BLOG FEVER - MAYBE AN ENEMA IS THE CURE

It seems that "blog fever" has hit the small town of roughly 13,000 in which I reside. Of course blogging has been around for years; just ask any jr high or high schooler. On one hand it's great to see people in this ass-end edge-of-nowhere town finally venture into the computerized 21st century. On the other hand, again just ask any jr high or high schooler what occurs when people are allowed free reign under the protective mask of anonymity to regurgitate their verbal spewage. (Can you say "chat room"?)

One blog in particular seems to be composed by a fairly articulate, educated individual. Odds have it that he/she didn't grow up here and has no ancestral ties here, but one never knows. The blogger, being somewhat careful to give the appearance of objectivity in their statements, comments on events and media reports within Morris and Grungy County with a skeptical eye, which is what any good critical thinker should do. The sentence structure and content seem to be fairly well thought out and include links to support the comments. I find this blog informative.
http://skepticalmorris.blogspot.com/

Then we have a little ditty called Sledgehammer Morris, which seems to have been created as an attack against the politico "powers-that-be" and their alleged underhanded, corrupt "Chicago-style" nepotism. This blog doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is; an unashamed and bold expose', demolishing the antics of "the enemy". The writer definitely has a witty, sarcastic bent, which I find entertaining although I may not always agree with his methods or opinions. Actually, it's not that I disagree...I just don't really give a rats ass about the political in-fighting between individuals who in their younger days all went to the same high school, drank in the same bars and married each others' sisters, brothers, cousins, etc... I find this blog amusing.
http://sledgehammermorris.blogspot.com/search?q=

Then we have the creme de la creme called "Positive Morris". I'll let this one speak for itself:
"This blog is about promoting Morris schools, businesses, churches and traditional family values.People are sick and tired of all the negative news reports of scandal, murder, disease, death and War. We can not read a newspaper or watch a newscast without this kind of negative reporting. Morris is a good Christian community, but gossip and rumor run rampant, this is contrary to our Christian teachings. Let’s turn the corner and put a stop to it by participating in this little community blog."

I won't even get into the potential first amendment (as per the Establishment Clause which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" together with the Free Exercise Clause, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof) violations of this blogger's claims of Morris being a "good Christian community".

In light of this blogger's claims, one has to wonder that if this is indeed a "good Christian community", then why do "gossip and rumor" run rampant? The blogger seems to think that it is the responsibility of the local politicians to keep our city within the moral confines of the blogger's "Christian" worldview. But is it their responsibility at all? And if Morris has failed in it's maintaining of "Christian teachings", is it possible that the church leaders have failed in instilling that in the community? And is it even THEIR job to do that in the first place?

The tone of the blog at first seemed to be one of "promoting" Morris, but when one looks deeper, it unabashedly appears to be promoting another agenda...it's own. The tone of the blog in recent days has taken on a sort of "superhero" mentality, being the promoter of "good christian values in Morris", more powerful (in his/her own estimation) than a locomotive and able to leap over perceived degenerates and anyone else he/she doesn't morally agree with, with a single bound. I find this blog to be self-serving and hypocritical.
http://www.positivemorris.blogspot.com/

This particular blogger wants to keep Morris a "good Christian community", akin to Mayberry, I would assume. But I question the premise that Morris ever WAS a "good Christian community" to begin with. Sure, we have a church on every corner...as well as bars. In fact, We have more bars per capita than any other city I have lived in, legitimate businesses I might add. Drive through downtown Morris any given night and you'll see a completely different world than the empty streets you see during the day. You could shoot a canon down Liberty street on any Saturday and not hit one vehicle. But come 9pm, it's loaded with cars. Guess where those car owners are?

And I highly doubt this is a recent occurance. I have heard stories from those now in their 30's, 40's and 50's about something called "busting a gut" in which they, teens and 20 somethings at the time, would drive up and down Liberty street apparently because that was the only entertainment available in a small town. I've heard stories of drug use, bar brawls, fights, teenage pregnancy, scandal, back "in the day"...and the list goes on and on.

It appears to me that Morris is experiencing a phenomena called "parallel universes". I'll save the intricate details of this metaphysical-like, quantum physics theory for another discussion, but in the very basic sense, it describes the concept that various dimensions or "realities" exist simultaneously.

Within one dimension, we have those who dwell in the idealized, Rockwellian Morris; a picture-perfect "traditional family values" glass bubble in which no evil influences may penetrate. They tend to come out only during the day and you will never find them in the "other" downtown Morris after 7pm, although they have been observed at some of the local restaurants on Sunday mornings after church, in the non-smoking section only. This Morris, in their view, is one in which all teens listen to their parents and are either football players or cheerleaders, people drink "sparingly" or not at all, drugs do not exist, everyone attends church, everyone is a "christian and a true blue right wing republican who condemns homosexuality, abortion and any other practice that doesn't fall within their conservative biblical Christian "positivity". Of course, these are generally the sames ones who, while condemning gossip, rumors, judgementalism, and "unChristlike" behavior are some of the first to perpetuate it, under the guise of righteous religiosity.

Another dimension consists of dwellers who raised a bit of "innocent" good ole boy or good ole girl hell back in the day. They have gone on to raise families, most likely marrying their high school sweetheart who was the sister, brother, or cousin of a friend or in a few cases a sister, brother or cousin. They have gone on to own businesses and obtain jobs while never leaving the confines of this county, or if they have left they've returned to their home town, which some have described as the "black hole of the universe" because it always "sucks you back in". These are the red, white and blue collar dwellers who talk a good talk on the outside, but don't always live up to it themselves. You'll usually find them in the local watering holes, restaurants and other well-known public places, both during the day and after 7pm engaging in the latest gossip. Inner conflict sometimes results because they realize the world is changing and they must try to adapt in many aspects, yet feel a need to cling to the old ways. It's akin to wearing two different shoes.

A new dimension has recently been discovered. This is what I term the "crossover" dimension. It occurs when those who have previously occupied other dimensions penetrate the above-described dimensions. These dwellers come from far away places and have theological, cultural, educational, and experiential backgrounds which are foreign to some of the current dwellers. This naturally results in instances of resistance stemming from fear of the unknown. These dwellers are viewed upon as outsiders who hold no relative validity so they tend to keep their thoughts to themselves, while trying to remain inconspicuous by appearing to blend in. It's safer that way.

In viewing these blogs, judging by the statements of both the bloggers and commenters on the blogs, this phenomena of multi dimensionality is alive and well in Morris. As one blogger quoted, "Tolerating others is the price we pay for being tolerated ourselves". Well stated.

What do I think of these blogs? Read the title again and figure it out for yourself.