Don't Need 'Em

Jane over at firedoglake highlights something I too have been wondering. Why do so many liberal/progressive bloggers read the right wing whacko bloggers and then proceed to get into pissing contests with them? This question arises as a result of a bit of insightful discussion over at Jenniebee on the continuing jousts between left and rightwing bloggers. I, for one, haven’t got time to waste on any of these sites and I actually get cranky when one of the blogs I do frequent links to LGF or Freeper or similar without warning me. I resent them getting a hit from me unknowingly.
It is really an environmental thing. I am already so far from the true path in my thoughts and behavior that I cannot afford the additional psychic poison inherent in reading anything posted on these sites. If I really want to focus on fear and ignorance I can predict what they are going to say on any particular subject anyway. So why bother? I can absolutely guarantee that it will not agree with my thinking. It will not change my mind or philosophy which, by the way, I have spent 55 years refining. Contact with these minds is what I call Dharma Poison. In Star Wars it is known as the Dark Side. These sites are full of fear driven hate. Contact with this environment is inimical to a positive mental force and must be avoided wherever possible. Don’t misunderstand what I mean by these statements. These folks have all the right to believe what they will and write as much and as often as they wish. I don’t have any desire to restrict their ability to communicate anymore that I want them to restrict mine (which they would do in a heartbeat).
Somewhere, someone illustrated the difference between belief and faith to me and I think it applies, at least to some degree, in this discussion. Picture two individuals, one a fundamentalist Christian and the other a student of Zen, caught on a rock in a storm swollen stream as the water comes higher and higher. It is obvious that it is just a matter of moments before they will drown as there is no sign of rescue. Suddenly, the Zen student smiles and jumps into the stream and is immediately swept downstream. The Christian grips the rock ever tighter and drowns as the water quickly rises.
Belief is holding on to the rock no matter what and faith is letting go and letting the stream take you where it may.
How do I get new ideas? I get them from reading the thoughts of others who look for solutions and understanding in the same ways I do. I read and communicate with people who have demonstrated an ability to think with reason and compassion. I read people who demonstrate faith in progressive ideas and how they can be applied to the problems of the world. I communicate with the jumpers.