The Spoilers In Shelfari Book Groups

Yesterday I received an email invitation to join a new book group at Shelfari. I don't remember what the name of the group was, but the idea behind it was that there are some books which aren't great literature and will probably not make it to bestseller lists, but they still have an appeal. People in this group were encouraged to share their "finds" in this area. The Administrator of the group started off with a recommendation of her own -- a book I'd never heard of, but I decided to check into it at some point. I often stray from the bestseller list, so this group sounded great to me.

I got interrupted and had to leave my computer before I was finished looking around at who else had joined the group, although this one was really new. It had only been in existence for about 7 hours, so there weren't many introduction messages written by other members. Today I went back to check the group out further since I had received a note at my Shelfari site from the leader of this group thanking me for joining. She hadn't been the one to invite me -- one of my other Shelfari friends had done that, and I'd check out anything "Julie" recommended because we share some of the same tastes in books.

The first introduction message I read was enough for me. I resigned from the group immediately and deleted all references to it from my profile/message page. There are groups I will not join nor will I read any of the posts they contain because of certain members who got there before me. If those people join after me, I leave. Reading is one of the things I enjoy most in this world. The exchange of ideas, for me, is inherent in book discussions. I won't belong to a group that allows bigotry or outright stupidity no matter what the cause. And one of those causes, for me, is what political party I subscribe to.

The person who introduced herself in this new group said that she has no friends because she recently moved to a part of Ohio where she's surrounded by McCain-Palin signs. She said the "Christian zealots" were getting to her. Since it wasn't my group, I didn't feel as though I could answer her properly right then and there. Instead I'll do it here at my own place where I don't have to consider anyone's opinion other than my own before letting loose on the rant. Although why I should have been mindful of my etiquette when she certainly wasn't mindful of hers is a mystery, but why dump this problem on an administrator who just wanted to start a book discussion. AND, to my way of thinking, had a darn good, original idea for a group in which to do it.

I don't live in Ohio, nor do I have McCain-Palin signs all over my lawn or my car. However, I strongly support the McCain-Palin ticket because for as long as I've been on this earth (and I'm OLD), I've never met a Liberal (I call 'em Fibberals) Ticket I could live with. It's my opinion that Fibbies are forever running around pointing fingers, flapping their jaws, whining, and generally telling HUGE whoppers about the state of the world, who caused it to get that way, and the solutions that will fix it. In this particular election why anyone would be all excited about having a presidential candidate who has 5 minutes experience being a Senator, ties to a domestic terrorist, and has received voluminous illegal campaign funds from the internet when he made an agreement to accept government funds and then reneged on it is beyond my comprehension. Never mind he chose as his running mate a plagiarist who is well known for sticking his foot in his mouth and chomping away on it. In my opinion Joe Biden is the dumbest white man on the face of the earth if you first exclude Michael Moore. BUT, these are my opinions. Would I express them in a book group designed to talk about books that aren't bestsellers but deserve to be read? Would I insult other members of the group before I even knew who they were? Would I assume that everyone else in the group agreed with my opinion no matter how narrow-minded and bigoted it might be? OF COURSE NOT!

Some years ago I was in a hospital in The Beltway. The hospital staff was made up of many different ethnic groups. The patients were the only white faces on the floor where I was being treated. An ambulance driver, a white man, started a conversation with me in which he did one of those nudge, nudge, wink, wink things as he talked about how this hospital only hired "those kinds of people" and how he wouldn't be comfortable allowing "them" to take care of him. I was appalled at his assumption that it was okay to talk to me like this because he assumed I believe the same thing he does. I don't share his racist, bigoted opinions, and I was offended that he thought I did based, I suppose, upon the obvious fact that I'm white.

I felt the same way today as I did way back then when I read that ignorant fool's comments about Christian zealots. Just who does she think she is to assume that it's okay to make remarks about conservatives like that? And by what right does she assume everyone else will agree with her?

I don't want to belong to a group where, before I've even met anyone, the notion is put on the floor that to be conservative is a bad thing. In a further discussion, the Fibbie went on to tell the Administrator that if any of her post had to be deleted, she'd understand. The Administrator responded that she wouldn't be deleting any of the post because the woman was just describing herself and what she believes. To some extent, that's true. She did lay it all out there for the rest of us as to what she thinks. What she did NOT do is consider the time and place where her opinions are appropriate. I enjoy political discourse and debates about ideas, but I won't waste any of my time hanging out in a group with someone who declares herself friendless because she's surrounded by conservatives/Christian zealots. My response to her is, Honey, if you don't have any friends because of politics, you need an attitude adjustment. It's a sad, sad state when politics is the only criteria upon which friendships can be built. In my opinion, it shows a highly refined state of ignorance to declare up front that being surrounded by conservatives makes you friendless. YOU make you friendless, dear... conservatives have nothing to do with it.

It is kind of disappointing, though. I may have enjoyed that group. Then again, maybe not. I don't know what kind of participation Ms Friendless will have in this new group nor do I know what her reading habits are. More to the point, though? I really don't care.