When I was in the ninth grade, I had a teacher - a MATH teacher - who believed it was his duty to indoctrinate his students with his liberal political views. It was around 2003-2004. George W. Bush was president. My father was overseas in Iraq. And this math teacher had a lot to say about his political views.
I don’t recall exactly what issues he decided to bring up in class, but I remember feeling that he was wrong - not just because a math teacher has no business sharing his political views in class, but because what he was saying went against everything I understood to be true.
Understand, I was about 15 at the time. I had very little understanding of politics and no great skills in debate. But I couldn’t just sit there and say nothing. So I spoke up. I engaged in debate.
And this 30-something math teacher proceeded to belittle me and mock me in front of the class. He used mob logic - getting the whole class to say they were on his side, therefore he must be right and I must be wrong. It was impossible for the socially awkward teen that I was to actually make headway in that environment so I can’t say that I ever “won” a debate with him. But I never stopped trying either.
Because somebody had to stand up for truth.
Even with the majority of the class rallying behind the teacher, I had to speak out. Even though it seemed as though no one was even listening to me, I could not be silent.
And I’m glad I didn’t, because at least one person was listening.
It was after one of these debates that one of my classmates, Caroline, pulled me aside to tell me how much she admired me for speaking up. She agreed with my views and also thought our teacher was wrong, but she lacked the confidence to speak up. My courage in speaking out helped her to feel less alone and gave her the conviction to hold firm to the path of truth even when everyone else was giving in to the influences of the secular world.
Caroline and I became good friends after that and, although it has been many years since I have seen or spoken to her, I will always remember her.
In 2020, when all of the Covid-19 lockdowns and mask mandates started, I once again found myself in a position to speak up for truth. However, my forum had drastically changed. I wasn’t in a classroom anymore. I wasn’t even in a business breakroom, where I might debate with my peers one-on-one. I was a stay-at-home mom, pregnant with my second, who hardly saw anyone in person besides my family (even before the lockdowns).
My primary source of contact with the outside world was social media.
Of course, the great debate of the times was Covid-19 and what we should do about it. Most people on social media had something to say about mask wearing and social distancing. I, too, got caught up in the debate. Admittedly, I was not knowledgable enough on the subject of viruses to speak well on the subject. I mostly shared research others found and added my own comentary where I saw fit.
A few people debated with me, primarily my uncle. Most people ignored my posts or read them but chose not to comment - which is fine.
But I recieved some personal backlash for my posts - not from people who disagreed with me. No, the people who told me to be quiet and stop posting, stop talking about it, were people who supposedly agreed with me.
One person, whose opinion I have always respected and valued, argued that, as Christians, we should not engage in political debates on social media. She asserted that we had the duty to set an example for everyone else by not participating in useless arguments with people who will never agree with us anyway or creating conflict between friends and family.
She especially took issue with my debates with my uncle who, although a liberal atheist, is a skilled debater. He often challenged me on my posts and pushed me to do better research. Occaisionally, we took our debates into private chats, especially if someone rude started butting in. As much as he drove me crazy at times, I typically welcomed his debates because he always kept them civil.
But this person didn’t like debates in general and couldn’t stand seeing them on social media. She felt that they created animosity and promoted falling outs between family and friends.
She convinced me and I left off posting about political issues for almost two years. Of course, my “setting an example” did nothing to disuade my left-wing friends and acquiantences from continuing their political posts or sharing their ideologies. I did my duty though. I rolled my eyes and scrolled on without commenting.
This past June, however, I found that I could be silent no longer.
With the beginning of “Pride Month,” my social media feed was bombarded with rainbow flags and countless memes about the supposed “rights” of sodomites and transvestites. I started hearing about children being taken to drag queen events and sex toys and fetish play being on display at pride events.
And no one was opposing it. No one was speaking out against it - at least not on my news feed. My liberal friends were proclaiming themselves as allies, loud and proud. Most of my conservative friends were silent.
Why?
It got worse. With the ruling on Dobbs vs. Jackson, social media was overrun with pro-abortion propoganda, most of which were 5 second memes riddled with logical fallicies. Pro-abortion advocates were pushing their lies everywhere and no one was arguing with them. No one was presenting the other side.
Were they attacking my views directly? No.
I could have scrolled on.
I could have unfollowed.
I could have unfriended.
But here’s the things. I don’t have 5,000 “friends” on social media. I have 165 and most of them are people I know personally. The rest are friends of friends. And I care about all of them. I care that they are sharing lies. I care that they are believing lies. Most of them are Christians, or so they say. And yet, here they are blatantly denying the teachings of Christ and promoting sin to others.
They cannot go on unopposed. Someone has to speak up for truth.
Is it my place to speak up? I believe it is.
But you should speak to them in private! That’s the Christian thing to do.
