Reactions: The Humor, Politics, Science and Theology of the Matter
Memes
Three hours into homeschooling and 1 is suspended for skipping class and the other one has already been expelled.
Homeschool is going well. Two students suspended for fighting and one teacher fired for drinking on the job.
Parents who tell teachers how to do their jobs, this is your moment to shine.
What if they close the grocery stores and we have to hunt for our food? I don’t even know where Doritos live!
Relax, the odds of you getting the virus are lower than two Baptists recognizing each other at the liquor store.
Trump haters, please do NOT accept the $1000 he is talking about distributing. Remember, he is not your president.
Many parents are about to find out the teacher was not the problem.
Sometimes all you got is beans and rice and Jesus Christ.
Someone made a life-changing decision in the beer aisle (Pic of TP left in beer aisle).
CDC: To avoid the virus stay at home, avoid physical contact and don’t go into large crowds.
Introverts: I’ve been preparing for this my whole life!
And just like that, spanking and prayer is back in school.
I don’t care what your teacher said, you’re going to carry the 1!
If you see my kids locked outside today, mind your business! We’re having a fire drill.
Memes are everywhere! Most of my feed has humorous parents sharing teacher/parent memes as you can see. And, so many tell a story. And, posting them tells a story about human beings and the emotions they have and need to express.
Memes are an expression of humor and can carry profound messages. And, humor is just as normal a response for some people as crying and sadness is. Ask my kindergarten through middle school self about this and you’d find I laughed hysterically in the worst of times–while being paddled by a school administrator or teacher!
Expressing humor–a God-given emotion–doesn’t mean a person isn’t sad, or serious, or insensitive to another. Rather, it is a person expressing their observation about human response. The memes shaming people hoarding toilet paper say less about the individual hoarder as it does about humanity’s response in general. Yes, the meme is a public shaming of this behavior. There is a real anger at a person who buys enough toilet paper to fill their front seat, back seat, third row seat and trunk from floor to ceiling leaving no supplies for the next customer. The postee may also be posting out of their own fear for their elderly grandparent’s sake. (My boys worry about their elderly grandparent even as it’s not yet occurred to her she is the elderly.)
Humor binds people together. It points out the obvious of what folks are thinking but struggle to express–then the meme comes along and succinctly expresses it. Humor points out the absurdities of circumstances and human response.
God made humor; and God called it “good.”
While I don’t appreciate memes that are hurtful, in general most seek to make a simple point that we can all identify with, laugh about, and share with a friend. While we’re social distancing we still have a connection with each other through our expressions in memes. We picture our friends laughing at the thing we’d find we commonly laugh about.
Politics (The part, no matter how written, will give fodder to folks to react to)
Some of the political memes out there are absolutely hilarious. I laugh along with those who post. No matter the party, there are just those that reflect some part of truth and make us laugh.
Political memes that seek to divide at this time are quickly skipped over on my timeline. What I’ve seen that bothers me fit into the category of mean-spirited and divisive, or simply seek to capitalize on this situation to advance one party’s political platform. This blogger doesn’t believe it’s the time to do this. There are things Americans can unite around; and there should be social norms we adhere to as we recognize a need to come together and find where we can be a part of the solution in the crisis.
Is there room to unite nowadays? Can we do that? Is it OK to lay aside vitriol for a bit?
Should we disengage in political spats? No. But, we shouldn’t go so far as to politicize crises.
I have two friends (only two, I’m private when it comes to this) that I share my own politics with–both funny and opposing viewpoints. We do it privately. And, they still love me regardless of our disagreements over policy. We’ll still be friends no matter who is elected next, or next after that. We hit each other hard. We sometimes go too far–even for close friends. But, we won’t politicize a crisis. We poke holes in each other’s ideas. We send each other memes of our own making. But, we won’t politicize a crisis. To do so would be somewhat hateful and self-centered considering the enormity of this crisis.
