Public Fisticuffs

Sometimes mornings, taking stock, I come across mildly interesting stuff, interesting to peruse until I see it properly. An example this morning was another of those public fisticuffs that break out between opposing parties, this time a Christian Apologist and his would be Atheist Opponent.  The first look tells me that I’m seeing round eighteen, and the bout will never end. Behind each combatant a large fan base cheers, its members uninterested in real thought but enjoying the fray and eager to scribble endless comments. Nor will a winner ever emerge. After each round the fan base on either side cheers; in commentary each fighter portrays the same blows as superb punches that landed—but on the opponent’s chin. The subject here is unimportant. It could be anything at all: politics, water rights, foreign policy, Euro zone. If the aim would be to find the truth, the methods employed will never work—nor can it be discovered in such settings. Nobody loses—by design. Spectator sport with fuzzy scoring. As for the detached viewer some distance from the cheering, jeering crowds—he is tempted to fetch a dustpan and a broom.