Hey Facebook, Today is a Holiday!

Today is Memorial Day and therefore my social media is filled with people thanking those who lost their lives in uniform. Of course, the rest of the year most people don’t spend a single thought on the brave men and women fighting overseas, but today they feel socially obligated to publicly give their thanks, so they do. It makes me wonder why the need for these public declarations is so paramount to the lives of my friends. Everything needs to be public anymore. Public announcement of being in a friendship, relationship, engagement, marriage, child, miscarriage, divorce, break-up, break-down, promotion, hiring, firing, job change, college graduation, death of a friend or family member, working out, eating out, sleeping in, cleaning, and of course the obligatory food photos.

What happened to privacy and intimacy, thoughts without shouting them from a keyboard? I am guilty of plenty of these things. I have posted gifts from boyfriends and bragged about how much I am loved; The typical my-boyfriend-is-better-than-yours post. My Instragram is filled with food pictures and selfies. I have complained about college courses and teachers, tests and being forced to show up to class. I have mentioned my sloth habits more times than I care to admit and have more than once publicly patted myself on the back for doing the adult-thing of cleaning my room. I am not innocent of over-sharing or shouting my feelings from the rooftop that is the Internet, but I am getting to the age of asking why? Why do we do this? Why do we feel the need to display our thoughts, emotions, life-events, and gratitude to people who don’t care or will never see it? What happened to simply wearing a red poppy on Memorial Day? Quiet observance and gratitude, when did that stop being enough?

I have stopped posting my relationship status on Facebook and don’t post the cliché
“Merry Christmas” or whatever other holiday greetings, and I have found something really nice and freeing in that. My relationship is shared with my boyfriend and the people close to us. My family and friends know I am seeing him, but the world doesn’t know. It seems better this way, more personal and intimate. My holidays are shared with family and friends. Occasionally I will post a photo of the event (mostly because it is so ridiculous) or I will commonly post racist and absurd statements from my father (mostly because they are hilarious and should be shared with the world), but I try and live in the moment without inviting the rest of the world into my personal life.

Fortunately, none of my friends or family member has died while serving. I don’t know that type of loss. I don’t understand it. I know what it is like to be terrified for a friend going into war. I know what it is like to anticipate the phone call or email so you know they are still doing well in the desert. But, I have never experienced that type of sudden and traumatic loss. Hopefully I never will. Maybe if I had, I would feel differently about these broadcasts of gratitude. Instead, I would rather thank a friend for their service and provide sympathy for the friends and brothers they lost over coffee, drinks, or happy hour. I would rather send a text message or a card. I would rather let them know on March 5 or December 2 or August 12, or any of random day, because something inside me said so and I would rather let them know in more personal method, not via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, whatever, even if it is something as impersonal and private as a text message, I would rather let them know that I appreciate and love them without also having to broadcast it to the world.

I am starting to find the love and gratitude posted on the Internet to be disingenuous. It is a sad day when a text message is more personal. 

Duck Hunt

People are quick to jump on the censorship bandwagon. Let’s be clear, there is a difference between censorship and not providing a platform for a person to spew their crazy. The comments Phil Robertson made are insensitive and ignorant, at best. While I can agree this country is too politically correct, I am not sure that is the issue when a person is comparing homosexuals to terrorists.

I understand that when it comes to right and wrong, there is no gray area with God. Anything that is not right is unquestionably wrong. No sin is better or worse than another. So cheating and murder are equal in God’s eyes. Someone needs to tell God equality is a myth. However, with this understanding of God’s view, it is easy to compare homosexuals to terrorists. In God’s eyes, both are wrong. The issue here is that Robertson did not make the clarification that all sin is created equal. He simply said God will sort them out later, the “homosexuals, drunks, and terrorists”.

His comments about women having more to offer with their vaginas than a man with his anus is graphic and little creepy while still attempting to be complimentary towards women, but it negates what is accepted within the medical community. Homosexuality is no more a choice than heterosexuality. Obviously this comment does more than skirt the line of political correctness.

Credit does need to be given, though. Robertson does say that he loves everyone as God loves all of his children. Hate the sin, not the sinner? He acknowledges that it is not his place to judge; instead God will do that when the time comes. Unfortunately his delivery was off with everything else he said.

I am not even going to touch on his comments about working the fields. Instead, I am going to say that Christians need to remember that not everyone holds the same absolutist views they do. In fact, I would bet that if you ask most Christians, they would say lying is not as bad as stealing or killing. According God, they would be wrong, but as Robertson says “sin is not logical”.

So, A&E deciding to distance themselves from a man who makes blatantly a racist, homophobic, insensitive, and far from politically correct comment is not the same as censorship. Removing the soap box on which a person chooses to stand is not the same as putting a gag in their mouth. A&E is not saying he cannot hold these opinions, preach, do other interviews, etc. Instead A&E is saying they do not share these beliefs or opinions and do not want to be lumped in with this rhetoric; therefore they will not continue to fund a man who spouts these things.

Sure, the argument can be made that by affecting his livelihood A&E is figuratively gagging him, but I think that would be a hard stretch to make. The Robertson family is extremely wealthy. They have plenty of outlets and venues to make money. If anything, I would say this controversy has made them more popular than ever. Walmart will still sell their camouflage hunting gear. Churches are still booking Phil Robertson years in advance. Their company of duck whistles is going to continue selling and growing. This family will never hurt for money again. A&E taking a step back will hardly put a dent in the pocketbooks of Robertson’s.

A&E’s only responsibility is to themselves and their wallets. They owe this family nothing. The relationship was mutually beneficial until Robertson said some crazy things. Then it was up to A&E to protect themselves, their image, and their reputation (which could be argued started suffering long before airing such garbage as Duck Dynasty).

Lastly, can we please all agree that this is not some type of politically correct liberal conspiracy war on Christianity? Can we stop, please? There is no war on Christianity. If there is, I am pretty sure Christianity is winning. According to a recent Washington Post article, the government loses more than $70 billion a year in tax subsidies to churches. Anytime the Pope says anything, ever, at all, it is a headline story. You cannot walk down the street during winter without seeing Christmas trees and lights. Even saying happy holidays is a religious greeting if you understand the etymology of the words. Every day I see at least one person wearing a cross. Christians are more than welcome to express their beliefs. They seem to do it every day without even realizing it.

That being said, a private company does not have to agree with or support those beliefs. Backing away from these statements is not an act of war and insinuating so is leaning on hyperbole. There is no war or scandal by a company trying to protect its image and profits that is simply capitalism.