Yesterday, I briefly ruminated about why the now-infamous Playboy article from earlier this week discussing assorted conservative women in decidedly less than genteel terms wasn’t that big of a deal to me. Apparently I am alone in feeling this way.
No, I don’t consider myself to be either insensitive or a misogynist. I love women. I’ve been married to one for over twenty-five years. She’d make my life not worth living if she thought I looked down on women. (She’s not all that keen on me looking at them either. But I digress.) Rather, to me it’s a case of it a) being the Internet and b) considering the source. Find yourself swimming upstream in a sewage spill of lewd, crude and rude? Congratulations, you’re online. Find yourself one of the named names swirling inside this swill? Hey, you’ve made it! You’re nobody until somebody trashes you in a blog or comment. Both if you’re able to get in on the two for one sale.
Yes, I read the article. It was vile. Stunningly so. The nastiest of hardcore left-wing sites would have suffered pangs of conscience before printing it… maybe. Letting the commenters riff on the topic, not so much of a difficulty. But again I digress; back to the article in question.
I have genuine sympathy for the women in it. No one should have to put up with such garbage. However, if you haven’t learned by now “should” has no bearing on “does” the Pollyanna Home for the Terminally Naïve is holding a room for you. First month’s rent is on them.
There are a grand total of three ways one can respond to an attack like this that have genuine value. The first is directly and profusely thanking the attacker for the free publicity. Let’s be real: no matter how much we of the blogosphere and variants thereof believe our own hype about being new media’s mack daddy 99 44/100% of us are complete unknowns to one hundred and ten out of one hundred people in the world. The remaining 56/100% are doing much better. They’re unknown to one hundred and nine out of one hundred people. Playboy doesn’t have that problem. It’s more than a little probable some overhormoned children dressed in adult bodies who before reading the article didn’t have the slightest notion any of the ten women in the article existed will now seek out their work on television or online for the purpose of… need I spell it out? That said, isn’t this what you want? The opportunity to be Miss Sarah Brown presented with a captive audience of one dozen genuine sinners? Playboy is playing the role of Sky Masterson for you. Hone your message and present it well. Perhaps you will persuade some to see it your way.
Second, don’t get mad. Get even. Take the offending item in question and demolish it, word by word. Write a parody demonstrating how ludicrous the original is. Go through it line by line, adding “commentary” accomplishing the same purpose. If sarcasm was good enough for Jesus and later on Paul, it’s good enough for you.
Finally, as mentioned yesterday there is the option of going Limbaugh on the offender in the same manner he took on Wanda Sykes following her wishing he’d either die or be tortured, preferably both… oh, wait, that’s right. He’s never so much as acknowledged her. We’ve all heard how being gracious toward our enemies drives them bonkers. Treating them as persona non persona when the fuel for their fire against you is getting a reaction? Sends them over the edge most every time.
Playboy has done the conservative cause a tremendous favor which it is furiously frittering away by being furious. Temper tantrums? Demands for an apology? Men “gallantly” rising to defend the affronted ladies’ honor? Useless. It plays right into the hands of those now saying, “See? Told you those weaklings would lose it the moment someone looked at them cross-eyed.” Yes, the Playboy article went so far beyond the pale you need a telescope to see it. But what do you really expect? It’s Playboy. It’s the flippin’ Internet. This stuff and worse hits the Web millions of times each day and every day. Quit whining and crying. Do something about it.
Be the better.
Left and right have been throwing bombs at each other online for years, emboldened by perceived anonymity and separation from the ones they target. Neither side can claim they stand on high moral ground. Don’t talk to me about who started it or who’s worse. Both sides are guilty. Period.
Be the better.
Forget who started it. Forget the last thing “they” said. “They,” just like you, are sinners in need of God’s grace. He loves them too. Even the ones who reject, despise and mock Him. Even the ones who cloak themselves in His name yet live lives dedicated to self-glorification or whatever pet sin they fancy.
Be the better.
Don’t fight fire with fire. Don’t troll for sympathy. Don’t give in to anger. Don’t become what you profess to oppose.
Be the better.
I fear that one day in the not-too distant future someone is going to snap. They’re going to track down a blogger, quite possibly in their search including their family if they have one, and in either a quest for revenge or a spat of indulged rage over something someone said will physically act out their hostility. One or more people will get hurt. Or worse.
None of us can stop psychos. What we can do, individually and collectively, is stem the tide of venom before it turns red. We can put our hurt feelings aside in favor of imitating Christ by forgiving those who speak against us. Yes, even those who write perverted obscenities against us.
Why?
Because it’s the right thing to do. And others not doing the right thing is no excuse for our doing the right thing.
Impossible, you say? No. Nothing is impossible with Christ. Nothing.
Be the better.
Please.
