Attrition: (n) the process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.
“It was a joke.”
Those four words have become the byline and mantra of a whole generation which feels that humor is best expressed in extremes, attacks and bursts of profanity.
I’m not a prude–at least by my standards.
Maybe in a world of “anything goes,” I might be considered one of the first things that needs to go, but I do become concerned that truly valuable experiences, beliefs and hopes are being starved out from the banquet table of daily consumption.
There are three that come to mind. Basically, these three have been so jilted, jarred and jolted by coarse humor and ridicule that now, to be a proponent of their cause makes you appear old-fashioned or anti-“something or other” that everyone else seems to be pro.
- Courtesy.
It’s just a gentle awareness that we share a planet with other creatures instead of staring down at our favorite apparatus as we zoom through the marketplace in oblivion.
I like courtesy. I like that brief moment when a thank you, you’re welcome, excuse me, would you be so kind, or may I ask you? causes us to make eye contact with another human being.
- Debate based on history and facts instead of screaming and emotional intimidation.
I would just love to know if something we contend is right could actually survive the scrutiny of the historical perspective, or a scouring shower in real facts. Please don’t tell me I’m conservative or I’m liberal just because I’m curious to find the truth about something you’ve already decided is too hip to deny.
- Faith.
I’m not talking about religion. But when you throw out all belief systems and insist that science is your god, you remove the majesty which causes us to be aware of something beyond our own whim and opinion.
Faith is the odyssey one takes in trying to understand why we are the way we are and how perhaps we can do it better.
Yes, I believe that if it requires a God in the heavens to make us more conscientious about our dealings on Earth, then long may He or She reign.
These three things are being sucked from life by coarse jesting and vicious attacks.
They are experiencing attrition.
There are many parts of our society which could afford to be suffocated, but I’m not so sure we can do without courtesy, actual searching for truth and some relevant faith.
Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) — J.R. Practix
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Words from Dic(tionary) 