The last 10 years or so has caused me to reconsider my definition of ‘good person’. I used to hang out on an archery/bowhunting forum (traditional archer and self-bowyer), and back then, I thought, “We all want pretty much the same thing, but Conservatives and Liberals differ on how to get there.”

Sure, there were some assholes who thought I was an awful person for being a Liberal, but mostly they got marginalized. We had healthy debates, but generally we treated each other with respect.

Then Obama was elected. And they went nuts. A lot of folks I thought of as ‘good people’ turned out to be totally racist types who said things like “Trayvon Martin chose the thug life, so he died a thug death”. or some of the more vile caricatures of Michelle Obama. People I thought of as more rational than the others there went total wingnut, right down to the ‘Bathhouse Barry’ stuff - while simultaneously also believing him to be a secret Muslim. The shit finally got too deep for me in about 2010. I look in occasionally, and it’s gotten worse.

So, how does one define a ‘good person’? Somebody who works hard, donates money and time to charity, is generous and friendly, would give you the shirt off his back if you were in need?

Okay, what if that person calls Muslims ‘Sand N*gg*rs’? Or agrees that all those countries where nonwhite people live are ‘Shithole Countries’? Or spouts other overtly racist bullshit? Still a good person?

Maybe it’s not as simple as ‘good people’ and ‘bad people’.