Pugnaciousness...it that a thing?

PUGNACIOUS

adjective

1.

inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent;combative.

    You know, I was hoping after the presidential election that all this fighting, arguing, name calling and childish behavior would stop among my family and friends alike.   Look I get it...you don't like the outcome of the election or you still believe that Hillary should be in jail, you think President Trump and Putin are best buddies even though there is a clear and tense conflict going on between our respective countries right now.  Some of my family members and friends are pro life and some are pro choice.  There are some that are very supportive of law enforcement and others who are suspicious of every move they make.  There are some that are social justice warriors and others that are very conservative.  Those that own and use guns and those that want them banned.  There are those that want a limited government and others who want us to become nation where the government provides free health care and free college.  Some of you are very strong in your faith and others are atheists or agnostics.

   Here's the thing folks, we are family, we are friends.  I know some of you have very strong opinions based on what you have experienced in life and/or what you see on the news, both real and fake.  I have watched as my friends and even some of my family members, along with myself, have been torn apart because we dared to have an opinion that differed from someone else.  I have lost friends because they could not agree to disagree and still be respectful of our differing opinions.  Just because I may hold a different view from you does not mean I am evil or that you are evil.  It just means we have a difference of opinion.

   When you throw out things like "FTrumpettes" "Libtard" or any other derogatory labels on people just because they don't agree with you, you are shutting down any chance of communication.  I get it, you are passionate about your personal beliefs as am I.  Let me just set the record straight for you right now so you know where I stand.  I am a white middle aged female.  Being white does not automatically make me a racist or bigot. Being a mostly conservative straight female does not make me anti LGBT.  I absolutely love and adore my LGBT family and friends.  I believe everyone should be treated with respect and treat others likewise.  Because I am pro-life, does not make me anti-women.  I believe in protecting the rights of the precious unborn who cannot fight for themselves, both male and female.  I do believe in God and have personally seen HIS healing power in my own life and in the lives of others I know.  I enjoy learning about the differing beliefs of my friends and family and finding out both the differences in our beliefs and where we have common ground. I believe in the right to bear arms but I also believe that we have to do more to help treat people with mental illnesses who might get ahold of a gun so that we protect not only the public, but also themselves.  I think that we as a country have failed to help the many people who are suffering from life altering mental illnesses and I wish that there would not be the stigma attached to those illnesses. I also wish there were more support for the families of those who suffer from mental illnesses. 

   There will alway be those pugnacious people out there who are just looking for a fight.  It could be the middle of the day and they will claim it is the middle of the night.  They seem to go around looking for something to be mad about and they don't care how ridiculous or hateful it may make them look.  If a man holds open a door for a woman, out of common courtesy, there is sure to be some woman who will call him sexist and assuming that she is a weak female.  I have even heard people claim that holding a door open for an elderly person is being  ageist.  I call it good manners and being a kind person but whatever... Then there are the people that take to social media to claim that they overheard a conversation in an airport that was homophobic and they try to get people fired. It is proven that they lied about the whole thing and the conversation never happened.  When confronted with proof that they lied, they try to twist it and say that the bigger issue is homophobia and that basically, their lie is of little consequence.  I would say that it is of huge consequence when you are trying to get someone fired for something that never even happened.  I would also venture to say that when you lie about something like that, you are actually making a mockery of a very real problem. I have a now former schoolmate from high school who got offended and unfriended me on facebook because I dared to say that I thought that the protestors who were destroying property in Portland Oregon, blocking roads, throwing things at police officers and getting in their faces and taunting them were acting criminally and should be arrested.  That apparently set her off and she ripped me a new one and personally attacked me because anything that the protestors did was "justified" because of social injustices.  It did not matter that the businesses that were vandalized had nothing to do with the reasons for the march and protest (and some were even in support of whatever it was they were protesting) or that police officers were hurt who had nothing to do with "police brutality" or that the emergency vehicles could not get through with people who needed to get to the hospital to save their lives.  They were all just collateral damage and that they must pay for the "sins" of others.  Pugnaciousness defined right there.  All rational thought and reasoning out the window and just looking for a fight.  It is beyond ridiculous!

   I for one am tired of it.  I want and need peace in my life. I don't like it when people argue for the sake of arguing and when they think actual facts are of little consequence.  It is fine to be passionate about something, but there also needs to be compassion along with that passion...do you get where I am going with all this?  There also needs to be common sense and courtesy too.  Going around being that angry and constantly looking for a fight must be exhausting and says so much about the state of a person's heart.  I pray that those people find peace in their lives and can let go of all that anger.