I don’t want to say that lately I’ve been obsessed with the Russian government’s doings, but whenever there is a “glitch” (be it an electrical power outage or an interruption to our internet service) I jokingly call out to Trusting Husband, “It’s Putin! Putin’s at it again!”
A year or so ago I noticed an uptick in visits to my blog, hundreds in a single day, all from Russia. Putin’s Department-in-Charge-of-the-Takeover-of-the-World had stumbled upon my blog (just as they'd found billions of other bloggers, twitterers, Instagram and FaceBook users…). I “googled” the matter and found that the views were actually momentary visits from “bots.” So following the Blogger site’s advice I was able to block most of the traffic from Russian sites.
As much of the world now knows, it was all part of Putin’s cyber tactics used to influence public opinion across the globe.
***
One day a friend texts me a copy of a FB posting from a fellow school teacher. For anonymity’s sake we’ll call the teacher by her initials, “KW.” My friend's text reads: “Warm fuzzy thoughts from KW.” Above my friend’s comment is a divisive and bitter-filled diatribe that left me wondering how this grammar school teacher could conscientiously instruct children in a diverse urban public school setting. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with this thought as someone quickly called KW on her actions: KW, I am shocked at the caustic virulence of your posting. If I were a parent of a muslim child, I would be quite concerned that you would be able to teach my child without bias and in a meaningful, non-discriminatory manner…
KW quickly blocked her original message:
The following message, although not as vitriolic, is typical of KW’s postings:
KW pens such dispatches on a regular basis. I know KW from her childhood and am quite shocked at her adult mordancy. It’s a change from the young, pleasant Roman Catholic school girl I thought I knew back then. I wonder if it’s because she has fallen victim to Russian bot-swaying, or if she is spoon-fed this rancorous discord by the constant watching of Fox News.
***
Did I tell you about the young father I encountered some time back at a local Chicago park?
When visiting the city, I often take my youngest grandson to this particular park and one day, as we play together, a young father and his son join us. The boys are both about 18 months, just beginning to talk. The father and I chat as the two boys examine the little toy trucks they’d each brought along. The young father asks my grandson his name and he pronounces it, with the r sounding rather like a w. I, in return, ask his son, “And what is your name?” The boy says something and the father quickly becomes agitated. He casts me an incredulous look, “Did you- did you hear that!?! Did you hear what he said?!”
When visiting the city, I often take my youngest grandson to this particular park and one day, as we play together, a young father and his son join us. The boys are both about 18 months, just beginning to talk. The father and I chat as the two boys examine the little toy trucks they’d each brought along. The young father asks my grandson his name and he pronounces it, with the r sounding rather like a w. I, in return, ask his son, “And what is your name?” The boy says something and the father quickly becomes agitated. He casts me an incredulous look, “Did you- did you hear that!?! Did you hear what he said?!”
“No, I didn’t quite get it.”
“He said, ‘Obama!’ I swear to- and ooh, aargh! ...and it’s because my father, my father has Fox News on all the time! Obama this, Obama that. It’s all negative junk and it’s poisoning my father’s brain! Dad used to be such a sweet guy -aaarrgh! I will not let him poison my son!”
Normally decent people who follow this kind of (excuse my language here) crap, dished out by Russian bots and Fox News, are kept at a fever pitch by each blast of hatred, “Yes! Yes! That’s how I feel, too!” Like a junkie, they crave more and more to feed their hate-habit. I wonder if the jolt is like a "high" for them.
***
As I write this I look out at my current gardening project in the yard. There’s no need to fuel a weed as weeds adapt to make the most of any condition. There is no need to amplify hatred, yet there is a multitude of internet bots making sure that fertilizer is abundantly applied to enhance the growth of malevolence.
And I think of the adult male from France that I viewed on the internet last week… I hope you saw it, too, because it was quite moving. He spoke at his police officer husband’s funeral in Paris. His husband having lost his life to a terrorist attack. In his eulogy, he borrowed a quote from a man who’d also mourned the loss of his wife to a terrorist attack: “You will not have my hatred.”
Follows the original quote:
“On Friday evening you stole the life of an exceptional person, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred…
So no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you. You want it, but to respond to hatred with anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are.”
So no, bots, you cannot make me form an opinion of another human based on anything but my own personal experience with that person. You cannot have my hate, either.
***
There is a blissful inner freedom that comes from love, acceptance and forgiveness. At least that is my experience. But, it doesn’t just pop up all on its own, it takes some work. In my garden I pull out the weeds; some of which, like wild parsnip, dandelion and purple clover have very deep-reaching roots. Like an iceberg, the tip of the plant that shows above is small in comparison to length of the root. And unless I remove every inch of the original root they come back with a pervading tenacity that always surprises me.
But you work and you practice, like a child doing their piano scales over and over. You cannot become a musician without repetition, you know. You can cast seed randomly into the wind and I guess something or other will grow, but a garden takes cultivating.
What makes me feel good? What makes me feel bad? What brings me joy? What brings pain? I ask my young grandson, “How do you feel when you are mean or selfish? How do you feel when you are kind or nice?” Piano scales improve a child’s musical ear, finger agility and strength, the same way discernment improves compassion, humility, peace and a child or adult’s overall well being.
What makes me feel good? What makes me feel bad? What brings me joy? What brings pain? I ask my young grandson, “How do you feel when you are mean or selfish? How do you feel when you are kind or nice?” Piano scales improve a child’s musical ear, finger agility and strength, the same way discernment improves compassion, humility, peace and a child or adult’s overall well being.
***
This is the closing of my three-part series on “The Rule Relating to or Consisting of Gold”
There is some form of the “golden rule” in most major religions/philosophies/belief-systems: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, etc. My favorite interpretation of it is:
“Treat others only as you would consent to be treated in the same situation.”
-Fr. Harry Gensler, S.J. (This might not be a verbatim quote but it’s as I remember it.)
So my final thought is based on the Judeo-Christianity taught me as a young child: If we are “made in God’s image,” (Genesis 1:27) how can people not then look upon the beauty of God’s spectrum of humanity and not celebrate the diversity given us, the diversity of beliefs, the diversity of hair, eye and skin tones, the diversity of the physical body, the diversity of personality, the diversity of lifestyles, the diversity of locale, the diversity of economic background… to do otherwise is an insult to our creator that I absolutely cannot comprehend.
***
Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.
- Native American on the greed of white America
(or me on the current GOP who've attempted to sell the U.S.A. to the Russian government )
