Christmas Bully

Bullying has become a big topic lately. FLOTUS (Secret Service lingo for First Lady of the United States) has made this a part of her agenda. As a result, we’ve begun to hear a lot about bullying. Of course, bullying is bad and no one wants to be accused of it. You hear “Racist” used by politicians to label people with whom they disagree in an effort to silence them. “Bully” will soon be an added weapon. Don’t believe me? Consider this:

Radio.foxnews.com reported this week that, according to some parents in Missouri, “Christmas songs are a form of bullying.” When you get your blood pressure back down and your jaw off the floor, I will give you my analysis of the situation.

Bullying has been around as long as people have been on the earth. We traditionally think of bullies as children being mean to other children. When adults mistreat other adults we generally call it intimidation, harassment, or assault. If an adult mistreats a child we refer to it as abuse.

You may be wondering how singing a Christmas song fits into that definition. I’ll let you read the article for yourself if you’re interested. Here’s the link:  http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/parents-say-christmas-carols-are-form-of-bullying.html .

Here’s what I think. Demanding that other people stop what they are doing because you are offended can become a form of bullying. As I see it, the few using being offended to force the majority to change their behavior is bullying.  Or at least it could be. Someone claims to be offended, and maybe they are, then demands that everyone else stop doing whatever it is that offends them. I say “Deal with it.” Any number of things can offend me. In fact, I may be offended that you are offended. Now we have reached an impasse, haven't we?

My point is this. As a society we have begun to use the “I’m offended” ploy to force others to do what we want them to do. “You’re a bully” is just another wrinkle in the ”I’m offended” playbook. Sounds like bullying to me. What do you think?