Several years ago, I decided social media was the greatest new thing since sliced bread, particularly when I discovered I could stay in touch with my adult children even though they lived hundreds or even thousands of miles away. They would post pictures of what they were doing, and it made me feel like I was there with them. Later, I also discovered how social media helped me re-connect with old friends from high school. Friends I’m sure I would never have heard from again were it not for social media. What could be bad about this amazing new technological innovation?
I soon discovered why I have this love/hate relationship with social media. On the one hand I love how it connects me to family and old friends, but it also is a source of great division in our country. There are literally thousands of fake articles posted on social media these days. Articles that tend to divide us and often times affirm viewpoints based on false information. Many of us have probably figured out that if you see an unsolicited article online it’s probably not true but many people read and believe what they see. On top of that is the hateful dialogues that take place on blogs in social media. I was a debater in high school and love to have a civil exchange of ideas, but these blogs are not really the places where honest debate takes place. Instead, they are sites where angry people attack others.
Every so often I get sucked in to these discussions thinking I could add something to a debate about whatever issue is being talked about. It rarely ends up well. I can remember a few years ago a Facebook friend posted a comment about a subject where I disagreed with him. I began to post comments suggesting a different way to look at the issue and he responded in a civil manner disagreeing with me. Soon, another friend of his entered the debate and began to attack me. I did not know this person and his insults angered me, so I began to respond in a less than Christian manner. The exchange went on and on and then something happened I will never forget. My old friend on Facebook jumped back into the blog. He had been reading the comments I’m sure and probably distressing about the tone of the discussion. He entered the dialogue and wrote, “it just occurred to me that you two do not know each other.” He then wrote glowing little introductions of each of us. “Dave is an intelligent, inquisitive old friend of mine from radio days and has a beautiful family.” The blog battle was defused.
It seemed that once we each knew something about the other person then we were no longer faceless people you could easily attack. That does seem to be the problem of social media. No face to face interaction with people we’ve never met before. Makes it so much easier to insult strangers you’ve never met and can’t see. Jesus did not know about social media but I’m sure if he were walking the earth today he would remind us all of the words he said in the sermon on the mount, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. In a polarized society where many of our leaders lead the way in showing us how to hate one another and persecute those who disagree with us… Jesus words are good advice but unfortunately often ignored. But when you take the time to get to know folks you disagree with…when you take time to discover they are human beings with families they love just like you, it makes it harder to hate them. It helps you to start moving toward loving your enemies and really meaning it.
-Rev. Dave Poteet, Pastor of Congregational Care
