Jim Hite

I heard a very interesting news item this past week.

As you are well aware, swine flu has been a hot news topic for several months and continues to be so. And like most news items, it has been and continues to be controversial as regards the vaccine. From the delay in getting the vaccine to the public to the debate over its safety, hardly a day goes by without some mention of the H1N1 virus.

I use the H1N1 advisedly. It seems that this is the virus' real identifying name. Swine flu has become a quick ID chosen by the media, and according to reports, those in the medical community have been somewhat surprised that it was so readily accepted.

However, you may have noticed that headlines and news stories are using H1N1 more frequently in trying to change the public's perception.

According to the above news item, this flu virus has nothing to do with pigs. Yet much of the public has decided to avoid purchasing pork of any kind. The boycott has been so strong that the financial loss to the pork industry thus far is nearing the $1 billion mark with one in six pork producers in danger of bankruptcy.

Fascinating! A panic reaction that has nothing to do with the event in question!

But while to most this reaction seems silly, to those so reacting, it is deadly serious. History is filled with similar examples from the Israelites tiring of the wait for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai to the blindly confrontational approach of today's political and religious atmosphere.

What seems to be missing is, simply put, thought.

A better reaction than panic would be to ask: Does this make sense? Is it logical? What is behind the news story? What is the source of information? Applying this to the political and religious divides, has attacking the "other" been done for the purpose of understanding or for the purpose of building up one side's views by denigrating the other's?

While it may be somewhat of a leap to go from a flu virus to confrontation, there is a connection since both deal with how people react to something or someone.

Maybe we can apply to such confrontation a saying I first heard decades ago up in the mountains of North Carolina: "He who throws dirt always loses ground."