An Amazing Tool
For over 20 years I have watched the strides made in technology. I love the internet, it is amazing. You want to look something up, just go type it in. "who is that guy in the movie, what has he been in before?", you go to imdb and you have your answer. Want to know the lyrics to your favorite indecipherable song? There are plenty of lyric databases around. Want to talk to someone with your interests? I'm sure there is a LJ community about it.
But then there is the darker side. The flamers, the trolls, the people who get behind a keyboard and type stuff that they would never dream saying to anyone's face. People are messed up. Like the girl who brags about how she stole stuff from Scott Stapp. Now granted, he is not the brightest crayon in the box nor is he a very nice person but when did two wrongs start to equal a right? Now apparently there is an icon making it's way around of some guy who killed himself. Apparently his suicide note was a bulletin on myspace. Because he misspelled his suicide note, it's okay to put him in an icon with the title "emo killz" and it's funny. I don't get the joke. What happened to common decency, caring and concern?
It seems to me anything you add the human factor to becomes perverted and crass, much as the internet has. It's like Christianity. Here you have this amazing "man" who brings this message of peace and raises up the downtrodden to give everyone an equal footing and people take that concept and corrupt it to mean that they have the right to judge others, to tell them who they can love or who they can be. St. Patrick, who I just learned about in my class, was an amazing man. He put an end to slavery in Ireland, he stopped human sacrifice and he converted an entire country just by virtue of his charisma and kindness. Nowadays you say St. Patrick and what comes to mind? Shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer and being drunk. What a fabulous legacy for such an awe inspiring man.
The first rule of the paradoxical commandments is " People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway." I've really been trying to follow this rule, for my own sake, cuz I want to work every day at being a better person. However I have come to the conclusion that I might learn to love people but I don't think I will ever like them.
But then there is the darker side. The flamers, the trolls, the people who get behind a keyboard and type stuff that they would never dream saying to anyone's face. People are messed up. Like the girl who brags about how she stole stuff from Scott Stapp. Now granted, he is not the brightest crayon in the box nor is he a very nice person but when did two wrongs start to equal a right? Now apparently there is an icon making it's way around of some guy who killed himself. Apparently his suicide note was a bulletin on myspace. Because he misspelled his suicide note, it's okay to put him in an icon with the title "emo killz" and it's funny. I don't get the joke. What happened to common decency, caring and concern?
It seems to me anything you add the human factor to becomes perverted and crass, much as the internet has. It's like Christianity. Here you have this amazing "man" who brings this message of peace and raises up the downtrodden to give everyone an equal footing and people take that concept and corrupt it to mean that they have the right to judge others, to tell them who they can love or who they can be. St. Patrick, who I just learned about in my class, was an amazing man. He put an end to slavery in Ireland, he stopped human sacrifice and he converted an entire country just by virtue of his charisma and kindness. Nowadays you say St. Patrick and what comes to mind? Shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer and being drunk. What a fabulous legacy for such an awe inspiring man.
The first rule of the paradoxical commandments is " People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway." I've really been trying to follow this rule, for my own sake, cuz I want to work every day at being a better person. However I have come to the conclusion that I might learn to love people but I don't think I will ever like them.