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Repost from my WordPress blog (wordpress.metalmegs.com). Another un-edited post. 
Inspired by the 2016 Presidential Election

12/16/16: Where's The Logic?  

Does anyone else get frustrated when someone disagrees with a statement you say, and their rebuttal is, “well, [an opinion of a person, place, or thing you liked/agreed with in the past or present]did [bad thing/poor decision], so stop being such a [ideological or stereotypical insult]!”

Here is an example of an exaggerated conversation that never happened to better illustrate what I am talking about:

Megan says that water is the essence of life. Megan tells you many wonderful things about the water.

You say that water has drowned innocent people, flooded fields, and destroyed lives. “Water?  What do you mean water? That’s ridiculous! The river you live by, Megan, has wrecked so many houses and kids have drowned in there. I have seen it with my own eyes. How can you even say that the water is essential? Water is not life; if anything, it is death. What is essential to life, though, is the sun.”
You tell me many wonderful things about the sun.

Megan, while agrees with aspects that the sun is essential, uses your same style of rebuttal and reminds you the sun has caused skin cancer, dried up crops, heat-stroked children, and (with the assistance of a magnifying glass) burned up ants who were minding their own business.

You say I’m a typical stupid water lover who simply hates the sun and knows nothing about how wonderful the sun is all the time. “Megan, you can’t be mad that the sun dried up your crops when your river JUST flooded mine. Seriously, can’t you see how much water hurts the world? Do you even KNOW how many floods and drownings are happening every single day? WAY more than whatever the sun is doing, by at least 86%. Do your research.”

Sound familiar?

Reality is, the sun and water are both pretty damn essential. Both with flaws, but both with many benefits. Some flaws are better than others, subjectively. They’re both needed for balance — for life. If you completely neglect the water and “rah, rah, rah!!!” only for the sun; if you use your belief to persuade others to hate the water, you are creating a world of tragedy.

Just because you couldn’t sit down and objectively go, “Well, I get what you mean. I still think the sun is the best, but I understand that water is very important as well.” How hard is it to comprehend what is “good” and what is “bad” when it comes to actions/behaviors/events, verses what is “good” and “bad” with said object/person?

In regards to the sun: 
Warmth – good.
Sunburn – bad.
Sun is still good.

In regards to water:
Drink for thirst – good.
Drink from drowning – bad.
Water is still good.

Remember, this can go for “bad” things as well.

In regards to Lucille, the name of the barbed-wire bat Negan uses to bash in the heads of our favorite characters in The Walking Dead: 
Used for sporting events (i.e., baseball) – good.
Used for smashing heads – bad.
Lucille is still bad.

Sun is good, water is good, Lucille is bad is something we all can agree on — but emotion, ideology, and hate can distort reality. Negan is a dictator and sociopath. He kills people more than he does anything else; heck, even names the bat Lucille that he uses to bash in heads. Negan is a power hungry monster who instills fear in others that is fueled by such a strong hatred of humanity. People who watch the TV show agree.  Negan’s way of life (or is it way of strife?) allows him to believe that Lucille is good.

We just need to sit down and look at everything objectively, no matter how hard it hurts. I hate agreeing with some things my friends tell me.  It’s complex, for sure.  I can be told something that objectively makes sense, and I can confirm it is correct, but my feelings and emotions (which are stronger, mind you) tell me that it is incorrect.  I still will say, “Dang it, you’re right.” And it burns my soul.

Use logic, not emotion.  This takes practice and discipline, sure — but most of all it takes intelligence and open mindedness.

So what if someone likes the water more than the sun.  Just because they may have a preference of something due to their own personal experiences, doesn’t dismiss the importance of the other.

Because, heck – that river I live by and embrace so much might be the same river in which you watched my family drown.

_________________

We can all agree that soothing a baby when it is crying is a good thing to do .
We can all agree that punching a baby when it is crying is a bad thing to do (although, I could argue that one some days).

What we can’t agree on is the best way (or worst way) to soothe the baby. We think our ways ARE the ways.  How selfish.
Sit down and *think* for a minute. Can’t you just say to the other person, “Hey, I soothe my child by singing a lullaby and I think that is the best way — but that’s cool that the best way for you is to go for a car ride with the baby.”
We can all agree that both those ways are effective for those two people.  Is one more right than the other?  No.

Then there are those radical people who believe punching a baby is the best way to soothe it.  They persuade you through insults and intimidation over a sentence that, if you sat down and thought about for a millisecond, makes absolutely no sense.
Instead, you’ve been instilled with fear and your emotions are tugged from all the insults. “Okay, yeah, I guess punching babies is the way to go.”  There’s instant gratification from slugging this infant — heck yes, the baby is quiet! It has been soothed! — but that’s because you killed it.

So, you felt better for a second, right?  You punched it in the head, it shut up, and you’re happy, right? What you realize later is you actually killed the child.  You overreacted to a situation that if you would have sat down, opened your mind, and thought about how life works…how life is…would have been resolved by a lullaby or car ride.

Instead, you just made everything worse — for the baby (obviously), for the parents, for the relatives, for the funeral director, for the dude who has to dig the hole for it, for the officers who arrest you, for the tax payers…
…for yourself, and for the world.

Emotional responses will wreck us every time.  And as a society who is ever so craving “change” (which means, make things work for me and only me), we are easily influenced by emotion.

We are living in the instant gratification stage — the honeymoon stage — at this moment (for those who fell victim to emotion).
We are about to kill that baby.

Spread knowledge, logic, and love.
Spread REALITY.

EDIT:  I apologize for the dramatic examples used (punching babies and drowning children ain’t very Christmas-like, I understand).  Sometimes, you need to *really* exaggerate and simplify things to grasp an awareness.