Recognizing The Foolish!

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning. Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright. The wise fear the LORD and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure. A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated. Proverbs 14:6-9, 16, 17 NIV

What is a mocker? A person who makes fun of others--appearances, values, and beliefs. They attempt to humiliate at every turn, thinking themselves to be superior to others.

One example of a mocker is the atheist who makes fun of other Believers. They say things like: our praying to an invisible God may as well as be praying to a spaghetti monster. Another example of a mocker is someone who makes fun of another person's disabilities by exaggerating facial expressions, voice tones, or movements. And then these mockers think--they are wise in their own sight.

The "wise in their own sight" are often looked upon as being foolish because they never listen to others when people attempt to admonish them because of their attitudes or behavior. We see this every day--those who think they know something when they don't.

I  (and many others) am extremely offended by the latest attempts of Donald Trump to "reach out to African Americans" on a number of levels. First of all, he's not reaching out to a group of people when none of them are in his immediate presence. Secondly, if he wants to "reach" people, he might want to start off with more factual information about who they are rather than statistics that are easily debunked. Using a broad stroke of overgeneralization to describe any group of people is insensitive and negates the accomplishments or achievements of others within that group. What he said was racist and derogatory. Not all Black Americans are living in poverty; not all Black Americas are ignorant or stupid (the underlying meaning of his saying, "your schools are no good"), and most of the young people--the teens (his 58%) are high school students who are concentrating on avenues that will earn them scholarships for college.

His entire speech about reaching out to African Americans was mocking.  "What do you have to lose taking a chance on Trump?" Considering the ethnic persuasion of the audience he was addressing at his rally, he wasn't talking to Black Americans. His campaign manager, Kellyann states, "all his rallies are open to the public and African Americans can attend." This is particularly interesting when a man--with brown skin--of Native American heritage was removed from one of his rallies.

Reiterating his approach, "What the hell do you have to lose?" We lose the hell altogether that a Trump presidency represents and keep reaching for heaven--knowing there are no racists there. In recent news--a white man--claiming to belong to racist group--admitted to stabbing a black man when saw the man kissing a white woman. Not that their relationship was any of his business, but he took upon himself to try to kill a man simply because of his skin color. That's what the foolish evoke in others--that's what Trump ideology is creating in a society in which many of us had hoped was behind us. So, no--we don't want Trump's brand of anything and that will ring loud and clear on November 8th.

And this is how we recognize the foolish--when they do really stupid things--in a public forum and think they are believable. Love trumps hate and mockery!