I Stopped Trying to Make it Make Sense

It's been a while since I had to do it, but this week I blocked a few more folks on Facebook — Yes, I'm still on Facebook; leave me alone.

Before I blocked these "friends," I first started to rebut their arguments and accusations by explaining why they were about to be blocked. I wanted them not only to understand why they were being blocked, but also why their arguments were wrong, wrong, wrong. I began laying out my arguments for why all 7 million people were not "this" or and why I was not "that," because if I just explained it the right way, surely they would see things my way, they would change their minds, and I would be a sh0e-in garner the 2025 "Changed Someone's Mind in the Comments" Award.

And then I gave myself the same advice that I have given to so many other people over the years when they have wanted to engage with acquaintances, colleagues, friends, and family who have come after them in online spaces.

Not everyone is entitled to your time.
You do not have to explain yourself.
Logic won't get you out of something logic didn't get you into.

Advice heard. [BLOCK]

Let me first say that I do not use the term "evil" lightly, and I believe that the evils of oppression, militarism, greed, etc., have been building for generations. Today, however, evil has had its restraints removed and it is showing its insatiable appetite for destruction by feeding on the cruelty and terror inflicted upon the most vulnerable and those who would speak out and act up on their behalf. Evil wants to dismember and devour the body politic, and it will do all it can to do so. And evil is insidious, as it will present itself in many forms, from the blatant to the subtle. Sometimes it's the subtle forms that are the most difficult to resist. Evil is a sneaky little bugger.

In the face of these realities and the response to my opposition, one of the tactics I fall for over and over again is letting myself get tricked into directing my energy towards making sense of something that makes no sense. Whether about immigration, healthcare, gun violence, education, free speech, religion, a particular event, or a specific city, I keep trying to believe that there must be a sensible reason someone would believe X or Y. And yet . . .

Logic won't get you out of something logic didn't get you into.

And then my energy gets further diluted because I believe that if I just lay out the argument well enough, kind enough, the person who said publicly that I was a fake Christian, communist, antisemite would surely come around. If I could just draw the right word map, I could make it make sense to them, and they would come around. Foolishness or arrogance? Probably both.

So when I start with these two tactics, I end up focusing my energy and resources where they can do the least good. I fail to give my best self to supporting the most vulnerable that I care so deeply about, and working to dismantle the systems in which we are all trapped. I end up expending my energy on those who have created and reinforced the very system that created the conditions for the trap to exist in the first place. Sinister and insidious that evil is, today's political climate is teaching a master class in diluting and distracting.

As we are seeing today, as being lived out by the current administration, when people are driven by the accumulation of wealth and the pursuit of power, anything can be justified in their eyes as logical and completely rational. From the courthouse to the halls of Congress to the pressroom to the internet, to the streets, trying to reconcile what is said and make it make sense is a fool's errand and not worth my or your time or energy.

Now, it's not that I don't believe people can or will change; only that, for most folks who publicly question my faith, intelligence, or humanity, I am probably not the vessel through which that change will happen. To be clear, I give up on no one. No one is beyond the transformative power of God, not me, not you, not them, not anyone.

Now I am sure that I will fall for evil's tricks again, and I do not doubt that those on the "other side" probably think the same thing about me, but in the face of those interactions, I am going to do my best to follow my own advice. I will do my best not to waste my time on those who are not entitled to it, not to explain everything I do, and not to try to make sense of things that make no sense in the first place. Instead, I will remain steadfast and committed to the things I believe I am called to in these days and times, and I hope you will do the same for yourself.

Peace,