Tribalism

Pretty funny argument going on in my comboxes.

Y’see I’m always hearing sobs of pain from readers whose hearts are open bleeding sores of pity for torture defenders. I’m just so *mean*, doncha know, when I use blunt or flippant language to describe the ideas of people who dissent from the Church’s plain teaching about war crimes as being in dissent about the Church’s plain teaching on war crimes. People come from out of the woodwork to *beg* for something called “charity” toward those offering excuses, evasions, sophistries, lies and doubletalk in defense of war crimes, etc.

Meanwhile down in my comboxes, people are offering thoughtful substantive critiques of non-tribe members such as this:

[Michelle] Obama looks like a man with a wig.

I have always thought that The First Lady looks like she is sucking on a lemon.

I always think she resembles a Klingon myself…but that works just as well.

One reader (who, believe me, holds no brief for the Obama Administration’s policies) nails this “junior high BS” for what it is. The rest of the readers who have been weeping and tearing their hair about the colossal tragedy of “lack of charity” when it comes to torture defenders are strangely stone silent when the lack of charity is directed at somebody outside the tribe. Golly, I wonder why? Surely, it couldn’t be that their political biases make them hypersensitive to criticism of and blind to the excesses of tribal members, could it?

Is any of this adolescent cattiness really worthy of a disciple of Christ? Criticize Obama’s policies all you please. God knows they deserve it. But moronic backchat about his wife’s looks just makes the Church and the prolife movement look stupid, vicious, and petty.