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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 770.358.NEWS P.0. Box 220 Publishers Staff SUBSCRIBE DEADLINES 509 Greenwood Street Walter Geiger Nolan George $30 per year in Lamar and sur- The deadline for public notices Barnesville, Ga. 30204 Laura Geiger Rachel McDaniel rounding counties; $40 outside is noon Thursdays; news and 770-358-NEWS Tasha Webster the local area. advertising before noon Fridays. barnesville.com General Manager Includes 24/7 access to Early submission is appreciated. E-mail: news@barnesville.com Missy Ware barnesville.com