I admit I frequently hesitate to say what I think, in print, when it comes to charged issues. For one thing, I feel like I never have enough information to be sure enough of my opinions; they're in process & I may find another nuance or side if I wait, if I choose discussion over monologue. (That's a little chicken, I know.) I started this blog in part to encourage/force myself to take critical stands but it's almost impossible for me not to try to see someone else's point of view.
The bigger reason I stay out of the fray is that I see so much shaming, humiliation, & attack towards pretty much anyone who says much at all, & I just don't want to hear it. I don't mean that I can't take it—I'm a fighter (although yesterday I got clocked in the jaw & it's still misaligned, yow!). I mean that I don't want to hear the vile, uninformed things too many people feel it's perfectly OK to spit out.
Although sometimes speaking up preempts that kind of talk. Why, a friend once asked, do Jews always let you know they're Jewish within 20 seconds of meeting them? I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's so I don't hear what I'm all too likely to hear if I let them assume I'm a South Dakota Lutheran. I'm not in your club, & you're better off knowing it right away.
And yet...
The bigger reason I stay out of the fray is that I see so much shaming, humiliation, & attack towards pretty much anyone who says much at all, & I just don't want to hear it. I don't mean that I can't take it—I'm a fighter (although yesterday I got clocked in the jaw & it's still misaligned, yow!). I mean that I don't want to hear the vile, uninformed things too many people feel it's perfectly OK to spit out.
Although sometimes speaking up preempts that kind of talk. Why, a friend once asked, do Jews always let you know they're Jewish within 20 seconds of meeting them? I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's so I don't hear what I'm all too likely to hear if I let them assume I'm a South Dakota Lutheran. I'm not in your club, & you're better off knowing it right away.
And yet...