I guess that eliminates other points of view then. I guess we are all expected to think alike and not have differing opinions.  By his statement, I guess I am a hateful person because I do not prescribe to a lot of progressive views.  That will make some of my former, liberal friends happy to hear.  Maybe, instead, liberals are hatefilled since I do not think they are on the "right-minded side of an issue".  Of course, that is crazy thinking.

I reflected on the anger and name calling involved in these letters and posts and in conversations I have had in the past where I have been called these types of names.  I concluded that the difference between me, or someone like me, and the liberal person, is that I have no real dog in the fight.  Let me narrow this a bit though.  The liberal person, or the progressive, must be homosexual for my conclusion to work.  You cannot just support the liberal view.

I am married, I have all the legal rights, etc.  I am not being told my love for someone is not valid in the state's eyes.  I have no emotional attachment to the argument I make for traditional marriage, at least not to the level that a gay man or woman may have.  I truly do understand the position taken in support of gay-marriage, but that doesn't mean I don't still feel strongly that traditional marriage should be protected and something other than same-sex marriage should be considered.  It simply means that I better understand why I, and folks like me, are attacked with such ferocity when we share and defend our views.  I still think that behavior is childish and self-defeating, but I understand why it happens. 

If only that anger could be calmed so as not to shut my ears or cause me to focus on something other than the issue at hand, such as Kluwe's letter had, then maybe my peers and I would be more willing to listen.  Hard to do when your view is under childish attack.

Four More Years...of Hope and Change

Last night, the people of our great nation re-elected President Obama in one of the most divisive, hotly contested, and closest elections in our nation's history.  Whether you voted for or against, agree or disagree with him, he is again our President.  I, for one, fall into the category who wanted someone else in office.  I disagree with so much of what he stands for.  He stumped quite often on "Hope and Change".  We seemed to get lots of hope, and little change.

Well, here are my hopes for the next four years:

1.  I hope this time he does at least some of what he promised and is able to bring our nation back together.

2.  I hope he respects the 1st Amendment rights of all religions, but in particular, my church, the Catholic Church, which he has seemed to have in his sights for a very long time.  (HHS Mandate, Obamacare)

3.  I hope he respects the 2nd Amendment rights of our Nation and does not go after the rights of people to own weapons or purchase ammunition.

4.  I hope he finds the "transparency" he promised in his first term and never followed.

5.  I hope in this term he does not pick and choose which laws he will follow and which he will ignore or direct his Department of Justice to ignore.  (DOMA, layoff notifications)

6.  I hope he understands that you cannot tax your way out of debt and must make responsible cuts in spending.

7.  I hope he understands America's place in the world and stops bowing to anyone and apologizing.  I have never heard any of the Muslim countries apologize to us.

8.  I hope he is able to get Congress to work together so he can leave office in four years with the country in a better place than we are now.

9.  I hope his wife, Michelle, is now truly "proud to be an American".

10.  I hope he someday understands that it is a baby growing in that mother, not a medical condition, and stops being the most pro-abortion president to ever hold office.

11.  I hope he is more truthful with us this time around and stops hiding behind his corrupt Department of Justice and executive privilege. (Fast and Furious, Benghazi)

12.  I hope Americans can stop twisting President Kennedy's words to sound like this:  Ask not what I can give for my country, but what can my country give me.  We have become an entitlement society.  Don't believe me?  Look at our kids and how they expect everything to be handed to them.  Often not willing to work for anything they want.

13.  I hope that I have been completely wrong about this man and all my fears about him do not come to fruition.

We are a Nation that was created UNDER GOD!  Let us remember that the Constitution guarantees us Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom FROM Religion.  If the government doesn't want religion interfering with it, than the government needs to stay out of religion.  If we continue to tell God to leave us alone and ignore him, he may just answer that request.

A Note to my Liberal Friends...Dare You Read?

The Conservative Side of the Fence

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.  Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words, "redistribution of wealth".

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed.  Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day, she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.  He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew.  She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by.  All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA.  She is so popular on campus and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0.  That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair!  I've worked really hard for my grades!  I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work!  Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree.  She played while I worked my tail off.

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
 
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.  If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.  If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative is down and out, he thinks about how to better his situation.  A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.  Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.  A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and Jesus silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.  A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a conservative reads this, he'll share it so his friends can have a good laugh.   A liberal will delete it because he's "offended".

So which side are you on?