Is it really this difficult? Sweet Jeebus, and I am on a progressive web site

[The Straight Story]

I know most here aren't this way but I am seeing things about Tammy Faye here that just really make me wonder.

Here we have a woman dying, who for many years has opposed a liberal agenda, and indeed she was complicit in bilking people out of their money.

We bitch about compassionate conservatism and such, and then when it comes time for us to be compassionate about someone's plight and soon to be death we jump on the bandwagon of 'screw you'. You did not believe my way, so your death is ok with me as well as your suffering.

Is that not the mantra of the RW and their view of people in the ME (not to mention their torture of those who don't believe as they do)?

Here we have a woman who is going through a slow and painful death, and some will rejoice in her pain because she was not subscribed to our beliefs.

'She had it coming' and such really does nothing but make us the RW in LW clothing. Justifying joy at the suffering of others based on their mental state at some time or other seems really sick to me.

I thought the left better than that, more accepting and open minded. People aren't perfect. Hell, I have seen more defense here for a woman who drowned her kids one by one than for Tammy and others.

When we start reveling in the pain and suffering of others based on some moral precept we adopt then we are becoming that which we despise - people with moral absolutes who delight in the suffering of those that don't agree with us.

It is no wonder some people are not bothered by torturing our 'enemies', it is no wonder some delight in the death of people in Iraq, it is no wonder at all to me that there are those who support the whole notion of 'nuke em all' - for I see it far too often in the human mind on both sides.

Delight all you will in the suffering of those who don't share your beliefs. Just don't expect me, and a majority of DU'ers to dance while others are suffering. Unlike the rw, we have real compassion.

You don't have to agree on political issues and agendas to have compassion for someone who is suffering. Compassion is universal - from the Iraqi people to our own people, from the mentally ill to the misguided.

Pain is pain. And I feel for all those who feel it, even if they are my enemy or simply someone who opposes me on ideals.

I won't fall for it on the right, and I sure as well won't fall for it on the left.

WE are the party of compassion, and that is what makes us better. When we lose that, we might as well trade our beliefs into those of the right.

Celebrate the pain of those on the right if you so desire. Me, I will still feel for fellow humans - even if they don't follow my religion or beliefs in this life.

And if that makes me wrong in your eyes, so be it.

[WindRavenX]

1. ok, I'm totally gonna get flamed for this...

...but who is she?

[The Straight Story]

4. PTL Club :)

Her and Jim back in the day were RW preachers.

[WindRavenX]

5. PTL Club?

Was she as bad as Jerry Falwell? Because I'm one of those people who did have a glass of bubbly when I found out he was taking the dirt nap...

[MonkeyFunk]

11. not at all

in fact, she realy disliked Jerry Falwell.

She's a bit wacky, but there's nothing mean about her. She's been a big supporter of the gay community and opposes those Christians who use religion to oppress others.

It's very sad to see her like this.

[WindRavenX]

12. Oh thx for the info!

Cancer is a bitch and now dealing with my (very mormon and conservative) future FIL's brain cancer...it's horrible no matter how many difference you have. I'm getting very tired of seeing pretty good people get tortured by this shit.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. I really recommend

renting the documentary "The Eyes of Tammy Faye". It's very well-done, totally entertaining, and you'll really come to admire her.

[WindRavenX]

15. noted

Thanks very much :hi:

[Mythsaje]

2. I won't sign on to that myself...

I watched a few episodes of the Surreal Life when she was on it with Ron Jeremy and Vanilla Ice and I forget who else. She struck me as a fairly decent person, actually. She didn't LIKE what Ron did, of course, but she wasn't a screaming harridan either.

So she was misguided. A LOT of people are misguided. I feel bad that she's dying the way she is. I wouldn't wish that on anyone...well, except maybe Ann Coulter, but she's a special case. ;)

[EFerrari]

3. Andrea Yates was mentally ill in a society that refuses to deliver

treatment. And she's going to pay for our neglect for the rest of her wretched life.

That's pain, my friend.

[The Straight Story]

7. And the sad thing is - it was on June 20, 2001

After 8 years of a dem in the WH, after 8 years of progress and peace - we had a chance to make the world better, and we got what - "don't ask don't tell" and so on.

Everyone was caught up in dot coms and the stock market, and yet the little people were still going through hell (like she was).

Both parties have been neglecting people, although it seems each side justifies it based on their beliefs at the time.

What bugs me here is that some will dance over the pain of someone who is dying and in terrible pain and justify that because she is not like them, while defending someone else who did something unthinkable to most of us.

Compassion - it's not a one way street - and if it becomes one, then we lose.

[eridani]

6. She changed a lot after getting away from Jim

See the following documentary--http://www.eyesoftammyfaye.com/

[Behind the Aegis]

8. It doesn't surprise me.

Some of the most hateful things I have seen have come from self-proclaimed progressives. Like any other group of people, we have flaws too. Both sides of the political spectrum are often short on compassion.

[hlthe2b]

9. I feel badly for her... she is suffering now and cancer is horrendous

She made major mistakes in her life, but I'm casting no stones at her in her time of severe need for compassion.

[Bluebear]

10. 'we jump on the bandwagon of 'screw you'...we this, we that...

I see an overwhelmingly supportive thread about her with maybe one or two dissenters, what is with the "we"?

[melody]

14. Pain and suffering transcend even the most partisan issues

We're not talking about Pat Robertson here. Tammy Faye and her husband hung out down
in my area for quite awhile and the description I heard of her most often was "very
sweet and very stupid".

One of the things that makes us liberals is our ability to feel compassion for everyone,
not merely those who look, act and think like us.

[Quantess]

16. Whoever said "'She had it coming' and such" does not represent d.u.

I recently found out my estranged ex friend just got a double mastectomy due to breast cancer.
I'm sad for her.:cry: