WHEN SILENCE IS THE LOUDEST ANSWER
Blogs come in all formats and sizes, expressing as many opinions as there are bloggers. Certainly it is the most egalitarian form of communication since the ancient Greeks gathered in the Agora and is as free to all as autumn leaves. Finding an audience for a blog is the hard part. Some sites putter along, neglected except for the passion of the writer. Others get an occasional visit from friend. And still others, like the “Huffington Post” become so successful, they morph into another format.
I applaud the diversity of opinions to be found in blogs. But recently, I discovered one whose ideas were disturbing. When the exercise of the First Amendment is used to advocate robbing the freedom for others, I must pause. Here’s an example of what was written:
“The poor can be counted on to vote themselves benefits by electing redistributionist politicians… Registering them [the poor] to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals”. (The Week, 9/30/11)
A number of retorts to this statement spring to mind. But I have no wish to engage this writer. His insanity arouses my pity. Still, we as readers should not reward him with our attention. A man is free to speak but there is no constitutional requirement that obliges people to listen. For the purveyors of hate I suggest a permanent “Time out,” or a good, old fashioned shunning.
(National Archives)
Imagine how the course of history might have changed if Hitler had held a rally and no one came.
I know there are those who find these rants amusing but thoughts too often repeated have a way of finding a life of their own. Worse, to argue against rabid ideas gives them credence.
Doubtless someone will object to my suggestion and argue that to say nothing is to appear to agree. And the response is correct in situations where some semblance of reason prevails, where some misguided logic can be corrected or some fact of record proved and restored. But debate against the insane is useless. Let these merchants of hate find no place among us. Let them wither like weeds that cannot find the sun.