Thursday, February 24, 2011

twisting the facts to fit our beliefs

Twisting the Facts to Fit our Beliefs.
 
My grandmother Jarvis was an Abraham Lincoln Republican.  She could never be convinced that times had changed and so had the Grand Old Party. 
Grandma had worked hard all of her life and was proud of her contributions.  But she was born in 1874 and by the time social security came around she was never covered.  She lived her retirement years receiving an Old Age Pension.  It was a disgustingly pitiful dribble of money and my dad and his sister constantly slid her money under the table, since any monetary gift would be deducted from her monthly stipend.  But Grandma voted for Hoover and Wilke and Dewey.  She always voted against social legislation, but she lived in subsidized housing with her heat and electricity furnished by the tax payers. 
Grandma developed cataracts and Macular Degeneration in her later years.  The cataracts were removed at taxpayers expense and her treatments, such as they were in the 50's, were also free to her. 
Grandma never questioned this.  After all, it was her due. 
You see, grandma found the facts that supported her beliefs.  And she rejected the facts that might have proven her beliefs wrong. 
But this is not behavior that is limited to folks of the conservative persuasion. 
I have been known to twist a fact or two to make them fit my own Radical beliefs.  But of course I have the Truth Everlasting, so it's okay for me. 
 
Curious Carl

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