The Intangible Recognition of That Which Is

"No need for apologizin'
Just time for recognizin
that that what is ain' how its got to be."

Suppose,in addition to teaching children not lie, we also taught them to neither believe, nor tolerate lies. Suppose instead of teaching that there are two sides to every story, we taught kids that the only side that matters is the side that is true.

Perhaps it started with the old patent medicine shows--a lie to sell a product was not a lie, it was simply "marketing." Then mass communication moved lying from shooting a flint lock rifle to shooting an AK-47. Politics in the world of mass communication began to raise lying to an art form. Computers brought that art down to being within the reach of the masses.

Consider the possibilities. I can hit "send" and lie to more people before breakfast than my grand parents could have lied to in a week of steady, dedicated, industrious lying.

All of that marketing, mass communications, politics and technology has reached a zenith in the effort to restore horse slaughter to America. It is not that individuals that support horse slaughter are necessarily evil. The bigger problem is that so many are so gullible. They drink the line of those who would cover the concrete floors with horse blood with the zeal of a cocaine addict taking in his line of truth.

Ignorance plus misinformation does not equal knowledge. Many that oppose horse slaughter get sucked into believing that they carry the burden to explain why horses should be privileged among other livestock.

No such burden exists. It does not matter if one cannot articulate a distinction that is acceptable to those that would drip blood. We are human and all that which makes us human demands that we recognize the rightness of that which is right. We need not always understand righteousness. We need not explain righteousness. We certainly do not have to apologize for believing in righteousness. We need only to recognize righteousness and act righteously. Nothing more can be demanded of us and nothing less can be expected of us.

We live in a filthy, wicked, lying age. That does not mean that we have to like it. It most certainly does not mean that we have to pretend that it is otherwise.

I do not believe that I need to go out and live a pure life in a cave somewhere. I just believe that it is wrong for me to smile weakly and say, "Well I guess you have a point."