“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Mark Twain

I live in one of those predominantly activist type towns.  I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth. My city boasts acceptance of everyone, every race, every ethnic background and sexual preference.  They stand for women’s rights, abortion and gender change.  They get angry when people get shot by police officers without knowing all the facts and immediately blame the gun for the problem.  Minneapolis is right up there with the other big cities when it comes to protesting anything and everything and it doesn’t surprise me.

Is protesting the only way to make your case?  Every morning I wake to one march after another.  Sometimes you even see the same faces in the footage. I believe in free speech, but if there is ever to be any sanity in our country again, we need to start communicating in other ways.  The protesting has in fact become a sort of propaganda to stir up the masses.

We have a media that jumps to conclusions, before a case comes to trial, leading to difficulty in prosecuting or defending it, not to mention jurors who have been exposed to all these opinions prior to coming into the courthouse.

When the noise becomes too much, my first inclination is to turn it off, but when we have news channels that run at least four hours morning and evening, it does no more than fuel the anger of everyone on both sides.  CNN & FOX NEWS are equally guilty of editorializing.

The art of communication has slowly been eaten up by technology.  Communication leads to solving problems and putting our heads together to do so.  A tweet, e-mail or text message may be OK for little things, but when it comes to the big stuff, we have to talk to each other face to face.

I fear for where all of this is moving our people.  I’m concerned for children who are being exposed to disgusting displays, language and hatred.  I’m worried about what their world will be like in 25 years.  A couple thousand years ago, these words were penned.

Proverbs 15:1  “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 13:3 “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. “

I guess they had problems communicating in those days too.