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4A ®j)g Heralti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, January 19,2021
Opinions
Ruffin's Renderings: This is who we are
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
In these days following
the January 6 attempted
insurrection against the
United States of America,
lots of people have made
claims such as “This is
not who we are” and
“We’re better than this.”
I’m afraid that we need
to admit that the oppo
site of those statements
is true. This is who we
are. We aren’t better than
this.
I wish that wasn’t the
case. But the evidence
is too overwhelming to
ignore.
An event such as
the assault on the
Capitol doesn’t occur
in a vacuum. This act
of insurrection didn’t
happen spontaneously.
It wasn’t a knee-jerk
reaction to the recent
election. No, our nation
has been building toward
this moment for a long
time. Divisions between
us, whether they are
cultural, social, religious,
or economic, have been
widening for decades—
maybe centuries—and
continue to do so.
Many factors exacer
bate our divisions and
complicate our predica
ment. Perhaps the main
factor is our tendency
to restrict our conver
sations to people who
agree with us. Social
media platforms enable
us to relate to a wide
range of people. On the
other hand, they make
it possible for us to shut
out people who try to get
us to look at things from
a different point of view.
We also tend to restrict
our real-life (as opposed
to online) relationship
circles to people who
agree with us.
We are
divided. This is
who we are. We
are not better
than this.
Why is this
the case? We
can use a lot of
words to name
the sources of
our conflicts
and divisions,
including self-
centeredness,
selfishness, and self
absorption, all of which
cause us to devalue and
denigrate other people.
“Sin” is still a good word
to name why we are like
we are.
What is the solution
to our division? I don’t
know. I’d like to be able
to say that we’d have
greater unity if we’d
all come to Jesus, but I
can’t, for a couple of rea
sons. First, history dem
onstrates how division
plagues Christi
anity (it plagues
other religions
too, but I know
more about
mine). Even
Christians can’t
agree on what
it means to be
Christian. Sec
ond, I suspect
that most of the
people who at
tacked the Capi
tol on January 6 profess
to be Christians. That’s
a kind of Christianity I
can’t understand. I want
nothing to do with it.
Now this doesn’t mean
that I don’t believe that
God can change people’s
hearts. I certainly do be
lieve that. But I also take
seriously what people
show me with their lives.
And people consistently
display an unwillingness
to take the ways and
words of Jesus seriously
when it comes to politics.
I fail to see how a person
can cheer a politician’s
words of hate, vitriol,
and violence—the kind
of words spoken over the
last five years that culmi
nated in the despicable
events of January 6—
while claiming ultimate
allegiance to the Prince
of Peace who taught us
to love even our enemies.
I love God more than I
love the United States. I
put faithfulness to Jesus
ahead of faithfulness to
my country. But I still
love this nation. And I
recognize that if we are
to still have a democ
racy a few years down
the road, we’re going
to have to find a way
to lessen our divisions.
I say “lessen” because
I don’t think we can
overcome or eliminate
them. But we all need to
find a renewed commit
ment to the democratic
processes that have
served as our foundation
for 245 years. I believe—I
hope—that if enough of
us will commit ourselves
to constructive engage
ment, to free and fair
elections, and to seeking
liberty and justice for all,
we might just make it.
Maybe we will at least
move far enough beyond
who we are and toward
who we can be that
we’ll arrive at a national
consensus that attacking
the houses of Congress
is a ridiculously inap
propriate reaction to not
having an election go the
way you wanted.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Yatesville and works in
Macon. His new book, Praying with
Matthew, is available at helwys.com
and at Amazon.
Dean Poling: They
gathered for a picnic
They gathered for a
picnic.
They brought opera
glasses for a better look.
They
brought
food to
eat.
Spec
tators
prepar
ing to
watch
what they expected to be
a quick, bloodless rout.
They came to be en
tertained.
Instead, July 21, 1861,
the folks and families
expecting a festival atmo
sphere witnessed then
fled from the carnage of
war.
At the First Battle of
Bull Run also known as
the Battle of First Manas
sas, 28,000 Union sol
diers clashed with 32,000
Confederate soldiers.
Spectators witnessed
the violence of 2,800-
plus Union dead, injured,
missing and captured,
and 1,900-plus Confeder
ate casualties.
They witnessed an
early battle in the Ameri
can Civil War.
A war those specta
tors and many others
in the Union and the
Confederacy expected
to be brief and mostly
bloodless.
But instead lasted
four long years and led
to tens of thousands of
deaths on both sides.
Tens of thousands of
deaths that include
combatants and civilians
alike.
They came for enter
tainment. They fled for
safety in horror, with
only an inkling of the
violent nightmare still to
come.
Now, people talk about
“civil war” on social me
dia. Many people most
likely mention “civil war”
while munching ham
burgers or half watching
television or visiting
with friends and family
they love but some of
whom would take a dif
ferent side if, indeed, the
country devolved into
another “civil war.”
