But I do have something to say

“Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.”
  - George Bernard Shaw

For those who actually read and enjoy this blog, I apologize for the delay in writing anything new.  First of all, I must blame a bad summer.  My wife and I spent two months nursing our very sick dog, Only.  In the end we lost her.  After that there were a couple of weeks of emotional release while we mourned her. After a short get-away, we returned home to get on with life.  At that point I wanted to start new blogs.  I had ideas, but something kept stopping me from getting started on any of them.  I kept thinking that I had nothing worthwhile to say.

As I thought about this, it suddenly dawned on me that what was stopping me was a form of self-censorship.  I was afraid to write things because they may be sensitive or contradict someone else.  Those of us, the majority I would think, who occupy the middle ground in thought and beliefs have been cowed by the writers of the far left and right.  Writing has become a polarizing effort.  But I do have something, actually many things, to say.  In many cases they seem to be things that nobody wants to come right out and say for fear of incurring the wrath of one fringe group or another.  Why is this?

“If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one - if he had the power - would be justified in silencing mankind.”
  - John Stuart Mill

It is this way because the middle thinking group have let this happen.  We are afraid to express ourselves and our beliefs because we have become afraid of the response from the far left or right.  The fringe groups have set the agendas.  They are the ones who have chosen the subjects that we are supposed to be concerned about and have raised those subjects to a level of hysteria where no moderate response is tolerated.  They have polarized any subject with a ‘with us or against’ attitude. 

Ask about the plight of the indigenous people in this country and you are called a racist or are made to feel guilty because you didn’t do anything about residential schools.  Most of us were not even around when the residential school system was going on.

Ask about religion and you’re considered a religious fanatic. Say that you are a Christian and you’re labeled as anti-Muslim.  Speak out in support of Muslims and you’re your accused of wanting to destroy our “culture”. 

Ask about free speech and you’re seen as a supporter of hate speech.  Speak about limiting free speech and you’re (rightly) accused of impinging on people’s rights.  The only place where it seems to be okay to limit free speech is in universities.  Bring in a controversial speaker and you will be howled down and accused of ruining young minds.  And yet universities are the one place where different ideas should be welcomed and discussed, even controversial ones.  George Orwell in his book 1984 introduced the idea of thought police as a warning to future generations, but today too many people and groups think that that is their role in society. 

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
  - George Orwell

 Try and have a discussion on almost any subject these days and someone will take exception to your point of view.  Honest discourse should be encouraged and welcomed.  But too often you will be shouted down and accused of something heinous. It is no wonder that we have let the loudest shouters usurp the conversation.  Hence the state of intercourse in this country that is now so polarized and poisonous.  We are being yelled into submission.  But it has to end.  Those of us who believe that we should listen thoughtfully to opposing views, that compromise is possible and that ideas are precious and must be nurtured must start to speak up and bring some sense to so many conversations whether written or spoken.  Don’t let our entire society become so polarized that we are not allowed to think any more.  Speak up!  Express your views on this or any other topic.  Don't become self-censored.

“There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.”

  - P. J. O'Rourke