Saturday, October 30, 2010

The 24 hour news Media Makes us Crazy

I think this might have been the most important thing the "Rally to Restore Sanity" had to say. That first of all if things get to crazy on something you are watching "Change the Channel". This is something I do regularly from all news channels. My reaction is something like "Oh. This is BS" so I change the channel. To do otherwise just would make me and any other rational person sort of in a state of temporary insanity. And those who are having really serious problems in their lives often go off into really dangerous tangents that sometimes are fatal if they can't get to the place of turning off the TV or changing the channel. I think rationality comes from discernment and discernment comes from maturity and experience in people not just so overwhelmed by their lives that they are still capable of rational thoughts.

The other important point made is that people (no one) is inherently democrat or republican but an American and he showed people in SUVs trying to lane merge into a tunnel going from New York under a river to New Jersey to demonstrate this point. Any kind of person or variation all does this together and what the talking heads have to say is usually pretty remote from all of our everyday reality.

So, the important thing here is reality and balance as opposed to unhealthy tangents on all levels. People of all kinds who go out to far out on a limb usually find the limb eventually breaks and so do they. So, moderation in all things tends to keep us all alive. My own father though very intelligent could get out onto extreme tangents sometimes so I understand the need for "moderation in all things" from my own growing up experience.

One year my father "who was very anti-smoking" and my family went to a Christmas party at my Uncle's who was a famous Hollywood Minister to the Stars in Hollywood, California. Two of his parishioners told my father that they were smoking cigarettes and using prayers to nullify the effects. My father's response, "Oh. B---S---!" We were promptly asked to leave that Christmas Eve party and went home. I thought to myself, "What a crappy Christmas Eve!" I was 12. Though of course my father was right, saying it got us kicked out of a real great Christmas Party with Movie Stars and all the rest really cool stuff going on. So, my motto as an adult became "moderation in all things" as a result.  In the same situation I might say to someone, "I don't think smoking is a good idea.", But I'm not going to get my whole family kicked out of a really great party unless someone is about to get really hurt or die or something like that.

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