Friday; December 11

The other day I was thinking about this whole COVID mess and I had a revelation – I need to be careful how and when I express my opinions. What really got my attention was thinking about someone who had lost a family member to the disease hearing people argue about whether the virus is real or is just a political ploy. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what others think, for that individual, it is serious! For them, it isn’t rhetorical debate, it was a life and death issue and death won!
The more I thought about, the more I realize how important it is to tame our tongues. Imagine someone who has a child in a drug treatment program having to overhear a heated debate about whether someone with a chemical addition should be incarcerated or merely left out on the street to fend for themselves. What would it be like to be the child of a solider who was killed in Viet Nam to have to hear someone call the conflict a politically irresponsible waste of time and resources? How about being a storeowner who had lost their livelihood and a lifetime of memories in a riot having to listen to a dispute about whether public resources should be used to stop the spread of violence and looting.
Folks, please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not interested in debating these issues in this type of forum, nor am I saying that we shouldn’t have the discussions. What I am saying is that before we start talking about them, let’s remember that there are some people who have personally experienced what we are theoretically discussing. Let’s be sensitive to the times and locations for where we have these discussions and the declarations we make as a result of our debates. In their right time and place, academic discussions can be productive, but when we aren’t careful, the same words can be devastating.

Think About It!

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