One post I did read sought to juxtapose Trump’s recent response to a reporter (shaming the reporter and being mean-spirited) with the quotes of presidents past–all the way back to George Washington. All other cherry-picked presidential quotes were very honorable in the face of crises.
What the postee failed to point out was George Washington wasn’t faced with a 24-hour news cycle, reporters who have stated their objectivity is no longer part of their job; rather, tearing down this president is, and such a wide-reaching global response to consider. There was no social media that made everything–ALL THINGS–immediate. All things immediately rest upon our modern presidents (Dems and Pubs); they did not in the past.
And, we all have the ability now to immediately post our reactions to every chink in any politician’s armor we can find–and seek to find, and viciously seek to find. We don’t pause; we react. We post. We fail to reflect upon our writings–we just post.
Hunting has turned from a provisional method of feeding a family in our past to a sort of finding the chink in the leader’s armor today. Find the chink and tear them down.
Is there any time, any crisis, in which the hunting can stop? Just until we get through it?
Regardless, the point that Trump could have used the reporter’s question as an opportunity to address the Nation rather than lower himself to degrading the reporter stands. And, while the comparisons with other presidents’ quotes, I believe are not fair, I concur with the idea that his response was mean. But, I don’t concur with using it as a means to divide right now.
We were once thrilled with Bill Clinton’s sax playing on the Arsenio Hall show, and we couldn’t hardly contain our excitement when Barak Obama used his Blackberry (just like us!), and FDR’s Fireside Chats brought a personal touch as Americans simply heard a president chat with them.
Now, we have a president who tweets. Sometimes to counter what he believes is slanted reporting; sometimes to take jabs at people who are just doing their jobs. While this is the case, and his mean-spiritedness is completely on public display, we shouldn’t be so naive as to think the mean-spiritedness doesn’t exist in any political party–some folks are just more smooth in their attacks on the opposition. And, some folks veil their mean-spiritedness in actual legislation. Like most veils, Americans can see through this coming from any political side.
No matter the case, we shouldn’t politicize crises. And, that goes for me all the way to the president and all in between. I just can’t see it being good for a Nation.
Go ahead, find the chink; tear your opponent apart–regardless of the side you take. But, can we pause and not politicize during a crisis such as has never been seen in our modern times?
Science, Theology and Our Panic Response
My faith is Christian. My educational background is biology (aka “evolution” at the university I attended). It is interesting to me that the two intersect and claim the same reason for our panic response, our hoarding response (which hurts the elderly and the poor): Selfishness.
Selfish genetics.
The “selfish nature of man.”
I argued against my biology professor in Evolution class when he stated “there is not one example of authentic altruism in nature. All species seek to advance themselves and their progeny. Even in the instance where it looks altruistic, the action of a species requires the species get something out of it. The evolutionary drive, built-in, is to pass on its genes.”
I didn’t want to believe there is no case of authentic altruism in nature.
I heard arguments against my theology teachers in seminary that “people are born good” but learn selfishness through their contact with others. (In the educational world, John Dewey hijacked this theological principal and applied it to students.)
I didn’t want to believe people are born with the nature of self.
What drives us to “get ours” before its gone? What takes us to that place where we make a conscious decision to buy a store out of its supplies knowing others won’t be able to fulfill their basic needs? Do we think about the second and third order effects of our decision? Do we realize when we buy out the supplies and hoard, others who wouldn’t do so are forced to join in to this mentality simply to get the basics they need?
The more I look at history, and having raised two children and seen the “terrible twos,” and having worked with teens for over 30 years and seen this is a time in life where we, as a species, turn inward and repeat the terrible twos to some extent, and having seen adults in crisis situation fight over supplies, I am inclined to believe the scientist and the theology professor.
So, what then can we do?
