Your momma

"Your momma's so fat when she gets on the scale it says 'to be continued'."

There was a time in culture when people could tease with each other, but even then it could get out of hand quickly, depending on the people and the situation - sometimes resulting in violence and even death.

We reached a fine point when the "yo momma" joke was its own growing genre, much like the dead baby jokes and other "dark comedy" stylings, of which I am a huge fan.

I love listening to Daniel Tosh and Anthony Jeselnik and other similar stand up comedians who border a little on the dark, but I fully and 100% know that it's an acquired taste and when to keep it to myself when I'm around people who don't know it is satire and how not to take it personally.  Not everyone gets that.

Culture around us has joined in with another "What color is the dress?" moment with the Olympic ceremony opening, the Trump near-assassination, and the Biden-Harris handoff - just to name a few.  And they are not neutral discussions, or so people want you to believe.

I have no desire, in this post, to unpack any of that, but I do want to point out a basic thing about sales and social movements so you can see how you play into it all.

First, the buzz around anything causes advertising dollars to flow and so no one has a great deal of motivation to calm anyone down UNLESS it causes more attention and more advertising to be paid for.

Second, social movements, political campaigns, and anything "big" happening out there in society that people are up in arms about isn't done accidentally.  The arguments are designed to the degree that they appear to be just a natural thing happening - in other words, it's almost always on purpose, for someone.

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The "What color is this dress?" thing that happened a few years ago didn't mean anything to people in general except that they could get involved and give an opinion and THAT is the hook.  If I can draw you into a discussion or having an opinion, I can get you to look at my platform (Facebook, TikTok, X, cable news, TV programming, etc) and have advertising that people pay me for running in the background.

The point of the discussion - whether someone is right or not - is never the true point, it's the person who facilitates the discussion and keeps it going that wins.  Kind of like when someone sells war machinery to both sides in a war - they don't care who wins necessarily, just that they can keep selling tanks and guns.

Also, there are plenty of different people and groups that, for their own individual or group purposes, love to keep things hot and keep things going.  Just know that.  Some people like conflict because of something inside of them, not because of the rightfulness or truthfulness of something.

It's why you hear a lot of people going on social media fasts or diets - it's because they realize that dynamic eats into your time and, more importantly, into your mind and spirit.  It feeds on you as you feed on it.

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In the late '80's and early '90's when in college and grad school, I was genuinely surprised to learn that, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, just as a couple of notable/easily recognized examples, were people who were vetted and chosen for their role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Before that, I thought there were just people who were at the right place and at the right time to be at the center of attention, make history, etc.  I had no idea that other people were interviewed, rejected, etc by someone "higher up" for the purpose of "picking the right people to be the right face at the right time".

It's one of the reasons I further pursued social sciences and sociology, to learn the inner workings of what outwardly seems like "just the way things worked out, for better or worse".  I was very surprised to learn that a lot of things are actually orchestrated and carried out so as to seem it wasn't and to move people's hearts and minds in certain directions or away from certain directions.

When politicians or "the news" or just about any organization make a statement, it's often laden down with a lot of other things they want you to take for granted as true and factual, but they won't tell you that "their facts" are actually not 100% objective, but they'll certainly let you think they are and try to make you feel dumb or evil if you don't.

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One of the basics I picked up along the way was the "Rules for Radicals" list made by Saul Alinsky, way back in the day.  He was a community organizer and worked with others to develop things that people or groups can do to push an agenda or idea through from grassroots startups to eventually enough momentum to make changes.  The list is...

1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
2. “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
3. “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
6. “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
7. “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
8. “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
10. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
11. “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
12. “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

These are just basic things that any collection of people can use/do in order to push against another group or organization in order to get them to give up and allow someone else to step in and define the situation and make the new rules for going forward.

How does that work?  Take #4 for example - a lot of Christians or believers will listen to a non-believer who quotes scripture or says things like, "Well a GOOD God wouldn't do ______" and they let the outsider use scriptures or ideas about God against the Christians or believers.

