Here’s a live one-time TV Special I’d like to see.<\/p>\n
Start with 2 separate rooms, each with an equal number of die-hard liberals and die-hard conservatives.\u00a0 Come up with a bunch of fake, important sounding issues from the arenas of politics, worldwide concerns, religion, human rights, safety, education, etc.\u00a0 Make sure they cover a good range of minor impact to major impact topics.<\/p>\n
Randomly divide the issues into two groups.\u00a0 In Room 1, tell the participants that the Group 1 issues are liberal backed and the Group 2 issues are conservative backed.\u00a0 In Room 2, tell the participants that the Group 2 issues are liberal backed and the Group 1 issues are conservative backed.\u00a0 Really sell it. \u00a0Drop all the big names.\u00a0 Ellen, Rush, Oprah, Dubya.\u00a0 Then ask everyone in both rooms their opinions.\u00a0 Now sit back and watch the end of civilization as we know it.<\/p>\n
If done right, I would hope it to reveal the equally embarrassing traits of blind faith and blind rage.\u00a0 I would hope it to reveal for all to see that something is way out of whack and a whole heap of people, way way way more than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, are suddenly judge, jury, and executioner for any one of a billion different causes.<\/p>\n
All for a lack of Gray Area.<\/p>\n
Nothing is completely Black or White (yikes, that sounds kinda Black or White).\u00a0 Let me put it another way.\u00a0 If you truly have the ability to stand back and see things from not only your perspective but from the perspective of others, nothing can possibly be as Black or White as it originally seems.\u00a0 I\u2019m convinced everything is mostly Gray Area.\u00a0 Even the term Gray Area has Gray Area.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure someone out there will tell me it should be Grey<\/strong> Area.\u00a0 And they\u2019re probably right.\u00a0 Bernie Taupin and Elton John thought so, hence that spelling in the title of this post. \u00a0 I make no claims of being right or better or smarter or anything.\u00a0 All I know is I have a big knot in my stomach and common sense seems to be on permanent vacation.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid to blink now that people in droves are going ballistic over every single syllable that is uttered from sea to shining sea.<\/p>\n In Coven\u2019s song One Tin Soldier, the chorus goes: \u201cGo ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.\u00a0 Do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end\u201d.\u00a0 Easy now.\u00a0 Easy.\u00a0 This is not a slam on religion.\u00a0 My point is a lot of people are living these lyrics and replacing the word \u201cheaven\u201d with any number of well-intentioned but incredibly nuanced subjects. And for me, the most striking word in the chorus is “can”.\u00a0 Again, it takes all the Gray Area out of it.\u00a0 There’s no chance the Valley People won’t be justified in the end.<\/p>\n Extrapolated out, you get examples like:<\/p>\n Do it in the name of school kids.<\/p>\n Do it in the name of equal rights.<\/p>\n Do it in the name of unborn babies.<\/p>\n Do it in the name of Allah.<\/p>\n Do it in the name of saving the earth.<\/p>\n Do it in the name of Harambe.<\/p>\n Now I hope and trust most people mean well.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure Harambe was a heck of a gorilla.\u00a0 But as soon as you favor Harambe in any way, the lack of Gray Area shouts out to the world that you hate kids.\u00a0 You\u2019re a racist.\u00a0 You\u2019re sexist.\u00a0 You condone murder.\u00a0 You’re an Islamophobe.\u00a0 You want all the ice caps to melt.\u00a0 It’s not that simple.\u00a0 It’s not that cut and dry.\u00a0 It’s not that Black and White.<\/p>\n So People \u2013 Please bring a little Gray Area into your lives.\u00a0 It\u2019s Ok.\u00a0 It may sting a bit, so let\u2019s start small:<\/p>\n Root for the Cubs AND the White Sox.\u00a0 Even if you don\u2019t know what baseball is.<\/p>\n Only say you\u2019ll \u201cCONSIDER\u201d moving to Canada the next time you are asked to comment on something you are 100% sure will never happen.\u00a0 Sometimes that long shot comes in.<\/p>\n Once you start to Embrace The Gray, you can step up in class.\u00a0 There are a lot of variations to this next one.<\/p>\n Understand that people who like something don\u2019t automatically hate everything else.\u00a0 People who hate something don\u2019t automatically like everything else.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 I like Paul McCartney.\u00a0 I like Michael Jackson.\u00a0 I hate \u201cSay Say Say\u201d.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a toughie.\u00a0 Acknowledge that your opinion on any given matter may not be the only one in the universe that counts.\u00a0 And the kicker is you don’t automatically have to hate the person who has that difference of opinion.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s the toughest one of all.\u00a0 Disclaimer: I don\u2019t have tinfoil on my head as I\u2019m writing this. \u00a0Ok.\u00a0 Here we go.\u00a0 Take the media with a heavy heavy dose of salt.\u00a0 The media\u2019s job is to sell advertising space.\u00a0 The media\u2019s job is to get you to click on the link that gushes \u201cYou won\u2019t believe what she looks like now!\u201d\u00a0 Somewhere down the list, far down the list, maybe even on another list like a grocery list or something, is the duty of the media to try and provide fair, balanced, truthful information to the people consuming that information.\u00a0 Their whole business model is founded on drilling Black and White into our heads on a consistent, relentless basis.\u00a0 Gray doesn’t sizzle.\u00a0 Gray doesn\u2019t pay the bills.\u00a0 But Gray is exactly what\u2019s needed.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they are perfectly happy fanning the flames of this 24\/7 Black and White rhubarb.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s all trust us some Gray.\u00a0 Acknowledge the Gray.\u00a0 Use the Gray, Luke.\u00a0 For the greater good, hopefully, eventually.\u00a0 Until then, untying the anaconda in my gut is as good as I can hope for.<\/p>\n ** Insignificant Trivia Question #2 **<\/p>\n Who was originally slated to sing the opening lines of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” before they were inexplicably sung by Paul Young, himself the answer to that age old question…”Who?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s a live one-time TV Special I’d like to see. Start with 2 separate rooms, each with an equal number of die-hard liberals and die-hard conservatives.\u00a0 Come up with a bunch of fake, important sounding issues from the arenas of politics, worldwide concerns, religion, human rights, safety, education, etc.\u00a0 Make sure they cover a good … <\/p>\n