A few weeks ago I got suckered. I read this amazing post about a person who had been fat-shamed publicly online while minding her own business at a baseball game. A trainer had called her out on his Facebook page and, having caught wind of the post, the victim hit back and wrote a wonderful piece about how she was on a journey of weightloss; working toward a more healthful lifestyle, but remembering to enjoy the present. It was a wonderful message, reminding all of us that we don’t know where someone is on their journey in life. I posted it on my Facebook page because I found it inspiring.
A day or two later, I found out that it was all a fraud. A blogger, know to many as the anti-Jared, had seen the trainer’s post and decided that since he knew someone who had experienced something similar, HE would take on the persona of the victim, whom he did not know. I felt icky, used, misled. I was told that he does this from time to time and that anyone who follows his blog knows this. I, along with millions of others, do NOT know or follow his blog. I, along with millions of others was duped into believing an inspirational story that turned out to be nothing more than a ploy to go viral – which is why I will NOT link to it.
He later offered a non-apology to those who felt they were misled…kind of a “I’m sorry that you misunderstood, but…” kind of apology. I hate that kind of crap. It passes blame to the very people who deserve an apology and exonerates the person who perpetrated the misdeed…
In the end, his tactics only hurt the cause. His post could have been just as powerful had he opened with a disclaimer.
To the anti-Jared, the ends justified the means…
The ends should NEVER justify the means.
***
As I was contemplating this post, I saw two anti-vax memes. Now, as many of you are aware, I am a proponent of vaccines. I hear the arguments of those who are adamantly against vaccines and those who advocate a choice and I still feel like the best course is the one we are on. But this post is not about the debate whether one is for or against vaccines; it’s to ask, do the ends justify the means? The posts I saw were from a heartless, dark souled woman who goes by the name Tenpenny. In one meme she compared getting vaccinated to getting raped. She had posted it several times because, she said, that whether we agreed with the message or not, it was promoting discussion. To her, it didn’t matter that she was belittling the experience of millions of woman who have been brutally violated.
Let me be clear – you and I may or may not agree on vaccines. Some of us want them; some of us don’t. Nobody wants to be raped.
Her second meme asked, if the rise in autism was a result of better diagnoses, where were all of the nonverbal autistic adults walking around in diapers and helmets. I stared at the screen waiting for what I saw to change into something, anything else. Forget the fact that she has a distorted view of pre-verbal autistic individuals – to her it doesn’t matter that she insults and belittles an entire portion of the population, making massive assumptions.
To her, the ends justify the means. To get her message across, she doesn’t care who she hurts.
The ends should NEVER justify the means.
I thought about posting the two memes here so you could see just how awful and repugnant they were, but upon further consideration, I thought better.
***
I am sure that along the way, I have been guilty of some questionable posts. I hope I have never done anything as egregious as the anti-Jared or Dr. Tenpenny. If I have (or do in the future), call me on it, please. Unless I am able to justify the means on their own, independent from the ends, I will take down the post and apologize profusely. I expect no such apology from the soulless, attention seeking types like the anti-Jared or Dr. Tenpenny.
Run Luau Run 