Here are a few examples from recent news stories in the Upstate and around the country:
1. Here's a link to the FB comments I'm talking about: Mom Beats Son/Drags Him Down Stairs
Headline: Mom Drags 5 Year-Old Down Stairs, Beats Him With Belt. This headline started a string on comments on Facebook that ranged from the outraged (people who saw this as abuse) to acceptance, and sadly enough there were way too many people who backed this mother's behavior toward her child. If you read the story, you'll find that this was more than just a spanking. She dragged the child down the stairs, leaving bruises, carpet burns and a black eye, then she beat him on the back and rear-end with a belt. No one knows what made her lose it, but everyone seemed to have an opinion about it. Those who fell on the side of "It's okay to beat the shit out of your kid" backed up their opinions with comments like: My parents did that to me, and I turned out okay. or That's what is wrong with kids today, parents don't discipline them by beating them senseless. Or: The government is taking away our right to spank/discipline our kids. It is a pretty well-known and undisputed fact that adults who were abused as children often tend to parent their own children abusively, so it only stands to reason that someone who was mistreated as a child thinks that such treatment is a normal part of growing up. They think those beatings actually made them into better adults, but realistically that kind of treatment has left them with a distorted idea of what a normal, loving relationship should be like. They are often controlling, overbearing and short-tempered with their spouses and their children. People who think abuse is the same as discipline find a way to justify every thing they do as well as everything that was done to them. One guy even commented, "My dad did this to me and I had it coming." Justifying his dad's abusive behavior by taking the blame for it. Likewise, he probably expects his children to absorb the blame for his bad behaviors. Arresting a mom for mistreating her child is not the same as arresting a mom for popping a kid on the rear for trying to put a butter knife in an electrical outlet. What's so disturbing about these comments is that there are so many people who think child abuse is okay, as long as it is done in the name of discipline. What's doubly disturbing is the number of people who truly believe they got beat up as a child, and "I'm just fine." No. No you're not.
2. Here's the link: Missing Malaysian Plane
I agree that it's extremely screwy how a huge airplane can just disappear without a trace. But knowing how much money has been spent trying to find a trace of this plane tells me that it is likely that no one really knows what happened or where it is. Well, except for the conspiracy theorists and religious fanatics. They seem to have the whole thing figured out, or at least you'd think so from the comments they make about the news stories. The best one I have read yet reads as follows (and I quote):
Teresa Sosa I have been saying this since I first heard how the plan went off course! I think our antichrist President knows where it is and is in on it! the plan in hidden in an underground bunker or hanger! it's going to be used as an attack on America or as an escape for "certain people"!!! This plane will be seen again... mark my words! 9-11 is right around the corner... that was a huge tragedy on American's soooooo.... Perfect timing for them to strike on us again! Also we have seen all the signs the Bible talks about that the end of time is nearing, Maybe Obama is about to expose himself as the antichrist!!! laugh and say I'm crazy people... But you'll see!!!!!! This plane missing, Obama shutting down our military and taking away our ammunition... he's getting prepared and so should we... Don't be foolish and think this can't happen!!!!!! Plus how many" LIVE BREAKING NEWS REPORTS" has Obama aired about the plane missing.... NONE! Seems mighty fishy to Meeeeeeeee!!
There are plenty of similar theories out there and most have something to do with the apocalypse, covert government scheming (the American government that is) or the takeover of the world by the Antichrist...Who is apparently Barak Obama, since it wasn't Pope John Paul, Charles Manson, Mikhail Gorbachev or Ronald Regan. In fact, it has been suggested that 1 in 4 Americans believe Obama is the Antichrist. However, I think some people are confused about the very nature of the Antichrist. You see, the whole purpose of this unknown person is that he/she will convince people that he/she is religious--therefore becoming a religious icon that people will blindly follow. What would he/she gain by revealing who he/she really was? Also, maybe Obama hasn't had any LIVE BREAKING NEWS REPORTS because there hasn't been any breaking news, practically since the plane disappeared. They know nothing more today than the did over a month ago when the plane dropped off the radar.
Seriously, a news story like this brings the nut-cases crawling out of the wood work--and their minds are truly scary. I could do without knowing how many of these loonies exist.
Just to sum up the story: A 21 year old guy busts up into his ex-girlfriend's apartment and goes into her bedroom where he finds her with a man. The story makes no mention as to whether or not this woman was in bed with the man or if he was a boyfriend. The 21 year old proceeds loose his shit, at which time the other guy decides to leave. Then the 21 year old pistol whips his baby mama, hits her on the head with a drinking glass and then fires his gun. Police found him in another apartment in the same building with his other baby mama and arrested him.
The comments on this story were truly disturbing. Here is a little sampling of them:
I could add more, but I'll spare you. The most discouraging thing about the comments these people are making, is that their attitudes towards domestic violence pretty much explain why South Carolina has one of the highest domestic violence rates in the country. You have both men and women condoning this kind of violence and even encouraging it or saying they'd do the same thing. It is truly insane.
This one hit my news feed today, and the comments got out of control very quickly. It took about ten seconds after it was posted, for this story to become a debate about abortion. Here are a few of the comments:
There are of course, many other ignorant comments like these, and worse, on this particular post. Many state that they can't see a difference between a woman carrying a baby to term while hiding her pregnancy, giving birth to the baby, then strangling it to death, putting it in a box and storing it in the garage and a woman having an abortion. I will admit, I am on the fence with the whole abortion issue myself. I don't think I have the right to tell a woman who has been raped that she has to carry that baby to term and give birth to it. Chances are, she's already been traumatized enough, without having to live with a constant reminder of what happened to her every single day when she feels that baby moving inside her, or when it is born and she sees it's face and it resembles the face of her attacker. I know there are women who are brave enough and strong enough to do it, but it's not my place to judge someone who can't. Also, I think that if a mother has other children and her pregnancy is threatening her ability to be there for her other kids, she may have a tough decision to make. Give life to the one inside her, or stay alive to raise the ones she already has. I refuse to make a blanketed judgment call about the issue for these and other compelling reasons.
The point is, this was not the same thing as abortion. A woman who could endure 7 pregnancies, give birth and then kill 6 out of the 7 babies is seriously disturbed. No person in her right mind could do this kind of thing. Without even knowing all the details, people are very quick to rush to judgment, either saying she should be put to death, or all pro-choice people are okay with infanticide.
I can't forget to mention that the very people who are crying out about the injustice of abortion are also the people who are calling for this woman's death--some of them even offering to kill her themselves. They're hollering that they "thought it was a woman's choice to do this kind of thing" without realizing that everything we do is a choice. This woman, for whatever reason chose to do the wrong thing but if someone were to kill this woman, would they necessarily be doing the right thing? Why is it ever right to take life?
Sometimes it seems that people type before they think. I, for one, wish that in some of these horrendous news stories, the "comments" were not allowed. We can tell by the stories themselves that the world has become a sick twisted place. The comments only serve to drive that fact home a little harder. It is so troubling to me that people can sit in judgment, side with the bad-guy, and contradict their own beliefs without even realizing it.
So I'm re-thinking the whole idea of getting the Sunday paper again. Maybe it is worth the money and the mess just so I can read the news in peace and not be tempted to read the ridiculous comments people make about it online. We all have opinions, but it seems a lot of people haven't figured out that we are not obligated to share all of them. Seriously folks, with some of the ignorant things you say, it's a wonder everyone you know hasn't declared you insane.
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