It's all a bit weird.

There's a lot of people genuinely frothing at the mouth about all sorts of things - and most of them, I'm fairly sure, are entirely imaginary.

I watched one video of a person calmly stating that gun control was a valid suggestion on how to reduce the frequency and impact of mass shootings in the USA.

This to me sounded perfectly reasonable. It was someone making the point that controls would not necessarily mean "not letting anyone have a gun ever". They were suggesting things like... Checking that the person seeking to own the gun was properly trained in weapons handling. That they had a safe and secure storage solution for their firearm(s). That they were not known to be involved in criminal activities. That they would understand how to clean and service their firearm(s) to prevent accidents due to poor maintenance etc.

I see absolutely nothing in there that says "we're taking all your firearms away". Its just saying "Be responsible for a lethal weapon". A question WAS raised on why on earth any civilian would "need" military grade weaponry, but that's a separate thing.

Instead of bothering to listen to the suggestions, the respondent (who is apparently vicar-equivalent!) immediately accused the person making those suggestions of "celebrating" the recent shooting of that fellow in Utah.

Excuse me? Where did THAT come from? No one mentioned any one specific incident. In fact, the initial suggestions were in relation to the frighteningly regular mass shootings they seem to indulge in across the pond. But this chap just started shouting and waving his arms about and doing the full-on "I denounce thee" nonsense that you would see in the comedy stereotypical American church set up. Properly frothing, properly wide boggle eyes, pointing, and generally carrying on.

And I was flummoxed. I don't actually know if the guy is hearing imaginary voices saying things he doesn't like and had decided to shout at them, or if he just knew he was lying and was trying to shout until the other person gave up and let him feel like he'd won some kind of point.

It makes me sad to see someone who is meant to be a community leader being either deranged, or simply a bully and a liar. Neither one of those options is going to be healthy for that community.

But then we hear those charming individuals on our various radio phone-ins and the like, complaining about "them immigrunts innit". Parroting back absolute nonsense like 5 star hotel stays, free iPads, free Xboxes and similar. It's all completely untrue, but they've been told it's the case by the likes of Farage and pals and so they blindly believe it.

I don't think they are necessarily evil. I do think they are possibly a bit simple, and don't have the capacity for rational thought. But not evil.

The ones who wind them up though? The ones who have vast sums of money at their fingertips and the ability to get their insidious, divisive, and simply untrue rhetoric out there? Yes. They are evil, I believe. They arrived on the planet twisted and broken somehow. They make up nonsense stories, then sit back and wait for the people they have duped to do their dirty work.

Thing is, I don't think any of us gain from shouting at the duped. If anything, they need a bit of care and understanding, too. For the most part, we're going to be looking at people who have been isolated and lied to. People who have maybe struggled because of financial woes, mental health issues, physical health problems which scuppered the dreams they had for themselves. People who just didn't get the opportunities they should have because of...name your poison. Could have been local government cuts which meant the training opportunities they wanted weren't available. The schools they attended couldn't afford the number of staff required to look after the volume of students. That so many conditions and health issues that are at least recognised now never were back in "their" day. And so they hear about someone else getting what they think they should have been given, and they explode with righteous indignation. Which is all the more terrible when it's all lies.

Taking these disenfranchised people and riling them up to cause trouble is a repugnant tactic. And often employed by those who've never actually struggled with anything. Look at the usual suspects in this - they are all the same. I'd put money on all of them being utterly revolting school bullies and now it's only the degree of their financial privilege that separates them.

I dont know what we're meant to do. We could TRY telling them the truth, but it's hard to believe the second story you've been told, particularly when you've invested so much time and energy in the first one (and hatred IS exhausting). The shame of having been tricked might simply be too painful to admit.

But I do think that at least here in the UK we should have our Parliament come together and state the truth of things. And members who lie aboit basic facts should be held accountable for their lies. Can you imagine how much better things could be, practically overnight, if every MP irrespective of rosette colour chose to make public the plain facts of the matters that divide this country - not the interpretations? If they all, as one body, sought to work for the good of the country as a whole, rather than slagging each other off all the time?

Imagine that.