Political Discourse on the Color of the Sky
I don’t know about you, but this is what my Facebook feed looks like right now:
Original Posting Person The sky is blue.
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Irked AlwaysRight I can’t believe you would say that. Everyone knows the grass is green. Always has been, always will be. |
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Emphatic ListenToMe THE SUN IS YELLOW! |
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Reference LinkRetriever www.sunisyellowproof.com [Moves on to drop random link on next post] |
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My PersonalExperience My grass is yellow. It’s been through a lot though. You can’t possibly understand this experience. |
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Irked AlwaysRight I’ve had experiences too but I still understand grass is green. You’re grass just needs to try harder. |
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Capt Obvious Blue is my favorite color, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it rains and the sky isn’t blue. |
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Can’tWe AllJustGetAlong Guys, all these colors are wonderful and unique. We should embrace them all, embrace each other. |
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Emphatic ListenToMe YELLOW. YELLOW. YELLOW. |
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Irked AlwaysRight You clearly don’t care how green the grass is and how important this understanding is to my superior value system, so I’m logging off to pray for you. [Logs off defiantly, but has no idea how to pray for you since you haven’t had any in-person conversations since the 7th grade] |
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Emphatic ListenToMe THE. SUN. IS. YELLOW! |
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ReRead Me I used to roll around in grass so green you could lose your pet frog. I go barefoot in meadows so lush your toes would never want to see the inside of a shoe again. In the winter I dream about those times. It’s always winter now. There is no green. And thus, no color at all. Anyway I think you know what I mean. [Five “likes” but no one has any idea what this comment means. Pretty though.] |
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Emphatic ListenToMe All I did was say the sun is yellow, and now everyone is persecuting me. This is what happens when we let XYZ take over this county. |
The original post was “the sky is blue,” but clearly the conversation has little to nothing to do with the original topic. I have a feeling the lighthearted example above feels all too familiar to many of you. From logical fallacies, closed-mindedness, and utter randomness, this kind of rhetoric is fatiguing at best.
The worst part? Most of us have been guilty of one of these offenses at one point or another.
Election year politics can bring out the worst in us all. Let’s listen a little more, post a little less and work on our color recognition.
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About The Author
Sharyl West Loeung
Sharyl West Loeung holds a Master of Divinity degree from George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University.She currently works in the Department of Multicultural Affairs at Baylor University. A licensed minister, she enjoys supply preaching in Central Texas as well as serving in her home church. Sharyl's interests include social justice movements, cross-cultural and inter-generational community, and liturgy. Her favorite things in life include: her husband and adorable toddler, her zoo (let's not confess the number of pets here), a good Netflix binge, hammock naps, and avidly following sports and theater equally.