The news reports the release of Charles Manson follower Lynette Fromme from jail today. She was convicted for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
The resurfacing of Manson and his “family” in the news with her release has made me think – what happens when passion is taken too far?
Manson believed the Beatles “White Album” was a prophetic album predicting the coming of a race war in America. He inspired others like Fromme to believe in him, and they acted because they thought the murders of “piggies” would address the problem.
I have a blog that advocates for finding our passions and for combating apathy in politics and problems that plague our society. The point of passion is to embody what you believe, and work to change the minds of those around you, and work to see change in favor of your cause.
However, passion can turn to blind fanaticism. It clouds your judgment and ability to reflect. It can dilute the message you actually want to convey.
It is clear to all but maybe the “Manson family” that they their beliefs were destructive (and misguided. The Beatles prophesying a race war???)
What about when fanaticism is less apparent? For instance, on the current debate with health care in the U.S.?
Some may look at these townhall meetings and say, at least Americans are out participating in the democratic process. It is true that there is unprecedented attendance at these townhalls compared to similar style meetings in many Congressional representatives’ political careers. And for the majority of these townhalls, they are problably occurring without incident – people are getting the information they need, and are voicing their opinions. I may not agree with everyone’s analysis or fears, but I respect them all for standing for what they believe and engaging in the process – whether you’re anti-”Obamacare” or pro-”Obamacare”.
But then there are those reports of a man with a gun at one of the townhalls, or of a provocatively tearing a poster of Rosa Parks up, the alleged “plants” at the townhall meetings, fear-mongering with misinformation, which dilutes the importance of the forum in the first place. The focus is not even on the bill anymore, but on the news of these provocative fanatics.
When these moments occur, it distracts me and probably others from even listening to the more credible arguments against this particular health care plan. It is demonstrated perfectly in this video here, where a constituent of Rep David Scott was asking what I believe to be a valid question about his position on healthcare and he mistakenly believed the constituent to be asking a provocative question.
I do think there are credible concerns:
1) it is a lot of spending
2) it will compete with employer based healthcare plans and it is likely many employers will decide to pick up the cheaper public plan, dropping their other plan.
3) it does require some Americans to carry some form of health care whether they choose to or not.
I personally believe the benefits outweigh the arguments here. That does not mean that I have love lost for anyone that does not agree with me, because at the end of the day my passion still leaves me room to respect the necessity of debate and dialogue.
Fanaticism is as dangerous if not more than apathy. Any political affiliation, ideological leaning, or issue-based campaign can be guilty of this. Passion only works when it is not hideously transfigured, and instead of admiring a deep passion, we are exalting fanaticism.
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