American Thinker, March 2, 2011
One of the reasons I drifted so far left was because of a constant sense of outrage. It was like a steady drumbeat in my head: Capitalism? Patently unfair! Unequal pay for women? Outrageous!
Of course, out here in Berkeley, I was in good company, surrounded by the multitudes up in arms most hours of the day. There’s even a popular bumper sticker around town that captures the general vibe: If You’re Not Outraged, You’re Not Paying Attention.
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KR,
My point was that they aren’t going to get the proper lessons in properly shaping their self images from the schools, unless they are Christian schools.
This is why it’s so important for parents to be in charge of their children’s lives, and not the godless schools. They get taught a warped view of what love means.
Having a liberal daughter and a conservative son, I can certainly see the difference. I can disagree with my son without doing battle. Unfortunately, every conversation with my daughter these days evolves into an argument. She can’t be reasoned with because she has glommed onto one issue or another that she’s picked up from some far-left website urging her to share the outrage. I check these websites often to remain abreast of her newest “cause du jour”. The more I try to express my point, the louder she screams hers. She uses phrases like “why are you so angry, mom?” or “there ya go again, mom”. It’s not me raising my voice in anger nor am I the one bringing up the latest political rhetoric, but somehow I end up being the sole purveyor of dissent and disharmony. She then cries on her husbands shoulder, and he tells her she’s just going to have to realize and accept that her mother doesn’t understand her at all. Causing a row with me often seems to be the idea behind the phone call in the first place. She grew up in a Conservative household with Conservative values and was a committed Christian and participated fully in church services and activities. Now she implies we forced her to do our will. If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny because forcing her to do anything would have been impossible. That is why we felt blessed that she adopted our traditions and philosophy so willingly. Then she went to college and met a hardcore Liberal whom she married. Looking back now we see the warning signs were there. Their moving out of state and away from her family was a real plus for him. Now he could feed her far left propaganda without her hearing the other side or having support from us. She is unhappy because she is denying who she is, but she strongly believes in keeping her marriage on track and will do what is necessary to do so even if it means rejecting her family. We pray everyday for her to find peace. Perhaps one day she will see the light as Robin has and we will get our wonderful daughter, whom we love from our deepest hearts, back into the fold and our conversations will once again be peaceful and not the dreaded events they have become these days. With that hope in mind, I am saving this article to share with her should she ever decide there might be another side to any issue.
Unfortunately, there is no peace in liberalism. Inner or otherwise.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6.
You’ve done your best, and God will do His. :^)
Sounds a little like what happened with my younger bro, though I think drinking the water in the Bay Area for several years was the real cause.
You’re completely correct, Robin. We can surmise that even the demons howl like banshees when things don’t go their way; their way being the destructive chaos that opposes God’s good and proper order. Like the narcissists, the demons also seek to break every law of Nature and of Nature’s God. It’s become apparent to me that they mean to do that by force of government. Yes, they really do hate a godly America, don’t they? They always have, but they came like a thief in the night. I say: let ‘em squeal, and make straight His path.
I commend you and posters herein for their wonderful awareness. They were a delight to read.
I am outraged by the false compassion. Clinton ignored the Rwanda genocide as Obama is now ignoring the Libyan situation. Yet they are so compassionate and care so much about human rights, but apparently, as you say, only when it is politically expedient. Loved their plan for integration: housing in projects, welfare & food stamps, managing to pay them to be segregated, separate & apart, creating a whole society based on entitlement. But they voted left, so I guess the left got what they wanted. Everything the left does is so hypocritical.
Robin, I am sitting here shaking my head, but in total agreement, with your assessment. You’ve captured and crystalized the image of the left’s hypocrisy as if in a photograph.
We come to a point where it is so overwhelmingly awful, so obscene, that it is difficult to keep struggling against it. It’s exhausting! If I did not know God and His Word and have the reassurance that He saw it all ahead of time, foretold it ahead of time, and is sovereign over all of it all the time, I would really hate this world!
KR,
I know how you feel; the sense of futility and being overwhelmed. But this is always the way it works, in all great battles, and that’s God’s test of your faith. Our adversaries don’t have the intestinal fortitude and foundation we have, and if it makes you feel any better, many of them think we’re winning!
I was at a gathering of them last Saturday – as part of my undercover work – and after a round of praising Obama and saying, “Aren’t you glad he’s there for us?” “Oh, yeah… definitely…”, a good number of them lamented, “We’re being inundated with Christian evangelicals!” This is Virginia, not California. It’s tougher for you out west, I’m sure.
