Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

This is a small tribute to those commenters who took the time to respond to my previous article "Fitna has finally pushed me over the edge."

As you have probably surmised, that article came straight from the heart with little second-thought. I was emotionally involved with it. I was angry and distraught. I still am. I just wrote it quickly and hit Publish. The hell with it.

I was pretty sure of the kind of negative response I'd get. And then -- all of those wonderful and heartening comments. I, for one, sure needed to read them. This can get so damn frustrating. I've lost friends over this, friends who think I'm obsessive and exaggerating things way out of proportion and are getting tired of listening to me talk about it. And most people just plain don't care. We're annoying them. We're yelling 'Fire!' in the crowded theater, and there's no fire, and we're interrupting their movie.

A friend and fellow blogger almost reached the point the other day where he thought he'd just quit trying. That thick wall of complacency we face is formidable and unyielding. No matter how sincere our passion, how cogent and persuasive are our arguments, they're quickly dismissed and brushed aside as something irrelevant to the really important things in life. Sometimes... it can get so discouraging --

But then, look what happens -- all those encouraging comments. I was wrong about the reactions. This article has been crossposted all over and so far not one person has found fault with either my reasoning, my conclusions or my emotions. Surprising, isn't it?

And, damn it, this is what makes it all worthwhile, isn't it? And this is why neither my fellow blogger nor myself will ever quit. Because we know we're not alone. We're not alone in our anger and our frustration and our feelings of impotence. YOU are out there. You are listening. And you care.

To you and my fellow bloggers and writers I want to say this: We have a mission, you and I, and we cannot let each other down, we cannot lose heart and allow ourselves to become discouraged. We have to believe that we can still make a difference.
And I know that we can.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for that Roger--and for all your encouragement and support.
    Both of us have some wonderful commenters and friends and without those, things would look very bleak indeed.
    I've been banging this drum for a few years now (starting in Mirc forums) and sometimes it all gets so damn tiring, especially when I talk to someone at work or elsewhere and realise that still the general awareness of this war is about zero out there.
    But I guess we fight partly because we simply cannot remain silent as our civilisation is under attack and our "leaders" are failing to lead.
    There's no real choice, is there?

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  2. "There's no real choice, is there?"

    Well one can fight or submit, which is what most will do, but really we know it's not in our blood to truly 'submit'. We are free men, we cannot submit.

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  3. Damn straight we have a mission. Voted at GOPHUB and usually that is all I have time to do, is vote on pieces then write my own....but I wanted to take the time and tell you what a great job you have been doing Roger.

    Now, back to the grindstone for me...lol

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  4. Thanks guys -- and gal!
    I respect you all.

    And MK - Damn, I see you all over the place! lolol

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  5. "Time patience and perseverance accomplish all things."

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  6. My Dear Roger,

    We are only just now catching up. But rest assured,we are with you!

    "Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
    - Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School

    Cheers,

    Charlie

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  7. "To you and my fellow bloggers and writers I want to say this: We have a mission, you and I, and we cannot let each other down, we cannot lose heart and allow ourselves to become discouraged. We have to believe that we can still make a difference.
    And I know that we can."

    With my last breath Roger .....

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  8. Thank you Ben and CP.
    And well said Helena!

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