A Response
I have already witnessed the response of those who press the inclination toward “self” aside and rise above their instincts–whether the instinct be natural or supernatural (you choose). We can find the right response in our nurses and doctors caring for infected people and treating them because they are fellow human beings. We find it in our first responders who remain in harm’s way each day to ensure the public remains safe during times of quarantines. We find it in our educators working tirelessly and with dedication to ensure our kids get an education regardless of where they are learning. We find it in our custodians left in our closed schools to deep clean and disinfect. We find it in our warehouse workers and grocery store stockers. We find it in our truckers.
I am an educator in part of my life. I see people rise above “self” every day. Before I left school on Friday, a parent came in to pick up their child’s “remote learning packet.” He told us right now would be the best time in history for teachers to ask for a raise. Even as he was about to take on a large part of the burden of educating his own children, he acknowledged our hard work and dedication. This is the appropriate response. No panic. No self. Just a simple compliment and kind word to let us know we are appreciated.
I saw a response to the news that high-stakes state testing would be “paused.” The response said, “Paused? Why not forever?”
Wouldn’t it be amazing if one result of this crisis is that school become school again. School where high stakes weren’t placed on our kids. Where a person’s growth meant more than a person’s achievement (and we realized “growth” leads people to “achieve”). Where high stakes weren’t placed on our teachers and they were simply able to focus on the love of learning. Where “accountability” didn’t become so punitive and oppressive. And I write this as one who holds myself to the highest standards of achievement and accountability. I think the profession, as folks are now finding out–or soon will, does this as a whole. What if the respect for this noble profession came back and nasty social media posts about our dedicated professionals simply disappeared? What if school became like that again?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if one result of this crisis is that we become a more proactive and reflective people again? What if we didn’t use that technology in our hand to immediately voice our every moment of anger and disappointment at our leaders, our families, our teachers, our politicians, our bosses? What if we chose to read more and post less? What if we pondered Scripture? What if we applied it to our lives? What if we wrote blogs and shared our deeper thoughts? What if we gave up on drive-by, bumper sticker theology and politics and had a deeper discourse?
In this crisis where it seems our elders are hit the hardest, what if we were becoming wiser and a “wisdom loss” doesn’t happen as we lose them?
What if, cooped up in our homes, we began to appreciate simple things? Like the scent of a fresh baked loaf of bread? An hour spent playing a board game with our kids? An hour spent lost in a novel? An hour spent creating music, art, daydreams? An hour spent in a spouse’s arms? What if our ghost town created a slow down that benefited all of us? What if our every.single.hour wasn’t filled with errands, Sunday soccer and football and volleyball and play practice, piano lessons, vacation planning, oil changes, (and the lists go on)?
What if a “day of rest” made a comeback? And, we realized–whether religious, or not–it is good for us.
What if we began to visit more? What if we began to pray together? Talk at dinner?
What if carpal tunnel syndrome simply went away as we put down the devices and stopped the scrolling?
I look out my window this morning and nothing appears to be different. Yet, I notice something I hadn’t before. A steeple. I see two restaurants, a laundromat, a car goes by on a road near me. But, far off in the distance, tucked behind houses and condos a steeple sticks up reaching toward the sky.
The steeple was once a symbol that people looked for in times of crisis. When people looked for answers they looked for a steeple. That church is now closed. How will I be the church for people looking for answers? There’s a great question (and current meme) to ponder and act upon.
What will I do in this shutdown?
I’ll enjoy the company of my wife I see too little. I will restring my neglected guitars and create something worthwhile. I’ll enjoy the “simple note of a six string” as one of my son’s songs proclaims. I’ll pray for the parents now in a position of “teacher.” I’ll pray for my political leaders no matter their brand. I want them to lead with wisdom no matter their label. I’ll send funny messages to my two friends. I’ll spend my days trying to continue a school full of kids’ education from their own homes. I will offer this blog and “put myself out there” as they say. I’ll wait on the Army’s call. I’ll fix my two vehicles. I’ll listen to Don Williams smooth voice and great songs. I’ll read Scripture and the genetics book on my coffee table and marvel at how both books have intersecting ideas. I’ll do my taxes.
