Both sides are to blame for the angry rhetoric within this cursed dwelling

It feels like things are broken.

Things are broken, yes. But it doesn't have to be that way.

In wake of recent horrific events, there has been a lot of negativity spewed back and forth between both sides of the spectrum. Yet no matter how much anger thrown in the other direction, those we oppose never seem to relent. And why is that? Is it because we are incapable of changing our minds? Are we truly so stubborn that we cannot fathom the validity of another viewpoint?

I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that both sides of this haunting debate are to blame for the rise in angry rhetoric.

After the temperature in the house dropped drastically last week, Great Aunt Evelyn was quick to blame the spirit of the house's former resident for inflicting its current residents with bone-chilling terror. But what she refused to acknowledge was that the family failed to consider the spirit's wishes when they entered the house, seeking a fresh start. Her rhetoric in blaming the long-dead homeowner was understandable, but unfair.

The specter of the past was also blamed when blood began to pour from the walls of the living room as young Billy was playing with his train set. There was plenty of coverage of poor Billy's terrified screams and viscous slime that could not be scrubbed from the faded wallpaper. What the media failed to mention was that moments before, Billy brazenly told his older sister that he "doesn't believe in ghosts." Hardly the non-partisan figure that the news wants you to think he is.

While I don't agree with the angry spirit's decision to unleash a murder of crows from the fireplace while the family was eating dinner, one cannot deny the matriarch's blatant hypocrisy. She claims to want peace, yet sows discord by opening an ancient text she found hidden in the library. Maybe if she hadn't woken a torrent of misery by accidentally uttering incantation found inside the book, her children wouldn't have been viciously pecked by dozens of cawing birds.

What we say matters.

While the father and husband was correct in screaming "I JUST WANT YOU TO LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE" into the bathroom mirror, it is his rhetoric that I have issue with. He, and not the vengeful ghost, was the one who yelled "bastard" as he hurled a brass soap dish at the mirror, causing it to shatter. I don't care how many of your children were trapped in their bedrooms without an escape, nothing gives you the right to wail at an unseen entity like that.

The point of this post is not to point fingers, or even show how both sides are wrong. I want to show that both sides are right. The feelings on both sides, including those manifested in the form of creepy-crawlies underneath the floorboards, are real. The terrifying ghoul that haunts this house may be traumatizing this innocent family, but that doesn't make it okay to be mean back.

Have the parents even considered sacrificing just one of their children's souls? If they simply met in the middle, civility may just be restored.

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