Bully

I was a kid a long time ago. I got bullied a few times, and, probably, I bullied some folks along the way. I thought being bullied was a part of the growing up process. I think I still think that. . .at least to some degree.

But now, Wow! Bullying is becoming a way of life. As much as “everyone” speaks out against bullying, one would think “everyone” understood the issue. Not so.  Bullying is no longer limited to the school yard or a back alley. It is now a corporate activity. Let me share just one, or two, examples here. There are many, many more, and I don’t think the worsening problem will get any better any time soon.

The NBA announced Thursday that negotiations had failed. In a statement the league said it had been trying to work for months with officials in North Carolina to “foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change” concerning the controversial law known as HB2, which has been widely criticized as discriminatory against LGBT people. Those efforts had met with resistance and so the NBA played a card it had threatened to throw down months before, taking the 2017 All-Star Game—with all its fanfare and economic impact—to another state. Republican Governor Pat McCrory responded by calling the move “[politically correct] B.S.” (TIME)

If this isn’t bullying, I misunderstand the term, the action, the problem. And it is just one point of the difficulty. There was a time when “live and let live” was the style of the day. Now, one might just be stopped from living because of what they believe, or choose as a profession, or how they relate governmentally to others. It is a sad, sad time.

When Sports teams announce that they will “have it their way, or no way,” they are school yard bullies beating up – not on “States” – but on people who live and work and are supplied by the commerce that takes place around them.

Most “protest groups” are involved in the same process. Either they will have it their way, or they will begin the destruction of your way.”

Amos 8:11 has come again upon us.