In the past few months, the social media has become a hot zone. A hot zone may be defined as “a location that is considered to be dangerous due to biological, chemical, or nuclear contamination.” I would like to suggest that a place that can be dangerous due to political rhetoric be added to the definition.
I have seen family members go after one another with unbounded hostility, friends “de-friend” each other over political differences, people swear at and curse each other, and people making statements that, as far as I can tell, are made for the purpose of getting under the skin of other people. Social media has become a hot zone—a dangerous, contaminated place.
Yet, strangely, the people who get the most angry return day after day to enter into the conflict. Why is that?
I don’t like Sean Penn. While recognizing that he is a great actor, I simply do not like who he is outside the stage. The same is true for Madonna (the singer, not the Mother of Jesus). If I watch them for over a few minutes, I become irked. So, I don’t watch them or listen to them. If I hear a Madonna song on the radio, I change channels. I certainly don’t buy her music. If there is a Sean Penn movie at the theater or on television, I don’t watch it. That way, I don’t support them and I keep my personal peace intact.
So why do people who are so angry at either the political Left or the political Right keep going back to the hot zone and throwing bombs? I don’t get it.
I do take positions of biblical morality on my Facebook page. I am pro-life and will advocate for and defend that position. Prior to the election I was not excited about either candidate. But the election is over. One side lost, the other side won. But, good grief. why continue to argue, debate, and fight about something that is now over?
I am convinced that some people are addicted to drama. I have seen it over and over in my life and ministry. There’s often the church gossip that just has to keep things stirred up. Or the guy in the group who, no matter how well things are going, just has to be critical and complain about everything. The only cure for drama is (1) confront it, and (2) refuse to enter into it.
I am also convinced that some people just can’t seem to live without social media. I finally established a Twitter account. I have checked it once.
I do have a Facebook account but I do not enter into the Left/Right wars that seem to rage continually. A few weeks ago, someone posted on their page a photo. The caption read, “I am sick of all the fighting on here. Here’s a picture of a puppy.” And it was of a very cute puppy sleeping in someone’s slipper. It made me smile.
I have almost ceased watching the news. Even there, people are talking over each other, interrupting each other, calling one another names, and getting their blood pressure up.
Why do news organizations allow this? Because they know that many, if not most, of their viewers like drama. They love drama. They are addicted to it. The problem, of course, is that drama is rarely civil and no one convinces anyone about anything.
So, lose your peace and tranquility if you must. Most evenings, I’m watching Animal Planet, Star Trek re-runs, and a very few other programs, or, by the warmth of the fireplace, I am reading biographies of people who inspire me and challenge me.
I do get on Facebook daily, but don’t stay on it all day. Just long enough to post a few things and to see if there’s a picture of a puppy.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at [email protected].]
