So, why have I started my own blog?
When I first heard of Facebook and Twitter, my immediate thought was, "Who thinks their every thought and action throughout the course of a day is that important that people want to read about it?" After being a part of the Facebook community for several years, I have amended my opinion somewhat since that time. What I've found from being a part of a social network is a mixture of good and bad. I think it's a great way to reconnect with people you lost touch with over the years; Facebook provides an avenue through networking that makes things like that possible. I think it's a great way to share pictures with others, discover common interests, and in many cases, make some new friends. So, why a blog if I already have an outlet to post my opinions on things that I'm passionate about?
For all the great things that Facebook has to offer, there are some things that I'm not a fan of in the least and actually led me to leave Facebook altogether. Keeping in mind that the first amendment grants freedom of speech to everyone in this country, I feel that many times a person's own opinion is viciously attacked if it doesn't align with the mainstream public's ideals, many of whom interact through this forum. There continued to be many status posts by people I refer to as, "Copy and Paste Christians". These posts suggest that if you don't copy and paste what's on their status that you are not a Christian, or you don't love your country, or you don't love your spouse, parent, sibling, child, etc. Amazingly enough, there was always the same statistic that purports only 2% of Facebook posters will have the "COURAGE" to copy and pace the message on their own status. First of all, you can't copy and paste your way into heaven. If you truly are a spiritual person, of ANY religion or belief, you should live your life through your actions, not your words. That goes for patriotism, being a good spouse, parent, sibling or child as well. It's easy to copy and paste your beliefs, but it's not as easy to live by the example. I thought a lot about this norm on Facebook and went back and forth whether or not to respond to these types of posts, but in the end, I decided to stay silent and slowly but surely I left the site. I felt it wasn't worth the uproar that posting a response might cause and the experience of reading through the posts was becoming more and more frustrating instead of a relaxing way to spend time away from work.
The final incident that sealed the fate for me to leave the forum was this: A post appeared on several friends' status lines referring to the "Pledge of Allegiance" and their frustration with the fact that it is no longer recited daily in schools and if recited aloud, "Under God" is removed. The post went on to state that if "Under God" was offensive to others, too bad. At that moment, I decided I could no longer be silent. Silence is acceptance and there is too much silence in this country today by people who do not agree with the mainstream media and population on certain controversial topics. So, in response to the post, I did some research on the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance, the changes that have been made over the years and posted a response. I am respectful of other people's beliefs and opinions, but I expect the same in return. I have posted the quote and my response on this blog, dated August 15, 2010, for those who are interested in reading the original exchange of dialogue. In the end, I felt that my opinion was not respected and the factual documentation that I provided to back up my belief was not even taken into consideration. People hear but they don't LISTEN when another opinion doesn't match up with their deep-seeded beliefs.
Facebook and other social media outlets have become a forum for people to easily hide behind a computer and attack others with hate-filled rhetoric when anyone's opinion doesn't match up with theirs. Due to this trend, it has taken away much of the joy and pleasure I initially had with this social networking site. I welcome a place to share my opinion, engage in a healthy debate, but not have things spiral into name calling and attacks on a person or their character. I will share this blog website with people who do and who do not agree with me on many issues, however, they do respect my right to have a different opinion and can be adult and intelligent enough to engage in healthy debate and conversation. Things move forward when people are willing to listen to the possibility that there may be another person's viewpoint that they hadn't considered.
That being said, this blog, for me, is to catalog and chronicle my ideas on current events, memorable quotes, movie clips, and music videos as well as to offer my review of books that I've read, movies I've seen and music I've listened to. I am a natural born inquisitive person and I love to share knowledge I've found through research, especially on 20th century history with an emphasis on World War II. I welcome feedback and rich conversation about anything that I post, I only ask that posts do not degrade into personal attacks or generalizations. If you truly want me to understand your point of view when it differs from mine, provide me with facts that document what you are saying and not just a repeat of talking points that are being thrown out by the media with no basis of fact behind them.
I hope to have many followers, but if in the end I only have a few, that's okay too. This is a cathartic avenue of expression for me and I welcome as many or as few who would like to come along for the ride.
