I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, possibly new found allergies, idk. So, I'm not quite sure how long this post will be. Yes, I know I said this was probably going to be a media filled post but just before I got here, I read and saw a few things that really ground my nerves. I try to keep this blog as fun and friendly as possible, but this is a pretty heated moment. So please, bear with me.
I'm not going to link specific articles because there are quite a few recent ones out and about now, but do a search for "dead marine's father vs church" and "trolls target grieving families" and you're bound to find quite a few stories and news videos about the two stories (the latter being pretty broad as it relates to several very recent headlines). I'll address the former first.
There was a young Marine that recently lost his life fighting for our rights and our country. During his semi-private funeral, members from a "church" (I use that term loosely) picketed the event lead by a certain man (Again, I use this word loosely). They held signs such as "God Hates The United States", "The United States of Sodomy", and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". I'm already big on supporting the troops, but this- this was damn atrocity. So, I believe the protesters' feelings were that God was having these soldiers die because of America's tolerance for homosexuality. Really? Who the heck are these people to think that they know what God's intentions are? Anyways, the father of this soldier sued that church for invasion of privacy- long story short, he won, but appeals court overturned, and that court ended up ordering the father to pay the church's legal costs of over $16k. What is wrong with that picture? Many places are saying that this is a battle about the freedom of speech (I do believe that freedom is not free and that soldiers and their families have paid many prices for the rest of us) but I don't think it's as broad as that. I feel that these people are using it as an excuse to hide behind. Man, I could make much more vehement comments and statements, but I'm going to refrain as much as possible. I'm not trying to make a huge political or whatever hullabaloo about this. The update about that is that Bill O'Reilly has picked up on the story and will pay those court costs. Ugh, it still all grinds my nerves.
The latter news headline refers to the ever growing dangers of cyber-bullying, bullying in general, and internet trolling. Trolling refers to the act of electronically posting in public forums the most deprave and/or malicious of statements to incite chaos and outrage (other intentions play into that as well, but that is added). More news breaks out about young people be driven into committing suicide each day and this headline focuses on how there's a despicable growing trend of comments by trolls being posted on the personal pages/ memorial pages of these kids, targeting grieving friends and family members and their deceased loved ones. It's disgusting and sick. My PSA about this is raise awareness about internet safety, stay involved in your kid's and people's lives, and don't encourage this behavior. Often times, these cowards relish in people's reactions and passionate arguments and protests, it's attention. Report it to the website administrators or authorities, if possible. People (including kids) can be really cruel and there should be no tolerance for that. This all just continues to blow my mind just like all the mistakes humanity has made in the past. The nerve of some people.
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