The 'subtle' is dead

OK, I can't not comment on Fr. Blazon's remarks from Fifth Business that I promised in my last post I wouldn't comment on.

Remember his words (or go to the last post to get the whole story) Blazon quotes Einstein, who said, "God is subtle, but he is not cruel"

The problem in America these days is subtlety is mostly non-existent. There are no subtleties in our public discourse. There is the Left and the Right. There is Liberal and Conservative. There is Yea and Nay and nothing in between.

There is 'political correctness' and what Donald Trump says. There is no nuance, no 'ironic but toward the truth', no middle ground.

We are locked in a battle that is 'my way or the highway' all around.

We need subtlety in how we talk about things with each other.

All we have is 'cruelty'.

How cruel of those congressmen who didn't go to the Pope's address because they knew he would mention climate change and immigration.

How cruel of Jeb Bush to say of the slaughter in Oregon, "Things happen."

How cruel of The Donald to say that if he's president he'll 'send back' any of the migrants from Syria who come here.

How cruel of the Congress to invent an investigation against Planned Parenthood--an agency that gives health care to mostly poor women--based on lies.

How cruel of the Speaker of the House in waiting to admit that the whole Benghazi investigation was to damage Hillary Clinton. (Oh, wait, that was 'the truth'--it was the made-up 8 committees to invent that a tragedy was a conspiracy was what was cruel.)

I could go on but since most everything would be about Republicans, I should stop lest you think I'm a Democrat.

The moral is, where is the subtlety in our public life? Where is the nuance? Where is the irony? Where is the complexity and the confusion?

Everyone is so sure of themselves and their views--me too, by the way.

I long for a public discourse full of actually grappling with issues rather than taking a side and standing by your position no matter what.

I long for subtlety and nuance and complexity.

I can't find it in the way we shout at each other.

But I need it. I do.