JOE PRENTIS WEBSITE

I’M OFFENDED THAT YOU’RE OFFENDED

The launching of Blindsided, a Young Adult novel.

If your heart isn’t in the right place, you’re going to be offended by some of the passages in Blindsided. One of my favorite pictures is a poster that shows an adult down of one knee trying a little boy’s shoelace. The caption says, “You will never stand as tall as when you bend to help a child.” There are a lot of things in the world that the haters hate. The rest of us have to endure more than we should or become like them. The LGBT movement is not something I completely understand, but I know there are many who believe they were born in the wrong body. I don’t understand people who shoot up churches, or the ones who bring about a massacre in a school filled with teachers and students. I don’t understand road rage, or racial intolerance, or the people who hate the members of another religion. There are other things I understand and wish they could be different. Why someone would want to bully another person because they are different leaves me sad and somewhat puzzled. It also seems that the people who know better are the worse offenders. Here is something to seriously consider. God did not burden you with the task of changing the world. Your assignment is to help those that need a helping hand, and you can find some of them around your doorstep. If you want to change the world, it can only be done by performing one small act of kindness after another.

I received a notice from the moderator of one forum informing me that Blindsided was too controversial to post my promotional notice on her forum. She also sent me a copy of Yahoo’s TOS as if she was brandishing a weapon. Blindsided deals with bullying, and the problems that occur when someone is perceived as being different from the norm. Some of our young people are going to read Blindsided and say, “This is what I put up with every day. What’s the fuss all about?” Others might see themselves in the pages of the book and consider the ways they can be better than they already are. Everyone is different, and all of the characters in my novels are flawed in one way or another, just as real people are. No two of us are alike. There is a song, ‘What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.’ Tolerance should be incorporated somewhere in the lyrics. Most of the things that bother us so much aren’t any of our business. Meeting hate, ignorance, or anger in the wrong manner is like holding a railroad spike against a rapidly spinning grind wheel. You are going to generate a lot of sparks, but very little light. There are things worth dying for, but our private dislikes aren’t a part of it. Most of the world is caught up in a tsunami of hate. We must do better or perish in the process. Blindsided is about anger, rage, and revenge, but also about forgiveness and the pain of lost love. Grab a copy of Blindsided when it becomes available in a few days. If you enjoy it, write a review and let me know what you think . . . or better still, let me know how you feel. There is nothing better than being at peace with the challenges of the world. God bless each of you and happy reading.