Don't Shoot the Messenger!

Why do people like to shoot the messengers?

Writing is a message. Whether it's in a bottle or an email, or sent with love or a stamp, it's a message. Writers write those messages.

Disagreement is all right. Dissension is all right. But, to flame a writer for their stand? Going a little overboard!

As a writer, I know that I will write a piece that at least one person won't agree with. I can handle that. I can handle it if several hundred people disagree with it. But, to figuratively shoot the messenger on a personal level is not getting to the heart of why you found the message so wrong.

As an example: I wrote a general piece about religion. It was an essay, and its point was to encourage everyone to take a stand for what they believed. That, unless they actually stood for their beliefs, those around them would assume that they believed the same way. If it meant taking time off from work - and in most cases it isn't a hardship for the employer, so you can request it - then I suggested that they make sure they take the time off.

The outcry was horrendous! I heard from employers who didn't want their people to know that they could ask for - and normally receive - time off for religious reasons. Others, more fundamental than I, wanted to know what I specifically believed that I could say such a thing. Still others ignored the facts I had in there and cursed at me, either figuratively by using all caps or by literal words.

Shoot the messenger! Shoot the messenger!

Is it that people don't really want to know what the messenger is bringing? Do they think that by getting rid of (or shaming or shouting down) the messenger that the message will go away? After all these years, I find it mind-boggling that so many people desire to be ignorant.

Wouldn't you rather be "in the know", even if it's painful? I know I would!

But, even if you don't, please don't shoot the messenger. Be specific why you don't like the message, but don't shoot the messenger!