They talk of “civil war”
as if they were talking
about the Georgia-Florida
game. Arguably, many
talk about “civil war”
with less solemnity than
the Georgia-Florida game.
They talk and tweet
and post about “civil
war” as casually as
people preparing for a
good spot to picnic while
waiting for a battle.
We live in a culture
where people fume about
wearing masks or run
ning low on toilet paper.
A culture that can sug
gest “civil war” without
imagining the demands
and deprivations such a
war would bring.
And the losses on all
sides.
The losses of prop
erty, limbs, lives. On all
sides. People we know.
People we love. Our fel
low Americans, violently,
irrevocably, dead. Gone.
So do not propose a
“civil war.” Do not spur
on people suggesting
a “civil war.” Do not
buy into the concept of
language and actions so
divisive that “civil war”
can ever become an op
tion.
A “civil war” would
be no picnic. Our own
American history teach
es us that.
Dean Poling is an editor with The
Valdosta Daily Times.
Walters Farm wins two categories
at Southeastern Hay Contest
Despite the challenges
of the pandemic, 370
entries were submitted
in the 2020 Southeastern
Hay Contest (SEHC), just
below the record-setting
number of submissions
for 2019. More states
submitted samples to the
contest than ever before,
with nine represented.
Walters Farm of
Barnesville won first
place in two of the
categories, earning first
place in Grass Baleage
and Legume Baleage.
The grand prize
was awarded to Brian
Johnson of McKenney,
Virginia, for his alfalfa
hay sample. Johnson
received $1,000 from
Massey Ferguson and the
choice of a new Massey
Ferguson DM Series disc
mower or RK Series ro
tary rake to use for next
year’s hay production
season. The top three
entries in each category
received cash prizes
of $150, $100 and $50,
respectively.
All of the winners
were announced Jan. 5 at
the American Forage and
Grassland Council annual
conference in Savannah,
Georgia.
More information on
how to enter next year’s
contest can be found at
sehaycontest.com or by
following on the Face-
book page @SEHayCon-
test.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Aren't I entitled to be
concerned about my health
I read with great inter
est your editorial in last
week’s paper on getting
your vaccine. Congratula
tions on seeing the light
and realizing that the CO-
V1D-19 pandemic is real
and not a government
plot like some of the citi
zens in Barnesville seem
to think.
You mention the
COVID-19 numbers spik
ing here. Gee, ya think it
might have something to
do with the events before
Christmas where wearing
masks were not encour
aged or practicing social
distancing? Or maybe
it’s because when people
go grocery shopping,
and there is a very large
white sign at the en
trance that says, “For the
safety of our employees
and customers, masks
are required here.” But
the store doesn’t enforce
it.
The store has also
made it easy for people
to social distance with
well marked one way
signs. But, do people
bother? Of course
not. They even block the
aisles and visit. Which
makes it hard to stay
safe. Ok, I can see where
a person’s rights are be
ing questioned. But hey,
what about my safety?
Aren’t I entitled to be
concerned about my
health?
And you also make
a reference to our new
president. How about
giving him a chance
before you start criticiz
ing him. We gave your
guy a chance four years
ago. And look what he
did. Encouraged riots to
take over the Capitol and
made our fine nation a
laughing stock to the rest
of the world.
THANK YOU,
B0BMURDY
Walters Farm won two first place awards in Grass Baleage and Legume Baleage at the 2020
Southeastern Hay Contest. The winners were announced at the American Forage and Grass
land Council conference in Savannah, Georgia.
FLASHBACK
In honor of
Elizabeth Sellers
Jan.17-23
10 years ago
Ground was broken
on the $200 million
Piedmont Green Power
project in Legacy Park.
The plant was to burn
biomass products to
generate electricity to be
sold to Georgia Power.
Local governments and
the school board were
eyeing the huge tax rev
enue increases the plant
would bring. One esti
mate of its first property
tax bill upon completion
was nearly $1.4 million.
25 years ago
The courthouse was
abuzz with rumors that
alleged crack cocaine
kingpin Julius Butler, also
known as Julius Vaughn
or Berry Vaughn, would
enter guilty pleas. He
faced multiple charges
of drug distribution. His
son John-John Vaughn
had escaped jail and
was thought to be in the
metro Atlanta area with
a Colombian national
by the name of Pedro
Alvarez.
50 years ago
Lamar County joined
the Flint River Regional
Library System after an
agreement was unani
mously approved by the
local library board. Sign
ing the agreement were
Rev. Doug Wynn, Walter
Murphy, Will Plowden,
John Hewitt and Mrs. R.
P. Shapard III.
100 years ago
Mr. and Mrs. Charley
Smith last week bought
the Moore place on
Greenwood Street from
Mr. J. E. Cagle and will
at once take possession
and move there. The
price paid is not given
out. Mr. Cagle has rented
the Stallings place on
Brown Avenue where he
will move with his family
for the present. Mr. Cagle
is running a farm near
Topeka and is spending
much of his time there.
Zi)t Heraltr #a^tte
barnesville.com
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