We need to show the same pluck and valor that the heroes of Bastogne, France, showed over Christmas, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. American forces were outnumbered, low on ammo, hungry, cold, and surrounded. The Nazis ordered Gen. McAuliffe to surrender. His one-word answer: “Nuts!” Thus may one attain immortality!
River, thanks for the “chin up” encouragement! I heartily agree.
The left’s antics have become so preposterous that I sometimes am just aghast at it all, something like a weary parent standing over a temper tantrum-throwing toddler. Do I arrest this behavior? How would I do that? Do I hope it will fizzle itself out, just out of sheer exhaustion on its own part?
No. I know that’s not right. We are to occupy until He comes. To be salt and light in a dark and infected world. Salt is a preservative, a cleanser, a seasoning. Light illuminates the infection and disinfects. We’re not God, but we are His servants, and while we may not always be successful in our endeavor to stem the flow of the tide of evil, we are not called to be successful, we are called to be faithful.
“As I’ve written many times before, the left considers the abuse of women collateral damage in their revolutionary battles.”
As a matter of fact, sixties leftists used rape as a way to terrorize women they regarded as “class enemies”. It would be instructive to tally such incidents…then spray-paint the accounts on the facades of our favorite “progressive” institutions. (Although this would, of course, leave very few university buildings unblemished.)
Yes, very true. And it still is happening today, as countless females have been raped as part of gang initiation rites — something else that is never discussed.
And something of which I’VE never HEARD.
As you commented earlier about the reporter whose gang rape Obama steadfastly ignored.
Sadly, tragically, all too many remain completely blind to all this.
“I now think that morals and right and wrong should be taught in the school, not self esteem.” Robin
If one wants to like themselves – improve their self-esteem – become a good person. Pursue wisdom, righteousness, truth and goodness. Plato and Aristotle knew this. Jesus showed the Way.
Well said, Robin.
Leftists are notorious for selective indignation, and for blatant inconsistencies. And the mainstream media is almost as clueless about the way millions perceive it and why circulation figures and viewerwhip continue to plummet, as it is regarding how to report fairly and objectively.
TEA PARTY COVERAGE: Bend over backwards to portray protesters as bigots, yahoos, racists, extremists. Show each and every vulgar, obscene or racist picket (there really weren’t many) and pretend those are representative of the entire crowd. Hysterically fret over the possibility of another Timothy McVeigh. Report far and wide unsubstantiated rumors about Tea Party members using the “N” word and spitting on black members of Congress. (But somehow, no video is anywhere to be found.)
WISCONSIN UNIONISTS/MILITANTS COVERAGE: Under-report or ignore the many obscene and outrageous pickets, such as those comparing Gov. Scott Walker to Hitler or Mubarak, and those using the “F” word or showing Walker’s face superimposed on human buttocks. Downplay or ignore the way the militants are trashing the beautiful Wisconsin State House. Fail to get enraged about the doctors abusing their authority by writing phony “sick” excuses for teachers. Don’t get indignant about teachers denying children important classroom learning time so they can fulfill their selfish desires. Do a miserable job conveying the fiscal realities: While many people in the private sector are unemployed or working for low wages with no benefits, these crybabies are whining about having to pay a little for their own health insurance and pensions. And you’d think collective bargaining was equivalent to the air that they breathe. EARTH to LEFTY MILITANTS: Collective bargaining for public employees is NOT a constitutional right, and you folks are living in delusional a fantasy world.
Keep up the good work, Robin.
Well said, Hosquatch. Evil is emerging everywhere and coming out of hiding because it believes this is its moment of victory. God is allowing all of this to happen now to fulfill His glory.
This is indeed our Bastogne, and like the great Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, we’ll say “Nuts!” to them when they tell us to give up.
I would only add that this is the greatest opportunity of our lifetime to sign on with God and assist in the most worthy of all possible endeavors. Our reward will be great. We should celebrate every day. As Churchill said, “When the dark comes down, the stars shine.”
Liberalism is fundamentally based upon covetousness. Liberals look out and see those that have worked for what they have and covet it. Someone else should pay for their education, their health care, their retirement as well as subsidies for food and housing. Liberalism is a violation of the 10th commandment. It is also idolatry, their god is the state.
I always wondered what the big push for removing the Ten Commandments was about, now it is becoming clearer. It’s hard to convince people that their outrage and greed are reason enough to enable the Government to steal from others, when the Ten Commandments are right there reminding you that you know right from wrong.
