I was a pretty late-comer to Twitter. Initially, it seemed faddy and pointless, and not really my scene, but when I eventually joined I began to see its benefits. Depending on who you follow, it's a good way of keeping up with the news, it can teach you interesting things or show you amusing content, and it's a wonderfully democratic system. One of my favourite Twitter moments was when the Pope decided to create an official account, and thanked everyone for following him. Irish writer Graham Linehan responded with something along the lines of "Hey, don't fucking mention it!"
Where else except Twitter could you swear directly at the Pope?!
It's because of this direct contact between everyone, famous or otherwise, that I ended up in an argument with Nick Searcy, who plays Deputy Chief Art Mullen in TV's "Justified."
Here he is in the time-honoured TV police chief act of "looking displeased with subordinates."
I'm a big fan of "Justified," so was surprised when the journalist Tony Ortega implied that a cast member had refused an interview because of his right-wing views. Clicking the link, it turned out that Nick Searcy's Twitter feed is basically a long list of him referring to atheists as "shit eating pussies," or similar. When Ortega asked to interview him about his Twitter feed and unusually blunt style of interaction with the public, Searcy refused, saying that he didn't trust Ortega's publication and that he thought he'd be referred to as a bigot or a right-winger.
Having checked Searcy's twitter feed, I initially posted the fairly innocuous comment that I was going to start a game where participants have to drink every time Nick Searcy tweets the words "fucking," "atheist," "shit-eating" or "pussy."
Don't actually attempt this game, by the way. It would almost certainly be fatal.
Because of that, I started following the whole thing as it unravelled.
Searcy tweeted the following:
I think he was aiming for sarcasm, there. Saying that only pussies hide their identity. But, as I pointed out:
My grammatical quibbling provoked a response.
I was pretty sure all Bibles are the same...
First of all, yes, that does actually happen in the Bible. And secondly, yes, zing, I just made fun of a bald guy. It's also worth pointing out that the limitations of the 140-character medium mean it's hard to make a joke work properly, so my phrasing wasn't ideal. "Or were you secretly hoping for that to happen again?" would have worked way better, but was over my word-limit.
Searcy, by the way, didn't respond after that.
So, on the one hand, I got into a minor spat with a TV actor and got off a pretty good joke at his expense.
Then I got to thinking.
See, I like "Justified." And I like Nick Searcy in it. I think he's a good actor. I just don't agree with him on politics or religion. Going back to the incident that started the whole thing, Tony Ortega asked him for an interview and he said no, because he thought Ortega would paint him as a right-wing bigot.
Ortega then posted an article with the headline "Nick Searcy Asked Us Not To Call Him ... 'Ultra-Con[servative]' Or 'Bigot.'"
Searcy was then 100% correct to point out that he never asked not to be referred to in those terms. He didn't ask anything at all. He merely stated that he was unwilling to submit to an interview and gave his reasons.
Searcy, by the way, has an adopted son who is black, so I think it's fair to say he's not a bigot. I'd argue that he IS right-wing, but then he seems to think (based on some more Twitter digging) that right-wing views and fascism are about telling people what to do, which he is against, and which he thinks the Democratic party are guilty of. And again, I agree with his feelings, if not his logic. I hate when the government (in any country) starts telling people how to live their lives.
As soon as I stepped outside my little Twitter-bubble and made an effort to see things his way (ie: from the point of view of an actor whose work I like) I realised we probably had far more in common than I'd initially assumed. Sure, he's unpleasant to atheists like me, but then how many times do people tweet him to give him shit about being religious? I can't imagine how snappy I'd get if I constantly had religious people telling me I was an idiot for not believing. He's also probably right that anonymously sending someone abuse is cowardly. (For the record, my Twitter handle is my full name.)
I think anyone who believes in a god is at best misguided and at worst actively damaging their lives and those of others around them. But then, religious people probably feel the same about unbelievers like me. I think Nick Searcy's Twitter feed is unpleasant an unoriginal, but then the messages he gets are probably unpleasant and unoriginal, too.
The more I think about it, the more I feel that Twitter is one of the worst culprits when it comes to entrenching positions. You can't make a reasoned, nuanced argument in 140 characters or less. It's impossible when it comes to issues as big as theology or the governance of a country. This means that any Twitter interaction on complex subjects is rapidly reduced to pointless sniping and cartoonishly simplified arguments.
So I'm going to do my best from now on to stay out of Twitter arguments, because they're pointless. I'd advise Nick Searcy to do the same; it's possible he's just a complete asshole, but I suspect that he's actually not a bad guy. He's not a guy I agree with about much, but that doesn't mean anything. We're all flawed and human and as such we need to stop letting the physical and psychological divisions created by the internet goad us into petty squabbles. Maybe you have a totally different political or religious viewpoint from someone you know and like in real life - if you'd met that person on Twitter you'd probably be sending each other snarky and unpleasant messages instead of being friends.
And Nick, wherever you are out there, I don't believe in God. I'm in favour of socialism. But I understand why you get pissed off on Twitter, I also hate overbearing government, and I still think you're good in "Justified."
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