Yesterday I happened upon a simple piece of advice: “If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, then don’t say it.” Today I would add a corollary: “If you won’t sign it, then don’t send it.”
Where has the world gone that I once knew, a world where people owned up to their thoughts and opinions with dignity and in person? Granted such an approach is much more uncomfortable than lobbing snide remarks over a wall or murmuring from a distance, but who said that life would always be comfortable?
When you must put your name or your face to that which you say or write, you are likely to take more care in crafting your words. If you’re not, then you’ve got some work to do, lest you become a slave to the words you let slip out.
To live a life of honor, you must be willing to be discomfited every now and again. When you are, dare to meet it in the spirit of this old phrase, “Gird up now thy loins like a man!”
Gregory Hake 
Passive aggressiveness has taken the place of the more honorable forms of making a point. Whether you drop a well thought out word, or lead by example, when you care enough to put your name to something, you usually care enough to make sure it is right. The passive aggressive comments behind a pseudonym that have become ubiquitous are a coward’s tool, wielded by those who’s words are not defensible enought to stand up to the inspection of their peers. To put your name to something is saying, “this is what I believe, and you can quote me on it”.
LikeLike
This is really a great checkpoint – to ask yourself, “would I sign and send this?” Behind this even, is looking at the thoughts, perceptions and prejudices we have in our thoughts and hearts about others. I love this consideration because I really do love people and am always disappointed if I allow a less than respectful attitude to develop in myself. Thanks for the reminder that we can express the highest in ourselves.
LikeLike
It’s too bad people can’t govern themselves for all we create out of that is a legal system that is just more complex and then always some level of force has to be used to keep the system in place. Alot of things can be solved with a commitment to self-governance, but that arises out of a personal growth of awareness which many people are simply not too interested in. To temper what comes out of you, you have to temper what comes in to you as well, and people fill themselves with all kinds of confusing and disturbing opinions about things. This creates alot of unnecessary pressure that the mental functions are then forced to sort out, and how can it be done effectively when there is no counterweight of harmony, dignity and decency there to create a fair environment? Anonimity has the potential to strip the personality of our higher, nobler selves and we can indeed become savage, sadly regressing to a very low state.
I like your simple advice, for it is simple and effective, a way to check your self-governance and see if you are happening to slip first, before you fall. Thanks
LikeLike
Agreed. Take the high road!
LikeLike
Reading some blogs or comments on the internt I think the biggest reason people don’t sign their name is they are afraid of being sued for libel or slander. Currently those laws are under serious scrutiny and things will change. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this “wild west” territory once law and order are established. Until then I agree with you if you can’t sIgn your name don’t write it. It’s going to happen all of a sudden and it’ll mean a field day for the legal industry. There is nothing to be gained by spouting off it’s cowardly and immature.
LikeLike
Political correctness has created a mask to hide behind. Many remarks I read cause me to wonder if that is what that person really feels or are they saying it as a means to an end. Revisionist history, mob mentality, corrupt hearts and mental illness are abundant on the Internet, in our print industries and in the political arena. What your suggesting would revolutionary! Thanks for your considerations.
LikeLike