Crazy is Crazy

It's official. People are nuts. Certifiably loony.

I'm no longer going to say, "Well, everyone's crazy." We all have our issues, but many of us are relatively sane. No one is perfect, but at least some imperfections make sense. Greed and lust make sense. They aren't necessarily healthy, but I understand why people want more sex and money.

There's something else going on with a lot of people these days. They're angry, bitter, unhappy, and illogical. You see it in the streets sometimes, but it often manifests itself behind closed doors in front of computer screens. 

If you're a sports fan, you know the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers both lost playoff games on Sunday. And you know each game had its own goat. Billy Cundiff missed a short field goal as time expired that would have sent the Ravens game into overtime, and Kyle Williams fumbled a punt return in overtime to set up the Giants for a game-winning field goal. Normal human beings with normal human emotions felt awful for both men. 

But not the fans who sent death threats to Cundiff and Williams. Seriously. Death threats. How sad must your life be to threaten another human being for missing a field goal? How insane must you be?

I'm not just talking about a few dozen wackos. Go to YouTube, pick almost any video, and start reading the comments. It's a cesspool of humanity. It takes approximately ten seconds for any discussion thread to deteriorate into a race war.

Bradley Shaw Wise forwarded me a story about Joe Paterno earlier this week. The comment section was unbelievable. Some people supported Paterno, others criticized him for his silence in the Jerry Sandusky scandal (which is understandable), but others lashed out with the most disgusting, hateful rhetoric imaginable.

I've had my fair share of critics over the years. People have called me some nasty names. Mostly, people who don't know me. You get used to it after a while, but it still feels bizarre. Challenge peoples' worldviews, and they don't just disagree, they become irate. And the anger turns to hate.

Politics is clearly one of the worst offenders. Political message boards are out of control. Some of the comments I read about Barack Obama literally frighten me. They seem to originate from men and women who are one "spilled milk" joke away from shooting up a post office. I've known liberals who are just as bad. Crazy doesn't discriminate. Psychosis isn't shaded red or blue.

There's a fairly predominate Christian belief that we're all messed up, so that creates an even playing field for everyone. I now disagree. We all have issues. Absolutely. Many of mine are messy. But some people are simply bat-shit crazy. And that distinction needs to be made or society will continue to gravitate toward the lowest common denominator.

It's not normal or okay to anonymously bash strangers online. It's not normal or okay to root for people to spend an eternity in hell. It's not normal or okay to be racist, sexist, or homophobic. It's not normal or okay to be so angry all of the time.

Crazy isn't normal. Crazy is crazy. When we confuse the two, it opens doors that need to stay closed.