Internet Thoughts

As someone who is always curious about things, I find the Internet to be a wonderful resource.  You know, you have people in your home for dinner and you begin to talk about a book or a movie and just CAN'T remember something ( and the library is closed).  Having the answer at your fingertips is amazing.  Sure, you have to double check the answer sometimes as not everything you find is right, but still in all it is amazing.

One of the things that is NOT amazing is how what starts as an off-the-cuff comment or a meme you find funny leads to a mother of a blowout and loss of friendships.  I have several people who blocked me on Facebook- yes BLOCKED me, because I voted Democrat.  Those people whose political views raised my blood pressure were placed on  "unsee" until after the election- and some beyond, as they could not get over the election and move on.  But we remain "friends" and I do pop over to their page from time to time to "see" how they are doing.  Their political posts just don't come in my "feed"  Healthier that way.  I can't contact the people who blocked me to discuss the problem, which makes me sad.  Some of them I truly miss ( one or two I BLOCKED because they attacked me in such nasty ways online and I just don't have time for truly toxic people.) I am fairly sure I will lose a few more as we begin the debate over "same sex marriage"   Now, some people will accuse me of "Cherry picking" in the Bible, but here is my take on it (credit to a story about a rabbi asked to explain the Talmud while standing on one foot)  "What is hateful to you, do not do to others.  The rest is commentary."  I remember learning somewhere that the Bible has three parts; History Philosophy and poetry. I like the poetry parts best.  I always say that the winners write the history books and if you look at how many versions there are of the Bible, well, the "History " is up for debate.  I know there are people who argue that the Bible was written by God, but for my money the only thing we can say for certain was written by God is the Ten Commandments, so pretty much I am going to stick with those as a guidepost and leave Leviticus out of it.  There is so much that applies to the time it was written and probably for good reason, but if you have had a haircut recently or wear wool blend socks or have a tattoo, you are not sticking to the Bible ( according to Leviticus)  

I don't know if all the instant access to one another is a good thing or a bad thing.  Sometimes we need to step away from the keyboard and cool our jets before we destroy relationships with a careless reply, tossed off in anger.  I have a policy about angry email replies.  I write one and save it as a draft. I sleep on it and in the morning revisit it.  Usually, I don't send it, or I edit it so it is more rational and MUCH less emotional.  I keep more friends that way.