Everything about the ‘outraged’ left is based on a narcissistic love of self. No one is as important as they are. Our children are conditioned at public schools that if their parents say no, or are not meeting every desire it is some kind of neglect or abuse.
Feminism, environmentalism, or any other ‘ism’ the left flocks to has little to do with the cause, and more to do with making themselves feel important and worthwhile. While people of faith know that being a worthwhile person has much less to do with ‘feelings’ and far more to do with right action and belief. No person of morals, and I don’t just me the religious kind, would be able to continue to lie about what the muslim world means for ALL women, after what happened to Lara in a very public setting. That would mean that all of the ‘feel good’ fellowship they have spouted about Islam is false, and they were wrong.
As a therapist, Robyn has intimate knowledge of the human ability to live in denial through almost unbearable pain rather than deal with the hurt pride of being wrong.
Yes, absolutely! Narcissism is at the core. There’s a great book by an author who appears conservative to me. It’s called, The Narcissistic Epidemic. California got a huge dose of this with the Self Esteem Training. The kids sang songs about how special they are. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but it has only resulted in more self-centered kids. The book also disputes that criminals, especially youth, have low self esteem. Studies show that teen criminals have an elevated sense of entitlement! I now think that morals and right and wrong should be taught in the school, not self esteem.
I was always under the impression that Self-Esteem meant having a good understanding and love of ones’ self. I think people are mislabeling self-esteem. It should be called self-absorption. I thought that self-esteem was a good thing. I didn’t have good self-esteem when I was young but eventually acquired it through prayer and trying to understand the hurt and pain and being healed of the problems. I’m wondering if the people who now are labeled having self-esteem but who are gangs, etc. don’t really have that true love for themselves that come from significant others and God loving them as they were growing up and acquiring a good foundation of understanding self. I guess I will have to change the meaning of the word what self-esteem has always meant to me.
“I think people are mislabeling self-esteem. It should be called self-absorption.”
You’re so right about that. From what I’ve heard about the public schools over the past many years now is that children are being taught not what real self esteem means, which has to do with having integrity, but instead they’re learning things like don’t allow anyone to offend you. Being offended especially by the truth when it’s spoken equals hate nowadays, and claims of abuse.
It’s the exact opposite of what God teaches us about how to love. If you love someone, you risk hurting their feelings in order to tell them the truth. Too bad we have removed teaching from the Bible in schools and that it is seen as such a horrible thing to do. And then we all wonder why the younger generations just seem to be getting worse and worse. I don’t blame the children, and it’s overwhelmingly sad to see and to think about. And then they grow up to become Liberals.. and unless God intervenes we have a lot of problem adults!
I’m glad Robin’s one of the souls He’s redeemed! He did the same for me too, though I was a youngster yet.
Great post, LaptopMom, looks like He’s done the same for you, too.
Rather than emphasizing a child’s self-esteem, how about helping to properly shape his self-image? They are different things.
According to Genesis, we were created in the image of God. We have a proper self-image when we understand Who He is and who we are in relationship to Him. He is God. We are not.
When we get that much down, we can begin to also understand that He loves us and that He accepts us as His own, not on our terms–but on HIS. When we agree with Him and confess that we are sinners in need of grace, He faithful and just to forgive. Our relationship with Him is based on that. When we understand that we are sinners in need of a merciful God, it behooves us to view others in that same light and to not think so highly of ourselves.
Our self-image is that of one of God’s children, whom He loves, whom He chastens, corrects, forgives, blesses, and saves. We become grateful and desirous of sharing that love and forgiveness with others. Less self-focused, more others-focused.
The more that I think about, “self-esteem” is a secular concept that may keep a child away from God. It is based on the self, which doesn’t really exist apart from God. It seems like you are on to something, KR. We need to teach our kids to live in their Higher Self which is connected to the Divine, not their lower self, which is based on personal needs and temptations.
Isn’t narcissism really Satan’s sin and the -original- sin: wanting to BE God?
Rand’s ‘you ARE your own God’ at the same time asserted the value of individualism and the individual and adamantly opposed all forms of coercion.
And Rand steadfastly believed in absolute truth. Only, of course, it had to be HER truth (her way or the highway, as I discovered when I heard her being interviewed and taking calls on an L.A. clear channel A.M. station years ago).
Interesting how you can smile when someone you admire is wrong.