I’ll, hopefully, encourage someone reading this. I’ll enjoy a Sunday of writing, as I did today. I will grow when I look back on this post in ten years and wonder how I could have written that.
That is the best I can do.
What will you do during this crisis?
I look out my window this morning and nothing appears to be different. I hear birds singing through the glass, a sign that spring is here and we will soon see flowers blooming, leaves appearing, and sprigs of grass poking their way up through the soil, hardened and packed down by the weight of the…
Thoughts on Corona Virus
I look out my window this morning and nothing appears to be different. I hear birds singing through the glass, a sign that spring is here and we will soon see flowers blooming, leaves appearing, and sprigs of grass poking their way up through the soil, hardened and packed down by the weight of the winter snow. The sun is rising, and a spring snow is gently releasing a few flakes from the partly cloudy, partly sunny Colorado sky.
Yet, things are different. We’re learning the terms “flatten the curve” and “social distancing.” People across the world are hunkered down in their homes wondering what is next. What will be closed? Are curfews coming? How many deaths will this virus bring? Is this real? Have I been exposed? Is the media telling us the truth? Will there be a shipment of food and supplies today at the store? Are the “conspiracy theorists” right? Is this some sort of test run to see how much control a government can exert over its people (if so, it was surprisingly easy). Or, is our government just trying its best to keep us safe (if so, I’m proud of the efforts)? Is my grandmother OK? Are curbside margaritas for real?
We’re all over the place in our thoughts. In our questions.
Facebook, it seems, has all the answers.
All of sudden, many people posting have a friend who is a doctor, a specialist at a school where viral research is conducted. The specialist has reached out to them to let them know the real facts. They post in hopes of sharing this knowledge with their friends.
Others post memes–funny memes–memes that speak to the social phenomena we’re witnessing. Hoarding toilet paper. Panic buying. Teacher/parent memes, newly appointed homeschool parents, and toilet paper make up a bulk of the memes on my social media feed.
I try a posting, or two, of my own.
Appreciative postings thanking custodians, teachers, grocery store workers, warehouse workers, and first responders proliferate–as they should. I hope some clever memes thanking parents are soon to come–they’re about to take on the enormous task of partnering in the educating of their children.
Other posts seek to politicize the situation. They seek to take advantage of a people in crisis and drive home their hatred of the current president, or cast blame and hate on past presidents. Mostly, they are posting into an echo chamber–except for the one soul who dares offer a different perspective–only to be quickly hit with derogatory responses of the like-minded supporters of the original postee. Then, the naive (or brave) realizes they weren’t looking for civil discourse to begin with.
The news continues to broadcast minute by minute updates. Only history will tell us if this was helpful or harmful. This blogger is nostalgic about the 6 o’clock news–once a day. Local sources in towns across America are earnestly helping their community; I don’t have such confidence in the larger mainstream media. Certainly, some sources are merely trying to get the best information out there as quickly as possible; others peddle fear and confusion as reports conflict and each network tries to be first to report–not much different than the pre-virus times.
The questions at our house are similar. We haven’t had time to search for toilet paper. We’ve been busy turning a school system in to a remote learning academy. We’re figuring out how we will move our son back home from Iowa as his college closes and he finds himself without a place to live. We’re speaking with the Army every couple days to decide if and when I will be called to duty. (The Army is more understanding than many might think and has been gracious with this school administrator allowing me to stay put so far and help with this flip to remote learning.) We’ve setup a home office to work from as I lead a school the best I can. And, we’re planning a spring break–a Godsend–to repair two broken down vehicles, a move of our stuff in temporary storage (from selling our home last fall) to a rented storage unit, and the move of Cade back home–to our one room apartment!
In other words, we’re doing what everyone is–trying to figure out how to manage within the restrictions and circumstances placed upon us by this situation.
So, what can I say about this situation we find ourselves in across America, across the globe?