Religion, Politics and the Great Pumpkin

"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin" -- Linus Van Pelt

As you can tell from my first post, I try to keep conversations, especially online, positive, which is not always easy.

Social media have been a great blessing in so many ways. Facebook especially has allowed me to keep in contact with faraway folks, to reconnect with others and to meet still others.

A few years ago I noticed something: not all of my Facebook friends "liked" the same pages. It turns out some of my friends are Democrats, some are Republicans, some are neither. Some are Christians, some are atheists, some are any of number of other affiliations or none at all.

Sometimes, folks will post pictures or words saying something good and positive having to do with their religious, political or philosophical ideals, which I think is great. On the other hand, sometimes people post negative things about people with whom they disagree. Some do this in order to start discussions with people. Unfortunately, these discussions very often degenerate into arguments. I've never been one who enjoyed arguing. 

Now, I'm not saying we should reduce social media to pictures of cats (I'm a dog person anyway) and what you had for dinner. That would be pretty boring.

Let's take a look at religion. I'm an Episcopalian. A lot of the things I post on social media are about the funnier aspects of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. As far as religious groups go, Episcopalians are pretty funny ("Wherever three or four are gathered, there is always a fifth."). I don't post these things to try to convert people to my church and certainly don't use them to degrade other religions. It's just funny!

Now let's talk politics. Criticizing public figures is a little different from folks who are in private life. Saying you dislike or disagree with a politician is one thing. Saying people are stupid for voting for a given politician or party makes it personal.

Full disclosure: A while back I decided I would post on Twitter more if I used it for political posts. I did. I realized I wasn't really posting any more because of it and I wasn't adding anything to the conversation. I quit and rarely tweet any more.

Don't tell me what awful things the politician you don't like does. Tell about the good things the politicians you support do. Don't degrade other people's belief or lack thereof. Tell us the positive things you or people who hold your beliefs do. And don't forget the funny stuff! Everything is better with a good laugh.

Social media can be so wonderful, but if we all can remember to respect one another's ideas, it can be downright spifftacular!

Now about the Great Pumpkin...

Spifftacularity!

Hi!

I'm John and I'm spifftacular. Or at least I try to be.

I know I'm not the only person to use the word "spifftacular"--in fact someone else already registered "spifftacular" on Blogspot (hence this blog is "Spifftacularity"). I had never heard it before I came up with it, so for my purposes, it's my own word.

Technically, it's called a portmanteau, which is a kind of suitcase with two sections. In linguistics, a portmanteau is two words combined to make a new word. Humpty Dumpty explains this to Alice in Through the Looking-Glass regarding some of the words in "Jabberwocky", such as "slithy" (slimy and lithe).

Spifftacular is, obviously, "spiffy" and "spectacular" in one. I use this word sometimes when asked how I am. Sometimes I just say it. Sometimes I'm just being funny. Sometimes I'm just trying to cheer someone up. Sometimes that person is me.

Yesterday, I went to the cleaners to drop off my shirts. I've been using that cleaners since they opened around 2006. I drop off my shirts every Friday and pick them up every Tuesday. The staff there know me and always greet me with a big smile. When the customer before me is difficult and it stresses the staff member out, I always wait for that customer to leave and then I let them vent to me. Having worked with the public for most of my adult life, I know that it can be very difficult. They know this and know it's safe to talk to me. As I said, I usually pick up my shirts on Tuesday, but I often will ask for them to be ready to pick up on Monday, just in case there's a problem and they need an extra day. The young lady behind the counter asked when I would like my shirts back. I told her Monday was fine. Her reply was "Spifftacular!"

I guess I've been a good influence.