George was one of the smartest, funniest, most talented people I knew. He was a brilliant actor. He was an empath—he felt things deeply. He had been threatening to kill himself for several years; he had AIDS and had been close to death once and refused to get that sick again. He had taken acting lessons from Jeff Goldblum, star of JURASSIC PARK. Goldblum said, “George, this business will destroy you.” So George gave up acting, telling me Goldblum was right: George was so sensitive, the slamming doors of Hollywood would break him. I did not disagree.
Politics became George’s religion—as it often does for the non-religious. George became an activist. On the web, my charming friend became a monster spewing murderous rage. George was the king of trolls, spending six to eight hours every night fighting over his pet causes. Sometimes he told me about the battles he was having and I am convinced many of these websites were not real, but were part of the known Russian propaganda machine designed to polarize American voters[1].
Then came COVID-19, global shutdowns, riots and arson in cities all over America, the death of George Floyd, and the ramp-up to the 2020 elections, and George’s anger and anxiety exploded beyond all control. Finally he chose to kill himself by swallowing a dosage of drugs he knew would kill him.
But it was quarrelling on the internet that pushed him to add murder to his sins. (Yes, suicide is murder.)
“A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that is not his is like one who grabs a mad dog by the ears” Proverbs 26:17.
If you want peace in your life, STAY OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S ARGUMENTS!
Will you end up like George? Probably not. He had many problems. But I believe if he had spent less time scrolling and trolling, he would be alive and well today. Had social media not yet been invented, I am certain he would remain among the living.
Stay out of other people’s arguments, both online and in-person.
Life is too short to spend your time fighting about the same things day-after-day.
ΑΩ
[1] See the documentary film, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA.
Household Words: 