The degraded nature of public discussion these days surely owes much to people feeling as if they aren’t being heard when they try to speak up respectfully. Last week, though, I saw one small reason to believe respectful discourse can still be achieved.
Rarely have I received such a vitriolic response to anything I’ve written than I did to my column last week arguing that, legal guilt or innocence aside, Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter Kyle Rittenhouse bears a large degree of moral responsibility for the deaths of two people he shot. Obscenities came in via almost every venue of social media, along with one direct threat and a challenge to a fight from a hotheaded congressional candidate obviously looking for attention.
I couldn’t keep up with the full barrage of hate mail, but I did reply to one particular missive as a test, hoping to determine why people these days tend to become so verbally abusive so quickly.
This note came under the subject line, “F*** you Quinn.” Its author was just a random reader who wrote:
You are a left wing p****. No one trust or believes you, your credibility is as solid as your spine, not much! Go back and read your own bulls*** and see how it lines up with real facts as they come out. You then try to justify all your misses by rationalizing your opinion, that isn’t journalism that is party propaganda, and you dips***s are mad because you have lost the public trust and respect, once again ‘F*** you and your horsesh** opinions, you are the divider not the opposite, ass eyes.
“Thank you for your nice note,” I replied. I launched what I considered a polite defense of my position and, for my trouble, received two further replies, both less than kind but neither quite as nasty as the first. I answered simply, “Have a pleasant day, sir.”
And then ... something changed. This reader’s final reply was a model of decency:
In all fairness sir, I will begin to look for and read your articles on a more frequent basis and not judge you based on the one read that displeased me, I would want you to treat me in the same fair light. Thank you for the replies, I was appreciative that you took the time to respond. Have a nice weekend and a great holiday season, Bless you and your extended family.
Well … wow. In just a few notes back and forth, the man went from describing my opinions as excretions in three forms (horse-, bull-, and dip-) to wishing blessings on my family. And all it took was a bit of politeness.
Perhaps, just perhaps, as angry as so many people are, there remains a willingness to engage respectfully if at least a modicum of decency is extended. If the feeling of voicelessness catalyzes a vulgar fury, that fury may dissipate if the voice begins to be acknowledged.
Let us all hope that most people possess such an innate decency lurking not too far below a surface full of temporary profanity and ill will. And let’s all try to prove it true.
"vulgar" - Google News
November 16, 2021 at 02:20AM
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From vulgar vitriol to veritable virtue, this tune changed in just four notes - Washington Examiner
"vulgar" - Google News
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