It’s so easy casting stones and passing judgment when we do
so through social media. Making one mistake, enhanced and further magnified by comments taken out of context, word-of-mouth that spreads like telephone
where each time you hear the story it becomes less and less of the truth… simple
mistakes, growing pains and ignorant minds trying to become knowledgeable turn
into the enemy, and before you know it someone’s life is ruined. There is a
certain sense of anonymity when one makes proclamations from behind the screen
and opinions get shared as if they are truths. Technologically speaking we are
advanced, emotionally however we lag behind… we feel justified speaking our
minds and hiding behind the same screens we silently and not so silently judge
everyone around us by. We are a society that claims to be tolerant and
accepting, when in reality we convict others without a second thought. We
become each other’s judge, jury, and executioner’s all because of social media
and the platform it gives us to speak to the world. Just because you have the
platform doesn’t mean you are correct, nor does it mean you have the power to
control others. Information spreads like wildfire, sometimes that information
is correct and sometimes that information is vastly misguided but nonetheless
it spreads, it changes, and it ruins people’s lives.
We are a country where we are held to higher standards, or
at least we should be, but we judge people without knowing all the details, and
then rationalize the decisions we make because “it’s my opinion.” Before social
media and the instant gratification that the Internet provides us, saying that
something is your opinion was simply just that… your opinion. But now when you
share your opinion, that opinion gets shared, reposted, shared some more, liked
and retweeted as though it were fact. Many people’s lives are ruined by others
opinions when it simply would have been easier and more productive by seeking
out basic information or taking a moment to educate someone on topics that they
are either misguided on or simply ignorant. There are very few times where you
have the opportunity to educate a mind and a true insincere fashion and
actually make a change, yet social media allows us to make snap judgments
without any of the constraints that a logical conversation would have. It is
true sometimes people don’t want to be educated, it is also true that sometimes
people don’t want to educate but that in no way shape or form should stop us
from taking a moment out of our day to seriously have a conversation with
someone who doesn’t quite understand “your opinion.”
The greatest treasure we have in this world is the blessing
of friendship and unconditional love and unfortunately both while being in high
demand are scarce in this new world of Internet anonymity and a society that is
quick to judge. What we need now are people willing to listen to each other,
educate, and provide alternative sounding boards as a way to become a better
society. Unfortunately what we have right now are people who make judgment
calls as though they are fact and then offer no compassion or understanding
that could otherwise lead to more commonalities than there are differences
between us. The world is full of shades of gray and very rarely is anything
ever truly black or white yet we continue to judge others not by how we would
want to be judged but on quick misguided notions that lack any sincere clarity.
We have all made mistakes and we will all continue to make mistakes that is one
of the most fundamental truths of reality but forgiveness used to be something
practiced on a daily basis, we used to forgive others especially if they tried
hard to see the other side of the story or realize that the differences
aren’t quite so large as once
believed… so many times have we forgiven and moved on and become better for it,
but now once judgment is passed there is little forgiveness ever granted and
that is how society is dooming itself. Instead of becoming a better collective
we are creating more differences, then we are similarities.
People should still
be allowed to have their opinions, they should still be allowed to express
those opinions, but somewhere along the way someone made it a crime to have an
opinion unless of course it was a shared opinion with other people. We claim to
be tolerant and accepting of others but in reality that tolerance and
acceptance ends if you feel differently than the majority. If you share an
opinion that does not mix with the general crowd you are no longer accepted.
Our society has turned into hypocrisy, and we have seriously lost our
independent thinking. We no longer step outside of our boxes and see what the
world through different eyes, we don’t exercise critical thinking and we don’t
challenge our minds by having sincere conversations with others that we don’t
always share the same opinion with. Some of my best friends historically have
been those I shared very little in common with and I was better for it. They
are people that I could have real deep conversations with about things from
socioeconomic status to Christianity and everything in between and know that I
could share an opinion that at the time I thought may have been fact but after
intense conversations and getting to know one another my opinion changed, or
their opinion changed, or we realize none of us had any idea what we were
talking about. We just knew we were passionate about something and we wanted to
be heard. I have very few friendships like that anymore, people get offended,
and just don’t take the time to sit down and listen and talk and listen some
more.
Perhaps I am just nostalgic for the time when friendships
were really friendships, and people went out of their way to create
understanding and true acceptance. I have made many mistakes in my life, and I
have learned from each and every one of them. Sometimes I’ve learned the lesson
that I was supposed to, but sometimes I have learned the opposite. We’re not
here to be perfect. We’re not here to have ongoing homeostasis. Challenges make
us grow, differences make us stronger and forgiveness moves us forward. At each
moment of our life we are doing the best we can, sometimes our best is really
pretty dang good, and sometimes our best is horrible. None of us should judge
another person on what our best is because their best is something completely
different. Before you cast those stones, and before you believe your judgment
to be fact… Consider a few simple things.
• How
do I want to be judged?
• Have
I ever made a mistake?
• Do
I absolutely know the truth from all sides?
• Is
this a teachable moment?
No matter what you believe after reading this post or if you
have any opinion at all, just slow down long enough to think about what you
want in this world. Because I guarantee we all want the same thing.
Unconditional love, acceptance, and belonging. If your actions do not
contribute to any of those three, perhaps you should reconsider your voice in
social media. That’s something I’m still learning and trying to do.
Of course
this is just my opinion.