Doesn’t this self-centered, selective outrage on the part of the left reveal a certain lack of emotional development beyond the infantile? Because it sure looks like this double-standard mentality of theirs is pretty standard; it’s in their DNA. They strike me as people who never got beyond the stage of coveting the toys of an older sibling and getting mama to force sharing. And, not only did they not develop, but as “adults” they’ve gathered together to force all the round pegs they don’t like into square holes by the power of the ‘gummint’. They seem a little too comfortably disconnected from reality. Whenever a leftie, like Obama, opens his mouth and what comes out is embarrassingly out of sync with reality (i.e. the Gates-Cambridge affair, his lecturing of state governors for their unconscionable [sic] treatment of public employee unions, to name a couple of examples) it really begs the question: does he really believe what he’s saying? As Ann Coulter once asked, is the left evil or just stupid? For example, who did Bob Beckel think he was fooling during a discussion on one of the Fox News programs a while back where one of the guests pointed that Ronald Reagan, throughout his presidency, was the target of over-the-top, unrestrained ridicule? Perhaps Beckel thought he was the only person within earshot or watching the program to remember the Reagan era, because Beckel responded, “that is absolutely not true!” Really, Bob?
hadn’t quite thought of it that way but I do believe you are correct
Thanks for your insights…. This post reminded me of your “The Left and Their Good Victims.”
While leftists congratulate themselves on being enlightened, moral, generous and altruistic, they are in most cases exactly the opposite of these things. They live by a set of squishy, ill defined values, thrive on emotion rather than logic, exploit the misfortune or condition of others as the situation demands, and point the finger of accountability at anyone but themselves.
It is a classic case of arrested emotional development, a state of mind we are expected to outgrow as we add years, experience and wisdom to our lives. With no higher power other than themselves (a cafeteria style spiritual system doesn’t count), their egoism demands outrage as would a spoiled child feeling ignored.
Keep up the good work. I always look forward to your posts.
Exactly Robin it reminds me when I was a teenager and my dad had all us
kids join the Civil Air Patrol so we could fly with him and he would teach us
how to fly. My sister jumped into the front seat one Saturday and I had to
take a back seat which was fine as it was her turn but she did make a rather
big deal of it. Once in the air dad told her to take control of the plane but she
refused. He was taken aback and wanted to know what the problem was?
She said “nothing I just didn’t want him to fly the plane” once back on the
ground on the ride back home she was repeatedly scolded for her selfishness
and dad kept saying over and over “what if I’d had a heart attack and you
wouldn’t fly? We’d all be dead” and she still held to her position that at least
I wasn’t in charge of the flight. My sister is still a liberal today 40 years later.
I attribute much of it to just politics. The “evil” George Bush had non-stop war protests. Obama promised to close Gitmo and bring the troops home in a year. He has done neither of these and he has had months with some of the largest number of casualties in the war. You don’t hear a peep. Where’s Cindy Sheehan now?
We have a couple liberals at the office and I mentioned the Lara Logan story and neither had heard about it. When I showed them the story one was slightly shocked the other brushed it off especially when I mentioned how badly the Fox reporter and photog were beaten, she said they deserved it!
Well you should have mentioned that Anderson Cooper, a gay from some leftist tv station was smacked around as well and she probably would have wailed with compassion!
Thank you, Robin, for the clear delineation and insight. It’s hard for me to speak the words “stoned” and “genetically mutilated”. In a world of kindness, helpfulness and service–to all–please explain how there can even be on Planet Earth a Muslim religion. I have often wondered where the main stream Muslims are hiding.
I have the capacity and the will to see the larger picture, of love and help for all, which
brings up the conumdrum of inattention to Ft. Hood and the irresponsibility of our commanders—and ultimately the “chief”.
Of course, the Fourth Estate (the press) is 90% purposely absent. (I am keeping track, too, and the list is long.) Thank you for your clarity, your beautiful soul and
your help. My heart is with the goodness of the American people who have a chance to undo a terrible mistake, stay strong and see it through.
About the “chief” on the Ft. Hood slaughter, obama could barely speak about it. He had to first give a “shout out!” to an Indian chief first before telling the nation that a one of his muslim brothers, an Army major,, had just killed 11 American citizens. WTH!
As far as Muslims in the US, I am anxious to see what happens in Tennessee, a state that has the cajones to make illegal the Sharia law and it’s barbaric practices. And, I am curious as to how things will go with the church in Tennessee that has given muslims rights to come worhip in their Christian church. I’m all for loving my fellow man, but do we let in our front door, those who’s idiology says to convert or kill the infidel? Sometimes that is just plain stupid.
