There was something about the middle-of-the-herd animals that range the American religiopolitical Serengeti that bothered me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It’s just that the roving beasts that seem content to slap flies with their tails from the middle of the memories of elephants, dazzles of zebras, the prides of lions, and crashes of rhinos (I googled those terms, so they’re legit) seem so downright comfortable in their positional mediocrity.
In other words, there are tons of people who are content to rest in the middle of any important religious, political, or cultural issue and straddle the fence like some kind of inert, unmoving bronc horse. They just kind of sit there, pleased with their thoughtless position, self-assured that if they’re wrong on an issue they can’t be that wrong. I mean, they’re in the middle. The middle is a place for lazy thinkers, or for those who genuinely don’t think at all, but it seems to come with a sense of self-righteousness. Those in the middle seem confident that theirs is somehow the safe, moral, high road. After all, to not be in the middle is too extreme. And being extreme is bad, right?
I couldn’t quite put my finger on the disgust I feel for those perpetually in the middle, who have chosen the default Non-Player Character (NPC) position on almost all subjects and who look down at those of us who dare to think out a position that takes us outside the herd.
And then I saw a meme from Sovereign Nations that put it into words, a quotation from Michael O’Fallon that was astute.
I said on my Facebook page…
Most societally accepted evil – things like slavery, the Holocaust, or abortion – historically prevailed because people who did not necessarily agree kept quiet in order to remain in the ‘polite middle.’
The fear of being ‘radical’ or ‘unreasonable’ has kept a lot of damning foolishness in vogue.
In the Southern Baptist Convention and in most other evangelical institutions, we are faced with great evils. Wickedness prevails from our entities and institutions. And yet the greatest problem is trying to get men of perennial non-action to do something besides snuggle into a warm place in the polite middle.
Often times, these well-meaning men simply aren’t thinkers. They just presume that the middle ground is most honorable. And if it’s not, at least there’s plenty of company.
Rogues and revolutionaries are always portrayed by them as “zealots” and “dangerous men.” And dangerous we are, no doubt, depending upon the perspective of our enemies. But men in the middle are a danger to no one, including those who are gumming their tongues at the herd in salivation of impending supper.
I also took to my public figure page to share another thought.
Listen. There are people on the right, and we will fight until the bloody end because we believe truth.
Then there are people on the left who will fight until the bloody end because they believe lies.
And then there are about 90% remaining who think they’re virtuous and on the moral high ground for staying out of the fight.
They are not virtuous. They are not moral. They are awful and should get out of the way.
In times of crisis and pivotal importance, those who insist on being in the middle – which is obviously the popular position, because that’s where the popular position always is – are truly useless to the cause of righteousness.
Those in the middle of the herd rely upon those who aren’t to take the barbs and gnashing teeth of the predators. And all the while, they ridicule those not in the middle of the herd as zealots, while the zealots are fighting back the hyenas and saving their stupid carcasses whether they like it or not.
I’m afraid my African wildlife analogy has reached the point of no return. Hopefully you get the point.
The middle position is rarely the right one, and the ones who think there is virtue found in the middle are usually the stupid ones.
