What's Going on Here?

When you get stirred up over something someone posted on social media or a blog comment or an in-person confrontation, what do you do? I think the sensible first response is to hit the pause button. Step 2 is to ask yourself these questions: "What's going on here? Why am I upset? What is this person's motivation? What's the best way to respond?" 

There are a number of answers to the question, What's going on here? It's an important place to begin in order to prevent being pinned to a board like an insect, which is exactly what some people seem to want. So what's going on? Here are some possibilities:

• You are being played. Trolls on the internet love to stir the pot as well as some of the people you know. Maybe their comments are sincere, but more often, I think (at least with trolls), they get their jollies from getting a reaction and, perhaps, taking the conversation completely off course. What fun, eh? I can just see the trolls at their annual troll party giving each other high fives as they relate their "successes."

• The person is trying to deflect because you hit too close to home. I remember a conversation with a button pusher, who changed the subject completely away from the issue at hand and made it personal. Instead of keeping to the subject, the conversation became hotter while the person pretended to be on the moral high ground and oh-so-concerned. When that happens the pause button is indispensable. The question to be raised becomes, "What exactly are we talking about?" And then, "Let's get back to the subject."

• The person wants to put you on the defensive. I was reading infamous communist Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals yesterday morning and his tactics are all over social media. His fourth rule is Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. He goes on to say, "You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity." (There's certainly some truth there or we wouldn't need the sacrament of Confession.) How many commenting on the internet immediately begin their ad hominem attacks? If a person disagrees with their vision of the world, or any part of it, they go for the jugular. You are insincere, not really a Christian, and, oh by the way, you are going to hell and God hates you. You can't defend yourself against this kind of blather. The best think is to ignore it.

• Make "the enemy" a target and go after him/her relentlessly. This is another Alinsky tactic, one that he describes as a "universal" goal. As Alinsky says, "...the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...Obviously, there is no point to tactics unless one has a target upon which to center the attacks." Alinsky emphasizes making the target personal -- not a business or government entity, but a person. Sound familiar? The Left practices this bigtime. Maxine Waters emphasized attacking all members of the Trump administration at restaurants, gas stations, movie theaters, etc. And people did. I remember Sarah Huckabee Sanders being driven from a restaurant in Lexington (which cheered the event which led to the restaurant's collapse). Other Republican staffers were targeted at gas stations, grocery stores, and movie theaters. Think of the attacks on Supreme Court justices. Remember Chuck Schumer's press conference telling Gorsuch and Kavanaugh that "We're coming for you." Schumer often channels Alinsky and his commie tactics. The justices homes became targets with death threats and even a wannabe assassin going to Brett Kavanaugh's home.  Tucker Carlson's wife was terrorized when lefties beat on the door and cracked it.

We are seeing Communist tactics as the default position of not only card carrying Communists, but those they influence. The mainstream media encourages the violence and justifies the hatred. And Nancy Pelosi calls it all "exuberance of the moment." 

So what do we do? Not follow Alinsky's advice, that's for sure! Remember, Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer, the "first radical" who "won his own kingdom." I wonder where Alinsky is today.

Christian tactics are 180 degrees away from Alinsky's. We first need to remember Whom we serve and how He would guide us. Next, figure out what's going on and seek the immediate assistance of the Holy Spirit. Two wrongs never make a right, so we cannot respond to hate with hate. The Bible tells us to pray for our enemies and do good to those who hate us. 

That doesn't mean we're doormats. If someone is attacked, like reporter Andy Ngo during the BLM/Antifa riots, press charges. If they scream at you and makes obscene gestures, smile in response and wish them well. I love St. Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 4: "Shall I come to you with a rod; or in charity, and in the spirit of meekness?" 

It is never a bad thing to try to have a conversation. That happened to me at a rescue in the early 90s where I met a very vocal young man yelling at us. At the end of our conversation I told him, "You seem to be a young man seeking the truth. If you're looking for the truth you're looking for God. I'm going to pray for you." He wouldn't tell me his name, but as the police came to arrest me, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, "My name is Dan."  I've been praying for Dan for 35 years. Will you join me? I hope Dan and I meet merrily in heaven!

Let us never return evil for evil, but pray for those who insult and persecute us. That's the Jesus way and it's the way to save poor sinners from hell as Jacinta of Fatima desired. 

But remember, it's also legitimate to embrace silence, skip arguing, and relegate trolls to the spam folder!