I’ve just come to the conclusion that liberals are elitist hypocrites. They want “equality for all”, but don’t touch MY money, property, etc… They are loyal to no one but themselves, and are morally bankrupt. I choose not to socialize with them, or have any contact with them. I’m so glad you found your way away from “the Dark Side” Robin, but you did that all on your own. Some suggest we need to “persuade” liberals towards our way of thinking. I’ve figured out that blind hatred from their side means that any logical discussion falls on deaf ears. They will just have to figure it out for themselves why fiscal and traditional values are the best. I hope they don’t destroy the country while doing it.
So true, Robin. I’ll never forget the day I realized that my Leftist/’progressive’ (now there’s an oxymoron; progressivism requires adolescent dependence) friends could never be happy. The Grievance Machine had to be fed constantly lest the masses lose their momentum toward a Utopia of endless entitlements and benefits. Anyone who was happy was thus automatically suspected of having counter-revolutionary tendencies, being a Pollyanna, and a tool of the International Capitalist Conspiracy.
Our outrage must always be directed toward the lies which – like counterfeit currency – deceive and corrupt us, drive out the truth, and destroy our health, prosperity, and well being. These lies masquerade as the virtues of charity, generosity, love, and compassion, i.e., “We’re doing it for the children.” But in the hands of crypto-Marxist-’progressives’, this always means taking from those who have, surrendering individual liberty, and creating an all-powerful government that eventually comes to own us.
“He who pays the piper calls the tune” – Anonymous.
The best argument the Soviet Union ever had was expressed years ago by Ambassador Gromyko: “We pay for their medical services, education, food, and housing. We employ them and give them pensions. We own them.”
Our rights and liberties are a zero sum resource. Each one we give up for security’s sake diminishes us, and we may never recover them.
I’m glad to see the greed and coveting pointed out because I don’t hear it very often. Lefties think I’m greedy to want what I’ve earned. I think it’s greedy to want what someone else has earned.
Hi Robin. Have thoroughly enjoyed your American Thinker posts for a long time. In particular, I appreciated your most recent expose of the nexus between “outrage” and greed on the Left. In fact, I just had exactly that debate with a longtime leftie friend last week where he continually insisted that he was not envious, just OUTRAGED!!!
Keep up the good work!
Hit the nail square on the head, Robin.
I used to run the front desk of the Veteran’s homeless shelter here in Boston. When walking home from work one day, I was once accosted by two bright young college students, who were soliciting donations for…the homeless.
They would not go away; they would not leave me alone. When I pointed out for them my ID stating “Supervisor of Operations,” clearly working with the homeless, they became ever more relentless. How “heartless” I was that I wouldn’t donate money for their cause – as if I had no sympathy and no understanding. What was WRONG with me?!
In their mind, I was required to donate my hard-earned money (and you aren’t well-paid in the Social Services) because I simply had to “understand.” Failing to do so made me a horrible person in their minds – and they said as much.
God spare us all from the mock outrage for the cause-du-jour.
Robin, your observations on the selective and faux outrage of the Left are spot on. To “those with eyes to see and ears to hear”, there is no doubt that what you are saying is true.
I believe we are at a “cusp” in the cosmic battle of GOOD versus EVIL at this very moment in history. The armies of EVIL – communism, unionism, feminism, islamism, Sorosism – are all joining forces for their “Battle of the Bulge.” It is as if they have detected a moment of great weakness in this country and the world at large, and they are pushing the conflict with urgency, from the Muslim countries of the Middle East to Madison, Wisconsin, in the midwest. I believe that the key to this unbottling of EVIL was the ascendance of the undocumented entity presently known as Barack Obama to the most powerful position in the world: America is no longer a restraining force against EVIL and, in fact, its leaders have become promoters of EVIL in the world. The Islamophilia, racism, and”social justice/open borders” agenda of the “American” administration have stoked the hellfires of EVIL and the whole world is burning as a result.
We have reached the state prophesied by Isaiah : “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ) Those of us who side with GOOD must take a stand, with the help of the God of Abraham and Moses, and turn back the forces of EVIL. This moment in history must become our Bastogne!
Perfect diagnosis, Robin. The left is excellent at taking something minor in the scheme of things and making it into a huge distraction. Just like a magician manipulating the audience to watch his right hand while his left one is doing something “magic,” the left gets the country all riled up about meaningless things while they are tearing the foundation of the country apart. So glad you escaped.