Introductions, Please

Introductions, Please

I would like to introduce myself and no doubt there will be negative reactions to what I have to say in this post and any posts that may follow. To save you time looking up my profile and seeing what I have posted I will tell you upfront. I am a 55-year-old white American Christian male. The fact that I am a 55-year-old person should not factor in anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I am a person of Caucasian descent should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I am an American should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I believe in Jesus Christ and that he is the Messiah should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I am a male should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I do not think as you, should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. The fact that I do not have the same beliefs as you should not factor into anyone’s view of me, yet it will. My actions and MY actions alone should factor into anyone’s view of me, but many will allow preconceived biases to shape their judgment of me. And before anyone asks, What about speech? I would put that under actions as much as writing. When you express your thoughts and beliefs, that is an action, as much as physical actions are.

I consider myself an open-minded person. I will listen to anyone’s views or beliefs even if I don’t agree with them. If I disagree, I will voice my disagreement unless it is in a forum where feedback is not asked for or welcomed. No one agrees with everything I believe and I don't agree with everything others believe. All we can do is be tolerant of others and their beliefs. Be a good neighbor, have a personal relationship with those around you, and accept that you have beliefs that others do not agree with, as you do not agree with others' beliefs.

With these facts, will you continue to read or check out other things I have written? That is up to you, dear reader.

There are several sayings that I grew up with;

1) You can’t please all the people sometimes and you can’t please some people all the time.

2) It is okay to disagree with someone but it is not ok to silence those you disagree with.

3) The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you don’t understand that saying, I would recommend thinking about it while watching the political “news”.

4) Don’t pass judgment on someone without walking a mile in their shoes.

5) If you are looking for faults in a person, you will find at least one fault.

6) Everyone hates to some extent.

7) No one is unbiased.

8) Everyone is a bigot in some form or fashion.

9) Take responsibility for your actions, not the actions of others.

10) The actions of others do not define who you are, your actions do.

11) Everyone has been the object of isms at some point in their life.

12) And the best one is that no one is better than anyone else.

Now reflect on the bullet points I have written and think about your reaction to them. For all those that may have gotten their feelings hurt I have one thing to say, suck it up and drive on. The interesting thing about most people is that if someone says something they dislike, they want to silence that person. Just because someone says something doesn’t mean you have to agree, but it is their right to say it, along with any ramifications that may follow, outside of physical harm to the speaker/ writer. If you don’t like what someone else says or posts, it’s easy to ignore them. If no one listens to them or reads their posts, then that in itself sends a strong message. Don’t give anyone that you disagree with the ten seconds or ten minutes of fame they are seeking. However, if you wish to speak or otherwise make your beliefs known to those you disagree with, expect a rebuttal. Do not take offense if someone holds beliefs that contradict your own, take offense to the actions of a person.

Here is a concept that many seem to overlook, social media which includes “news” outlets. These entities are in business to make money. They own the platforms and should have the right to dictate what is said or posted on THEIR platform. If Facebook deems something inappropriate to its platform, they have the right as the owner of that platform to limit or block what they consider inappropriate. Are they unbiased? No, they are not but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to allow just anything to be posted on THEIR platform. The answer to such platforms? Seek another platform or create your own. You do not like the way Facebook operates? Find another platform. You do not like the way Twitter operates? Find another platform. You do not like the way YouTube operates? Find another platform. There are other platforms out there. The other platforms may not be as well-known as Facebook, Twitter, or others but they are out there.

I have many commentary topics that I wish to address but not in this post, it would be too long. If you are interested in reading more or have any input, please let me know. As for my fictional writings, it is interesting to me that when I write and don’t include sexual content, I get very few views. However, if I write with suggestive sexual content or sexually explicit content, I get views. I have self-published my works with very few views. I contracted with a publisher for well over 10K dollars with no exposure. I was contractually obligated to remain with the publisher for two years. I was promised by the literary agent that my book would be promoted and book signings would be scheduled. Well, it was not in the contract so the only promotion of my book came on their website and a general release on a book review platform.

The only reason I mention my book here is the fact that it did not appeal to many people. Those that did read my book were those I interacted with directly. The publisher did the bare minimum as any platform does. Platforms have hundreds of thousands of entries and most don’t take the time to promote all of those that upload their content. The platforms can pick and choose which content they will promote. They will promote the content they feel will make money first and foremost.

We have come to my final thoughts for this posting, thank you for lasting this long. If you are curious about my other writings or topics that I will be posting, follow my profile here. Or if you would like to read my other writings that are not posted here, message me and I will give you a link to those stories. Thank you again for lasting to the end.