LOVE IN A TIME OF CANCEL CULTURE
I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it, my ‘yam-using’ grandma has seen it. It’s a cycle that repeats itself every few weeks. Someone tweets an opinion that is misconstrued or deemed offensive, or tone-deaf, or harmful or is simply unpopular, ‘Havoc!’ cries the Internet, and let’s slip the Dogs of War– its own brand of Immediate Justice, also known as Cancel Culture. The backlash ruthlessly rips through the unfortunate tweeter’s virtual life, and oftentimes their real life as well. They may issue a tearful apology, but the damage would have already been done. They are now Persona Non Grata– at least until the next unacceptable opinion is expressed. That’s what online shaming has become for the most part, and it seems to have settled in to stay– for better or for worse.
Don’t get me wrong, though in no way do I mean to defend the ideologies of all victims of Cancel Culture. Willful ignorance is offensive at best and harmful in its most malignant iterations. ‘Cancelling’ a harmful person often does bring a measure of peace to their victims’ lives in lieu of the real justice a perfect society would have afforded them. We often forget the emotional burden carried by many victims who see their abusers surviving– yes, even thriving– in the same virtual and physical places that should have been safe spaces. My heart breaks for these brave ones. The monsters who prey in the dark should absolutely be called out to answer for their deeds. However, virtual mob justice is oftentimes no justice at all.
Sometimes statements are taken extremely out of context by radicals to push their agenda. Sometimes the response is entirely disproportionate to the crime. And sometimes the backlash affects innocent bystanders– family, coworkers, neighbours and even strangers. Most importantly, though, online shaming rarely ever gets to the root of the issue. The person may lose their social standing, or their job, and that’s about it. There’s no transparency, no continued accountability. They may leave the platform they were shamed on, but they just hop on to another one where others may be more accepting. All they learn is not to share their opinions publicly– opinions that they still hold strongly to and which affect the people they know in real life.
Cancel Culture points to a deeper problem inherent in social media– engagement has come to mean attention instead of communication. Social media tends to reward controversy.
Pithy one-liners, snappy comebacks and aggressive put-downs tend to garner likes and shares instead of well thought-out, respectful dialogue. This encourages punch-downs, especially on dissident views. So far as it’s possible to hide behind an icon, words we would never say to anyone face to face are freely juggled and tossed around with impunity.
Social media is a tool. Like all tools, how it is used depends on its user for the most part. That it lends itself to encouraging this kind of toxicity due to its inherent nature is true: in the same way a knife lends itself to cutting, and a fire lends itself to burning. It’s up to us to wield it masterfully, and with great prejudice, knowing that every platform we have been given has to be leveraged for our purpose.
Instead of canceling social media entirely, we should re-evaluate how we use these platforms. The defining character of a Christian is love and true love never simply declares itself. True love shows up ready to do the hard work of real engagement and challenging the culture for better. Are we ready to correct in love, instead of cancel? Are we ready to respectfully disagree, while honoring others’ right to express themselves?
One way to make sure we’re effectively utilizing social media in love is to define the purpose for each platform we hold. If you have a Facebook account– What is its purpose? What’s the purpose of your IG account? To show off? To show up for God’s business? Dr. Munroe famously said, “Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” This is not to say that we should all convert our IG accounts into Bible Lesson accounts– while admirable, it’s not necessary. Like the Christian shoemaker, we show off God with quality in our posts that reflect the qualities of the one we serve
Another important point to remember is that you don’t owe your socials every minute of your life. You don’t need to post all your ideas up, and you definitely don’t need to post every update. It’s safer to share your ideas within a trusted circle of friends who can nurture, critique as needed, and correct in love. Correcting in love also extends to our virtual interactions. To paraphrase Colossians 3:6, Let your tweets be gracious, seasoned with salt. Did what you posted benefit the person who heard or read it? Did it build them up? Did it encourage them? Was it respectful? Did it honour them? I’m sure you get my point. Just as we strive to speak life into everyone we meet physically, so should we apply the same standards to our posts.
Finally, and this is by way of admonishment– unfollow what you can’t handle, mute and block with extreme prejudice. If you find yourself slipping into sin– dishonorable words, sinful deeds, lustful thoughts, remember that that app is not in control, you are! And you decide what you use it for. Don’t be afraid to delete any platform you can no longer effectively leverage for God’s glory. It’s far better to be a one-handed saint, than a castaway with both arms intact. In conclusion, our social media presence is, for better or worse, a front facing billboard we’ve been given on the Information Super Highway. It’s an extension of our own lives. We must make sure our platforms accurately reflect our beliefs, our passions, and our purpose, for His glory.
