Abandoning harsh speech, he abstains from harsh speech, he speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and lovable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many and agreeable to many.
MAJHIIMA-NIKAYA i. 179
~
My
weakness along these lines has been the internet. Pre-internet, my
poison-pen was somewhat restrained because I could rush out to retrieve the
nasty letter from the mailbox before the postman came. E-mail ruined that
option. Then came the "anti-social media" and blogs… oh my. Once I
had access to a computer and went online. I was late to the party too… it was
after 9/11, 2001, before I turned in my fax machine for a computer... once online, I sank into an orgy of abuse… especially political arguments.
The
past few months, however, I have come to peace with these kinds of online
debates… if one can even call them that. I.e., when what I believe to be an abhorrent
or abusive tirade is posted by a friend on facebook, I now try to step back and
breathe before I respond… to see where there might be a middle ground… a
solution to confrontation… and I ask myself how can both sides of an argument
gain when in most arguments it's the means to a good end that is at stake. I can then argue in favor of a
more productive solution rather than jump in with insults and counter
arguments. Otherwise, I must simply leave it alone.
geo 4,813
No comments:
Post a Comment