The habit of lies has gotten to me. It seems to be the source of many problems. It’s not new. Families lie. Corporations lie. Churches lie. People lie. What seems new lately is an enthusiastic style of not adhering to guidelines or guard rails for things like basic reality.
Lately, stacking up lies is a competitive strategy that is about winning.
Be sure what you are saying is as close to truth as you are aware. Please don’t use Youtube as your measure of truth. Or other sources that take a few seconds to make you feel right.
I watched the capitol riots and noticed many flags representing confederates, nazis, Q-anon, and white supremacy. Here’s an easy discernment tip. If your group is that group (on site or in the voting booth), you’re on the wrong side. They are speaking their truth and it’s harmful. No lie there.
How to talk to the other side without getting into a fight.
Reaching across the aisle (talking to the other side), an imperfect script.
Salutation: Hi! Yesterday I (non-partisan activity).
Talk about the kids/pets: How is your (non-threatening loved one)?
Go deeper with weather: The weather is surprisingly neutral, neither red nor blue. I guess you could call it purple. Purple rain.
Next up, gardening: How are your tomatoes? I mean, obviously they aren’t libertarian, oops, wait, or are they? Sorry, never mind that, I sneezed, excuse me.
Air is safe, right?: The air was nice today wasn’t it?
Food: Oh I’ve been fine. You know, just making alternative baloney sandwiches. What? No, it still supports farmers. Right, fake baloney farmers.
Alternative power? Risky: Wind power? Latest research shows we could power the planet with opposing opinions if we could just agree on wind being wind.
Fact check: The definition of wind is the movement of air, generally.
Hitting the wall as this is the response I get: “LOL, I’m going to need to go to Youtube to verify that. I’ll get back to you.”
Those of you who know me know that I have roots in Eddyville. So I answered the call from Eddyville. It was weird and funky to see on my phone and I thought of my grandma and hoped it was her but knew it was not. It was a brief lie that I entertained. When I answered, it was not a loving ghost, it was a robot telling me my social security number was compromised. I hung up. End of fantasy.
If it doesn’t check out, it’s a fantasy.