Tradition

I was catching up on blog reading and came across a posting seemingly in response to my November 22 post, "Tradition."

This blogger seemed to think that tradition should be abolished. He cited examples of tradition gone wrong, such as slavery and Holocaust.

My first response: How the hell is holocaust a tradition?

Then I got a little annoyed. Why do people only read the parts they want? I carefully worded my post to point out that some traditions are comforting.

But anyway, that's not the point. The point is, tradition is a coin. Good and bad. Ohio State-Michigan? Good(especially when we win). Wholesale killing? Bad.

I have always abhorred when people do things because that's the way they've always been done. That's where my problem with most of the world's religions lies (though wholesale killing by a few of the monotheistic ones and hypocrisy also bother me). If you're going to do something stupid/mean/evil/just-plain-wrong, at least do it for reasons you can justify to yourself.

I'm a firm believer in thinking for yourself, going your own way, marching to the beat of your own drummer, and all the other cliches that indicate actual thought. But sometimes, usually on a Saturday in November, I just want an excuse to yell at the TV.