It seems moderates are going the way of the Amish. We may still exist, but the culture has left us behind. Or at least the “new media” has pushed our political horse drawn carriages aside.
Instead, this is and shall ever be the age of extremists. Let the moderates dwell in button wearing, barn raising communities, while the radicals inherit the Earth.
You might say these conclusions are extreme. And I might say that just proves my point.
Extremism is the narrative, just look at the signs. Go to Youtube and read the comments. Read the clever observations that follow the most
watched videos. See how many you can read until you give up all hope in humanity. Countless racial slurs, ethnic slanders, sexist rants and hate-filled tirades. Every single video ever created, accompanied by verbal spew. This is our post-moderate world.
Not only do we tolerate the spew, we embrace it. Pick an Internet news page; any page will do. I’ll hold out the deck to show you my observations are true. Pick a local Internet news page from the middle of nowhere. Anywhere, nowhere, it doesn’t really matter. Skim the story as best you can. Now look at the response.
Read the absurd responses below the story. A posting about a vandalized church becomes a bitter, name-calling argument about the existence of God. An interest piece about a marathon-running grandma becomes a string of snide sexualized comments. An in-depth report on childhood obesity becomes an excuse for posting fat jokes.
Pick any card, the deck is full of such inexcusable examples. The apologist says these trolling villains are the exception to the rule. Or the hardened comment purist defends that these kind of people exist and must be heard. I say why? Why must they be heard? Why must we yield the world to extremists?
Why must we spotlight Quran-burning pastors, politician-heckling constituents and truth-bending pundits? Why are we wasting the spotlight on the media extremists? Why are we wasting our energy on the most out-of-control person in the room?
Why? Because this, my friends, is the age of extremists.
The moderate in me wants to argue against such authoritative proclamations. But he knows the truth. The true moderate wouldn’t have given a single key stroke to the Quran-burning pastor. No, the pure moderate would have focused on something of value and substance.
The pure moderate in me knows that purity leads to media exile. A commitment to the moderate mantra leads to a really good blog with no hits, a great article with no readers, a show with no listeners and a world-changing candidacy with no votes. To put it simply, moderate has become a synonym for irrelevant subculture.
What remains in the dominate narrative are faux-moderates like me. People who engage the current popular discussion as if we are above it. All the while, we are thoroughly entrenched in the muck and the mire.
You may say that I’m overstating my case. I hope you’re right. I’d like someone to actually read this.
“Live from Seattle with Doug Bursch” can be heard 4-6 p.m. weekdays on KGNW 820 AM. Doug Bursch also pastors Evergreen Foursquare Church. Evergreen meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at 2407 M St. SE next to Pioneer Elementary School. He can be reached at www.fairlyspiritual.org or doug@fairlyspiritual.org.
