No longer a fan

I used to be a fan of The Arthritis Foundation on Facebook (and I can say that honestly because my fan-dom predates the switch to "like"). But that ends today.

You see, I have no problem with the organization. I am still on their mailing list, and I still think it's a cause worth investing in. Because, you know, I don't like pain. And I don't like having to ask strangers to unbuckle my kid from his car seat or unscrew the cap on my gas tank (both happened this week due to stiff, swollen joints in my hands and arms). And I don't like the possible implications for heart and lung problems that RA can cause. And I wish there were a treatment (or cure!) that didn't involve yucky side effects.

(However, once again I must proclaim as loudly as I can that God has been indescribably GOOD to us in all this. I wouldn't take back the health trials of the past three years because He has taught us so much through them. That said, I wouldn't mind if I woke up tomorrow completely healed from my health issues. I know He is able to do that, but I also know that His plan is much greater than my present circumstances, so we're submitting to His perfect will in all this.)

But, as much as I support what they do, I am clicking "unlike" for The Arthritis Foundation. Because if I have their posts - which are informative - in my feed, I also see the comments left there. Here's a sampling:

• My beloved son was diagnosed with gout yesterday and I could just spit! When will a cure be found? Husband has SEVERE RA and OA and now this. BOOOO, hissssss, I hate arthritis and all it's many facets!
• it's about d*** time someone started paying attention to how a chronic illness affects the mind and attitude of a person.
• I've been "blessed" (haha) with both RA & fibromyalgia ... so lucky...
• This disease makes me hate everything. I hate the disease. I hate people who think they know what I'm dealing with. I hate getting up in pain every day. I hate it all.
• [In response to someone else's posting:] That's great, Ellen; I mean it's great you CAN get in the tub. I haven't been able to do that in several years!

And those are the ones that hadn't been deleted by the time I went back to find examples, so be glad that I couldn't find the truly negative ones. The amount of vitriol and bitterness and anger in the postings has gotten ugly enough for me that it cancels out any benefit of information posted by the organization itself. Plus there's a general spirit of one-upmanship. For example, if someone says he has RA and it's tough, someone else usually tries to raise the stakes by saying that she has severe RA or that her young daughter has the juvenile form. If someone says she's had it for four years, someone else has to pipe up with something like, "Four years? That's nothing. I've had it for 24. And my labradoodle Fluffy has had it for 17 years, and she's only 8 years old. Take that!" (Okay, perhaps the last one is an exaggeration. But it's almost that bad!)

True, The Arthritis Foundation seems to moderate and delete nasty comments, but not before I see some of them. And while reading that junk, I have trouble heeding these words from Philippians 4:6-8:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

There's not much to like in the majority (or at least a significant minority) of the comments left for The Arthritis Foundation. But there sure is plenty to like in the passage above, isn't there?