What the heck is a birther anyway?

In case you didn’t know, a ‘birther’ is a title given to people who theorize that President Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States of America [wiki]. Since no one really can say they saw a legitimate birth certificate other than a few ‘sources’, I say it’s an interesting theory. I won’t say I’m a complete follower of that logic, but that’s not what this article is about.

It’s about labels that we as people – or the media – put on people. Birther, left-wing, nutjob, hater, player, pro-life, baby killer, terrorist … the list goes on from some really dag nasty titles to some silly ones. The end result, however, is not what you think.

(Note: I’m a conspiracy theorist, which most people automatically label as ‘nut job’)

Labels are not meant to group people but to keep us segregated. Keep us from joining together. It’s a ploy. Just think about the initial reaction your mind has to the word ‘birther’. The condensation leaves you feeling … dirty. Then, read the first few lines on Wikipedia. ‘Conspiracy theory’. If they can make people instantly feel mistrust to people labeled as a birther (or a myriad of other words for other people) than you start looking at anyone labeled as thus with distain.

Look at what the African Americans had to deal with for years with the ‘nigger’ title. That’s not a pretty word. It did not evoke good feelings. There are so many other titles as well for other people: cracker, spooky, chink, spic … the list goes on and all these are not terms of endearment.

Can we stop the names? We play into the hands of the circle of power when we sit back and throw these around like they are people’s names.

Then you have to sit back and realize: once they have you scared of a title, it’s easy to start lumping them together. For instance, Homeland Security lumps a LOT of groups into ‘terrorist’ that don’t belong there. Anti-abortionists, pro-gun, free-thinkers who don’t sit back and lap up every word the government and media say .. all dropped under ‘terrorist’.

So what happens when the war on terror comes to you door because you believe in God? Or you eat meat? You spank your child?

No, I’m not being sarcastic. Those are possibilities and probabilities.

What can we do to stop the extreme?