Interesting . . . that was my take away from a recent discussion I participated in on Facebook.

This season, unfortunately, brings out more intense, emotionally-charged comments which often seem rude and offensive and “discussions” often leave me wishing I had not participated because of the negativity and lack of respect shown for others.

However, the most interesting thoughts I had after the most recent exchange were not related to the subject of the discussion . . . which, of course, was political—
• it surprised me how much the comments gave me insight into the person’s relationship with God and what he/she thought God was like
• it gave a pretty clear picture of the level of “trust in God” versus “self sufficiency” and how that would play out in the person’s view of the world we live in
• it gave a measure of how separate the person’s political/secular world was from his/her “God”
• it would seem that the motive for the comment could determine the emotional involvement (of course, personality would be a part of this as well)–but, posting to share an opinion with the idea of exploring other’s ideas would be different than one posting with the idea of trying to change another’s opinion (changing another’s opinion, realistically, is unlikely)

I am sure a person skilled in human behavior analysis would be able to draw some interesting insights about each person based solely on the comments.

Most of those involved in the discussion were strangers to me so I have no way of knowing if my “insights” were accurate or not but, at the very least, they were interesting
AND
it made me stop to think about what my comments said about me and whether or not my comments would reflect what I believe and Who I believe in . . . interesting!!!