THE SHEEP THING

"You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts". ~Daniel Patrick Moynihan

My husband has been saying that a lot of political rhetoric is designed for the sole purpose of appealing to those who can’t or won’t look more deeply into the issues and who will blindly follow, like sheep, those who ring the ‘follow me’ bell.  Instead of educating and helping people to understand the issues, some ‘politicians’ appeal to the lowest and basest instincts of the masses, feeding the fire of fear and hate. 

At first I thought he was being a bit too harsh to both the people and the ‘politicians’ but the more I read and watch, the more I have come around to his way of thinking.  Following the lead of a provocative statement made by a ‘politician’ is an easy way to make a statement, make a stand, have a voice - even if it isn’t your own. 

I was going to provide several examples to illustrate my point but, you know, I just don’t think it is necessary.  All one has to do is to read through any news headlines in a given week and you’ll find plenty of evidence.  Or, better yet, take a look at some the the “factual” political e-mails that get forwarded and forwarded for years without people ever checking the real facts of the matter.  It is scary.  Really.

There are millions of people to whom this applies, and I actually may have been one of them from time to time in the past.  But the ever growing preponderance of the ‘sheep thing’ seems to have seeds in the escalating use of the internet and social media.  It has become far too easy to “share”, “retweet”, “forward” these ‘facts’ to others with just a click of the button and off the story goes to family, friends, acquaintances, strangers in a silent whoosh.  Food for more of us sheep; that is, unless the ‘black sheep’ takes some time to find out the truth of the matter before sending it on its merry way to others.

I’ve actually angered friends and family by pointing out the inaccuracies in some of these ‘factual’ matters.  My husband says I should just ignore them and go about my business letting my loved ones alone with their illusions and believing things that are blatantly untrue or purposely misrepresented.  Let them just 'whoosh' this information to others so that they, in turn, can 'whoosh' it on its way to others while I silently send the missive to the trash can.  Maybe so.  It certainly would return my social world to a calmer and less distressing venue if I just followed along without saying a word; becoming a quiet gray sheep.

Somehow, though, it seems to me that if I love these people, care about them, I should somehow give them the information they don’t have and let them make decisions themselves.  I don’t want to insult them or embarrass them, that isn’t my intention.I don’t want them to think the way I think, that is silly because I often haven’t made up my own mind about what I actually believe - I’m still mulling it over and would love to discuss it on a rational level.  But I do love and care about them enough to want them to think about what they are saying and doing before they do it so that they aren’t placated into thinking that being a ‘sheep’ makes them accepted and loved.

I love them and care about them and trust them enough to share my thoughts, beliefs and opinions with them.  It just seems that this isn’t they way they see it.  It appears that what they see is someone trying to one-up them, hurt their feelings and to make them feel “inferior”.  So, it comes down to my wanting to feel accepted and loved and maybe I can only do that by becoming that gray sheep instead of the black one. 

Can sheep cry?