The title of this blog is a quote from Confucius, and how true it is. The Bible says something similar - that the things that come out of your mouth, come from your heart (Matthew 15:18). It seems that recently, several people have been in the news because of the words they've spoken - Kanye West grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards and interrupting her speech, tennis champion Serena Williams screaming and cursing at a judge at the U.S. Open, and of course, South Carolina representative Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech this last week - shouting "You lie" as the President spoke to Congress. What on earth is going on, I mused, as I pondered the decline of civility and respect - pondered from afar.
Then, it happened to me. A minor happening, yes, but a happening nevertheless.
It happened on Facebook. Someone posted an insensitive, offensive comment on a friend's wall. The comment was published on all of our facebook pages and was in extremely poor taste. What to do, I mused, as I read the comment. Do I say something or do I let it go? The comment wasn't about me, however, it reflected on someone I care about. I decided to comment on the comment, and as I expected, the reply which was posted to my comment was condescending and rude. Even though I expected it, I still gasped as I read it, as it was pointed directly at me.
The person who penned the original comment is a sophomoric, immature, poor excuse for a man. He objectifies women and has no respect for them, let alone for himself or for the God who created him. He speaks from his heart-his comment truly let us all see what he values most. I did not value his reply enough to respond and I will not get into a war of words with someone on a web page I don't even know.
But words-how powerful they are! A reminder of that to me, someone who has plenty of experience saying things I shouldn't have practically from the day I started talking - is certainly timely. And maybe all of us need to be reminded that civility and respect goes a long way in life. Can't we all just get along?
3 comments:
I saw that comment and I posted something also. How could someone say something like that on someone else's facebook?! And I know that Michael's not even that type of guy. I'm glad you posted something though. He should know that not everybody thinks his "joke" is funny.
My thought was, either I don't know Michael very well or this guy doesn't.
The tongue is the most lethal weapon we possess - and how we choose to use it - to encourage or to destroy, is up to us. It's a real shame that more encouagment doesn't happen in our society.
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