Lately I’ve been reminded of Aretha Franklin’s song, “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.,” but it seems that some folk don’t want to find out what it means.
There is so much turmoil these days, so much division, hate, anger, that it seems the world is turning ugly, as it supposedly did before the Great Flood, when Noah built the ark.
We have the left, we have the right, we have black and white; we have conservative and liberal, Christian and anti-Christian. Everybody is at each other’s throats, and many aren’t playing nice.
When did it become illegal to offend someone? When did it become OK for one group to dictate what another group can and cannot do? When did people start believing their opinions are the only right ones and the only ones that count?
You could take away symbols, rewrite history, make things legal that are in direct opposition to religious beliefs, and be vilified for speaking your mind, but none of these actions would change what is in people’s hearts.
I just don’t get the “you’re wrong!” attitude of people who get angry — furious — when others don’t agree or believe the way they do. Listen with an open mind to current arguments — pick and choose. What you will hear is “You don’t feel the way I do. You don’t live, work, look, talk, and especially don’t believe what I believe. You are wrong to feel the way you do and it offends me, so change. We demand it.”
Why can’t people — all people — just agree to disagree and get along? Why get so angry when a symbol that offends you may mean something totally different to another person? Who taught people it is necessary for others to bend to their will?  And why is it OK for some groups to demand others change just to fit in with their personal ideas?
It is one thing to disagree with another person’s views, thoughts, words or actions. It’s another thing to attack them for those differences.
Lately I’ve noticed a select group of people who seem to make a game of following social media discussions, searching for those who have opposing views.
Some of these are young people, but a few are hovering around middle age. They are mostly liberal, and seem very intelligent, yet they are playing a game that belongs in kindergarten. No, wait — a game that belongs nowhere.
I cringe when I read their condescending comments to people they don’t even know. It offends me when I read their snarky, sarcastic, cutting comments to people who are older, conservative, and who were raised in a different era. I try to understand why they have a need to belittle, ridicule and demean those who don’t ascribe to their view of things. How does it make someone feel good to criticize and publicly attack a person for grammar, clothing, lifestyle, or anything else that is personal and has no bearing on the argument at hand?
By resorting to the equivalence of childhood name-calling, the people who do this are admitting they have no solid argument and have to be mean in order to cover the fact.
It would show way more class if these people typed “I respect your viewpoint but I disagree” and let it go at that.
What makes these adult brats feel they must make fun of a certain lifestyle (i.e. Southern, rural, slower-paced, religious)?  Some of these attackers come from rural, Southern backgrounds, but they hide it and try to appear more “modern” and “with it.”  Their attempts backfire. No one is impressed by this game of condescension.
Most people, regardless of viewpoint, don’t like the disrespect shown so openly by these self-absorbed narcissists. Most outside their circle won’t even find their vicious attacks funny. I find them sad.
Do they feel better after typing nasty words that are meant to be hateful? How is their hate any better than the hate they claim others have? Hate is hate — no matter who the hated is or who the haters are.
It seems it is socially acceptable to hate white conservative Southerners, those who believe in religion, own guns and protest abortion, yet it seems to be a grave offense to hate homosexuals, gun control advocates, minorities or those with liberal and anti-American ideas. Hate is hate, and doesn’t grow from a symbol, a name or a lifestyle. Hate comes from the heart, and taking away symbols, lifestyles, and the rights of some to live the way they wish and believe in what they wish, will never erase that hate from the hearts where it lives. As a matter of fact, attempting to eradicate things that are dear to some just because it offends others creates resentment. From resentment grows hate.
If we could all just stop, accept that things have different meanings for others, and find out those meanings before demanding everything be our way, something might happen. We might all find peace, love, and happiness. We might make friends — and we might even erase some of that hate that already exists in some folks’ hearts.
It could be so easy — if those who protest hate would eradicate the hate that lives in their own hearts first.

Holli Deal Daxon can be reached at 489-9414.