To Delete, or Not to Delete? That is the Question

I have been contacted by a relative on my father's side of the family. The relative has directed me to delete two blogs. The blogs in question cover the topic of peculiar habits of an uncle by marriage. The relative who spoke to me is also a relative by marriage. As far as I know, the relative did not speak with either of my parents.

The person who contacted me did not ask me to delete the blogs in question. Instead, he told me I must delete them. He spoke as though he held authority over me, which he doesn't. Had I been asked nicely to delete the blogs, I would have seriously considered doing so. I will not, however, cave in to threats or to intimidation.

The offending blogs make reference to my uncle's sticky fingers and provide documentation that his penchant for petty theft had its origin long before the blow to his head that some relatives are now alleging to be the cause of his thievery. If my obscure blog disappears, my detractors would appear to believe, no one will remember that the uncle by marriage has been stealing since long before I was born. Exactly how the D. A. was supposed to find my obscure blog and use it to send my uncle to the pokey for an extended state-funded vacation remains undisclosed. It's not as though I was providing links to the prosecutor assigned to my uncle's case. Likewise, it's not as though writing something in this blog is akin to publicizing it in the New York Times, or even the Salt Lake Tribune.

My parents will at some point become aware of this situation, if only through eventually reading what I'm typing here. They may have opinions as to what I need to do about this situation. If and when they express their opinions, I may be compelled to act upon their wishes. If I am compelled by my parents to delete the offending blogs, I will comply. The continued privilege of authoring this blog is contingent upon my parents' consent. I'm not like a noble journalist who goes to jail for refusing to identify a source. The truth as it relates to my uncle by marriage is not all that important a cause to me in the grand scheme of things.

The truth doesn't seem all that important to anyone involved in this situation, or at least the original truth doesn't. The relative by marriage who contacted me seems more interested in reinventing the truth to suit his purposes. He, and those around him, seem almost to believe in this truth they're painstakingly recreating. The people involved here, other that the disposable-douche-stealing-uncle himself, were people whom, while I didn't necessarily hold them in high esteem, I never thought were bona fide delusional. Now I can see I was wrong.

"The truth shall make you free." What exactly does that mean, anyway?

Nothing Important

My brother came directly into my room just before midnight last night following a date with his latest insignificant other. He sat in my recliner and started laughing hysterically. When I asked him what was so funny, he tried to asnwer me, but he was laughing too hard to even get a word out. Finally he was able to blurt out "disposable douche" before laughter again basically incapacitated him. As soon as he said "disposable douche," I could no longer help myself, and I joined him in hysterics. Our uncle by marriage is facing a charge of grand theft (or petty theft; I don't yet know which) for stealing a crate of dispoable douches. It would be sad except that it's so damned funny.