(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . I Fight With my Enemies: I Argue with my Friends [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-24 This is the time of year to look back over things that have gone before, to consider what one has done and the mistakes that have been made, and to hopefully make a few amends and to try to prepare to do better in the future. The year is not yet dead, we are not reduced to obituaries and ‘If only I had’ reflections on what has happened and can never be changed. The tree has not yet fallen, it is not trapped forever where it lies. We have a little time yet to do better. Not much, but some. So it is a good time to think what we may have done wrong and, if possible, to make some amends for our misdeeds. So I thought I would make a few apologies here and commit to at least trying to do better in my interactions here on dKos. I am not going to stop disagreeing, and to say I disagree when I feel I should. But I will try to do it in better civility and more humility. And I will try to shut up when I should shut up. I confess that I am somewhat prickly. I have that scorpion’s tendency to lash back at the slightest touch. Also for some reason I have that imp of the perverse of Poe; the tendency to say the worst possible thing in the worst possible way when I don’t even mean it as harshly as it came out. So I apologize for my sharp tongue. I apologize for people of a different historical or cultural background than myself if I do not always use the right words when I say anything about you or your situation. As a man who grew up gay when it was absolutely, absolutely not acceptable, I have heard many of those kinds of insults, sometimes intended sometimes not, and I know how words can hurt. When I was a teenager the big insult thrown at us was ‘homo.’ Thankfully we don’t hear that one much anymore. But all of the other words used to insult gay people are still out there and I don’t much appreciate them. So I can understand how others of other groups feel when the same kind of thing happens to them. I will ask in return that those who are or might be offended try to grasp the context in which the word was used. Sometimes it is hard, especially for a relatively isolated old man such as myself, to realize which words are now acceptable and which are not. So to say “I meant no offense” I know that can be a lame excuse but sometimes it is true. I will try to be more polite and less sharp-tongued. At bottom this is a political site and we are all on the same site in our attempts to support democracy and Democrats. We believe in justice and equality. We believe in sticking up for the underdog and treating others with dignity. It is fun to discuss other subjects, whether they be legal, scientific or philosophical or religious. But we cannot let disagreements in those areas get in the way of our goal of supporting democracy and the rights of all peoples. We all have a right to our opinions, beliefs, and the specific customs that make up the culture of our ancestors. I am appalled reading about the forced conversions of Jews in the European Middle Ages. The ‘Indian Schools’ the European settlers forced Indigenous children into are a blot on the country’s history. I do not want to make false comparisons or to use such barbarity to justify anything; they are crimes against humanity that stand on their own disgrace. But please do consider that attacks against someone’s cultural and personal beliefs are vile no matter who does them or against whom they are directed. I will not apologize for being raised in a rural culture and, frankly as a Methodist Protestant Christian. I no longer believe in the simplistic elements of that faith but I do respect the customs that my ancestors followed. I will try not to argue or snap or snarl when someone says they do not respect anyone who is not an atheist but it is offensive. I have sometimes been drawn into these arguments. I will try to stay out of them. If someone quotes ‘studies’ or ‘statistics’ that disagree with my personal experience I will stand by my personal experience. I have every right to do that. I am over seventy years old, of reasonable intelligence and of some experience in the world. I will not surrender the conclusions I have reached about life and the world to some generalized beliefs system worked out by people I do not know and frankly have no reason to trust. I will try to support those who write here in pain, in mourning, or in some sort of personal emergency. I will try always to say thank you to those who post diaries with photos of beauty and fun that help to lift the soul. I will try to be nicer. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/24/2195163/-I-Fight-With-my-Enemies-I-Argue-with-my-Friends Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/