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Showing posts from December, 2020

It's only words

 They want to set up some rules in our neighborhood. Nothing too draconian. Instead of "no signs" they want to allow "some signs" in our yards because, after all, people are locked in all day. Signs are a way to communicate. But no "sign wars," they say, and no signs that "cause offense." "That won't work," one neighbor announces. "Offense is in the eye of the beholder," and who will decide what's allowed and what's forbidden? Of course, "offense" might also be the choice of the offended... and whose choice is right? Someone put up a sign saying "Unborn lives matter," and I wondered, should that offend, or should it just invite the passerby to think? By contrast, a sign saying "Abortion is murder" felt much different, and felt wrong. After all, we can (most of us) agree that murder is against the law. So this statement accuses (unknown, unspoken) neighbors of breaking the law. I may no