On the contrary, they are the ones who made thier views public. If someone publicly engages in sinful activity, our Christian duty is to rebuke the sin publicly, else someone who saw them might believe it to be acceptable.
Besides, my experience is that most people are more willing to post their veiws on social media than they are to engage in debates in person. In fact, the same people who tell me not to post my views on social media, also tell me to shut up about any and all things moral or political in person - even if they should agree with me about it.
Clearly, people just don’t like talking about anything important in person. Very few people are taught how to debate anymore, so in-person debates usually devolve into name calling and gaslighting.
But you aren’t going to change their minds!
Maybe not, but I might help guide someone else to the truth if they are on the fence about an issue. Or maybe there is someone like my friend, Caroline, who lacks the confidence to speak out but needs some encouragement to stand firm in their beliefs. Maybe there is someone who feels alone against the world and needs a reminder that they are not alone.
But you are creating conflict!
I’m not creating anything. They created the conflict when they decided to go against God’s law - the very law under which our country was founded.
But they don’t believe in God!
Belief has no bearing on truth. If it did then a fat man in a red suit would really deliver presents on Christmas Eve. What people believe does not dictate what is or isn’t. God cannot both be real and not be real. That’s a contradiction.
If God is real then he is real for all people, regardless of whether they believe in him or not. He is their creator and his law is supreme over all people. They can say he isn’t real. They can choose to act against his law. They have free-will.
But as Christians, it is our duty to help guide them to God’s will or, failing that, prevent them from leading others away from God. And it is certainly our duty to do whatever we can to prevent supreme evils such as the slaughter of the unborn.
Ignore them. They can’t do any harm on social media.
On the contrary, they can do a great deal of harm, especially to young people.
Let’s face it. Gone are the days of farmville and cat memes and “poking” people (do you remember poking people on Facebook? I’d forgotten. Ah, simpler times). Social media is the primary political forum of our time.
Many young people base their entire political views on memes and ten second videos. They have no interest in actually reading or listening to learned people speak. If it takes more than a few seconds, they scroll on. They don’t have the attention span to actually form sound conclusions about what they are presented.
And yes, I realize that none of them are reading my really long substack, but I’ve never been good at condensing my thoughts into a meme.
My point is that these kids are being heavily influenced by social media and if Christians don’t engage with social media - if we don’t speak out for truth - then our young people will be corrupted.
And not just young people.
At times I have found myself lost and confused by the web of lies, half truths, and logical fallicies presented in the memes of liberals. I have a firm foundation to fall back on. I return to the Bible and the teachings of the Church. I seek out the wisdom of those more learned than I. But it’s not easy to swim through the soup sandwich of woke nonsense and come out on the otherside unscathed.
I’ve seen friends and family members fall away from God, swayed by the lies of liberal media. I’ve debated with people who claim to be Christian and yet vehemently argue for ideologies which go blatantly against the teachings of Christ.
It is too easy to fall into the trap of liberalism. It looks so pretty on the outside.
It… sounds right. But that’s what nominalism will do. Call it something other than what it is so as to convince the public that bad is good and good is bad and we spiral down into a world that looks more like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World than the civilized, God-fearing people we are meant to be.
This is why we need Christians to speak out on social media. It is the strongest influencer of our society.
I would say that Mr. Burke’s words are equally true when good men say nothing. If we stick our heads in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong, evil will continue to grow stronger in our world and souls will be lost.
But they’re just going to cancel you!
Ah. There it is. The greatest threat to our modern society.
They won’t like it. You’ll make people upset. They’ll unfriend you. They’ll cancel you.
I really don’t care. I don’t have a career they can threaten. Even if I did, God’s truth is more important to me than any career. If people really want to unfriend me - that’s fine too. Maybe people already have. If they did, I wouldn’t notice. Today was the first day I have checked my friend count in… well, ever.
But I have to wonder if, perhaps, the main reason Christians don’t speak out for truth on social media, is because they are afraid of losing friends. I’m not talking about thousands of “friends” or followers on social media. I mean their real friends and family.
They are afraid that people they care about won’t talk to them anymore if they speak up for what they know is right. They are afraid of creating rifts, of driving people away. They just want to keep the peace.
I get it. I have good friends and family who disagree with the things I say. I question and second guess myself all the time and wonder if I am doing the right thing by being so vocal about my religious and political views. I worry that my friends and family will stop speaking to me.
But if I silence my voice out of fear of being cancelled, then I will have cancelled myself.
I can’t do that.
God has given me a talent for writing and he’s given me some semblence of common sense. He’s placed opportunities in my path to teach me what is and isn’t true. And he has inspired me to share what I learn with those I care about - within my limited means.
I don’t have a great circle of influence. I am not a great speaker, a politician, or philosopher. I don’t have all the answers. But I do have God as my rock.
His voice will not be silenced within me.
I will not cancel myself.