Because they're trained to be nice and humble, the Christian/believer will let the outsider bully them into being quiet or saying, "Okay, you're right."  They'll actually, usually out of insecurity and ignorance, assume the loud, pushy non-believer knows scripture more than they do and they roll over for them.

Another example is #11 and the recent attempt on Trump's life.  Though it was short lived, the negative - the attempted shooting of the ex-president - pushed through and you had people who were 'on the fence' before suddenly excited about a strong man who stood up to an attempt on his life - in living color!

The negative pushed through to become a positive, loosely speaking, for Trump and will certainly be brought back up again and again in the war of images and ideologies in the weeks ahead.

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And you could list off many examples of how people and groups from any side of any issue learn to do these things - perhaps not formally, but they see what works and they imitate what they see working and they do it to.

With the Olympic opening ceremony recently, for better or worse, the planners of the ceremony chose something that was taken to mean something offensive by a large group of Christians around the world.  

It was, in theory, an homage to Greek culture/the games, but done in a way that the imagery was similar to a "Christian" painting done by a guy who came along way after the time of Christ AND seemed to be a glorification of the transgender movement (or whatever, I didn't see it and am actually uninterested - I didn't even know there was an Olympics coming and was surprised to see a commercial for it.)

Regardless of which "side" you fell on with that video or image, you can see the Rules for Radicals at work with each news story, post, counter-post, formal apology, quiet attempts behind the scenes to save the moment for everyone involved, etc.

And the people participating in the games had zero idea of what was going on and were caught in the middle between groups, their interpretation of the event, and suggestions of what each side should go and do with their opinion.

It's Ford versus Chevy all over again from decades ago.  And the only winners were anyone who produces automobiles.  Same with what's going on today with politics, culture, etc.  The only winners are those who are directing your minds, attention, and dollars - ideology, politicians, and issues are just what you think you're buying.

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"Your momma's so dumb, she tried to climb Mountain Dew."

It's really easy to get caught up in what everyone else is getting caught up in.  Really easy.  And that's okay if all you're living for is "who wins" in this life.  Everyone needs something to pass the time.

It's probably good to ask yourself - what are we winning?  Is it an election?  Is it the direction of the country or the world?  It is God's honor?  Is it democracy or the republic?  Is it the inclusion of anyone and everyone, regardless of what that means?  Is it winning a discussion about what something means?  What's our end goal for anything?

Remember that most people don't know what the goal is, they're just doing what everyone else is doing and mirroring the attitude and actions of the people they want to like them.  So remember that - that people may be saying and doing what you're doing to fit in, without understanding the "why's" or "what's".

Also remember that some people don't care - they just like to fight - they've been wounded and want to wound others or they've grown up in a hopeless situation and if they're hopeless, they feel the need to bring you down to their level.  Those general kinds of dynamics DO exist and drive many things.

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So, what does a person do with all that?  

If you want to throw your weight behind "one side" or another, do so - commit to it and be ready to sacrifice and reap the benefits or consequences.  Know you're subject to the whims of people who you depend on for "good feels".  If you're good with that, go for it.

You can also consider being thoughtful and knowing that more information is likely on the way and will be revealed soon OR may never surface because there's nothing to the story or the information just will never surface for reasons you don't know about.  

Don't react or feel you need to have an opinion about things - don't be baited into a fight or discussion just because someone has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged you to have an opinion or made fun of something important to you.  Not every hill is worth dying on.  Mosquitos eventually fly away.

If you're a believer of some stripe, remember what Paul said in Colossians...

"...just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ."

We don't live in a neutral world, but we don't always need to be drawn into a fight where we'll be ambushed, sometimes by our own people - remember there's a difference between actually being for something and just being against something.

Consider considering what you're considering.

Live in grace and peace.

You'll be fine.