Saturday, September 30, 2017

Twitter v. Facebook

Was reflecting on this this morning. Especially since this has been going on for a couple years now.

The overt racism on Twitter somehow becomes tolerable. It's still shocking every once in a while because we're used to polite conversations and most people have some semblance of honor or respect towards others. But it's also the fact that you don't know those individuals but know of them and the fact that they exist. So you acclimate and acknowledge "Twitter Trolls" that are neo-nazis, racists, xenophobic, homophobic, and sometimes preach violence against women. The lowest common denominators of people. 

Facebook on the other hand has always been the greater challenge. It's rarely if ever overt, intended racism. It always comes from a place of genuine ignorance. When you're raised your entire life as a member of one race it can be hard to look beyond yourself and begin to grasp the way people of other races experience this world. It creates blind spots -and not just with racism, but everything else as well. 

And so in spite of people not intending to be maliciously harmful, they say and post things that are racist without genuinely being aware of it. They hate racism and condemn it while simultaneously perpetuating it in ways they'd never considered. And the same applies for xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny. And it becomes a challenging landscape to navigate and the reason Facebook disturbs me more sometimes than the legions of Twitter. 

We live in a world of 7 billion people. The notion that we should all be the same in next to any respect seems more and more an absurdity -especially taking God into consideration. I look at the vast array of flowers in the jungle and know that God loves diversity. I look at the reptiles, and birds, and mammals, and fish in every iteration and know God loves variety. The world is the canvas and we are the painting. 

I pray people come to see with that kind of vision and appreciation for this beauty we have been bestowed with. But also take up the responsibility as a human to strive to understand it. You can't appreciate something you are simultaneously oblivious to. You also can't understand the ways in which this intended grace is being infringed upon or in some instances Destroyed. 

Ignorance is not bliss. It's a blindness that makes people rejoice over suffering. Ignorance then becomes itself a kind of suffering. 

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