At my current stage of life, most of my interactions with friends is via social media. I love seeing updates on their lives: Pictures of vacations, wedding and pregnancy announcements, and updates on educational and vocational milestones. However, there is also a, I'll call it a sort of veil, across social media. When we post online, there is a veil of "unrealness". Because we are posting this while sitting in bed with our pants off while eating a bowl of ice cream (don't judge me, that's my favorite way to Facebook), it makes us and those on the other side of the internet seem farther away. It doesn't matter how close we feel in person to those who are our social media friends, when we are posting there is a veil that separates us and them and our feelings of closeness are muted. This means that we are much more likely to post something than we are to say it.
That is why I have thought about this blog post long and hard. I've decided to write this with the mindset as if I was speaking to each reader individually, whether it's someone I know in "real life" or not. As you read this post, please imagine us sitting in a living room, wrapped up in the afghans that are supposed to be decorative but are really very cozy and eating popcorn with no regard for the kernels dropping on the floor because that's what vacuums are for and we're too busy talking to care. Or imagine us out in an ice cream shop, eating milkshakes that are way too big for our stomachs but it's a challenge we're willing to accept as we talk. This is how I would rather be expressing my thoughts to you, if it were possible. Another problem with the "social media veil" is it also makes it easier to argue, sometimes unkindly. I ask, as always, that you comment with your thoughts at the end of this post. I also ask that you imagine our living room or ice cream setting as you write the comment, thus making it as truthful and as true to your person as possible.
My fear of rejection from those I love, accompanied by the false sense of anonymity that accompanies the social media veil, is why Facebook is such a frightening place for me. However, I know that I have a responsibility to use social media to spread light and truth, even if truth is sometimes blunt or difficult to swallow. This means I must have courage while on social media: Not the courage to argue or be unkind, but the courage to boldly declare my beliefs and to stand for what I know is right. I understand that I am not the epitome of knowledge, and that much of what I believe is opinion, but I always try to base my beliefs in doctrine, and to clarify when I am expressing something that is less than fact.
The world today is a constant argument. Nothing can be posted on any online forum without receiving praise, complaints, articles containing opposing views, and comments upon comments of everyone's "two bits". And everyone does have a right to have their voice heard, and social media makes that available to more people than anyone else in history. However, the continual bickering and hash-and-rehashing makes posting my beliefs, which are continually falling among the less-popular views in the world today, a frightening idea.
President Thomas S. Monson, in the Priesthood session of the April 2014 General Conference of the LDS church, said the following: "Courage comes in many forms. Wrote the Christian author Charles Swindoll: “Courage is not limited to the battlefield … or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are inner tests, like remaining faithful when no one’s looking, … like standing alone when you’re misunderstood.” I would add that this inner courage also includes doing the right thing even though we may be afraid, defending our beliefs at the risk of being ridiculed, and maintaining those beliefs even when threatened with a loss of friends or of social status. He who stands steadfastly for that which is right must risk becoming at times disapproved and unpopular."
If you are reading this post, know that I love you. Really, truly, I do. Part of why all the contention online today makes me so sad is because I understand that God loves all of us, and that we are supposed to love each other. True, things will happen that make us angry, and that's OK, but that's no reason to show hatred toward others. Love is compassion, listening, understanding without having to agree, and respecting others viewpoints. That is my goal, and I hope that you will give me the same love in return. My goal is never to be unkind, but I need to learn to be more direct.
In the same talk quoted earlier, President Monson also said, "We will all face fear, experience ridicule, and meet opposition. Let us—all of us—have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully but also as the determination to live decently." In the world today, I believe living decently includes spreading principles throughout social media, sharing ideas that, hopefully, will bring those who see them closer to Christ.
" For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16, KJV). The gospel of Jesus Christ, with its doctrines on family, gender, eternal life, and the restoration, is not a very popular subject. The modern practices and ideas that go against these doctrines are everywhere and very, very popular. Whether you are a Mormon, an atheist, married with three kids, or living a gay lifestyle, I'm not here to judge you. It is not my job to tell you what to believe or do. However, it is my job to share what I believe is right. If you agree with me or not is irreleveant: I still love you and I still respect you. I pray that you will still love and respect me after you read the things I post, agreeable to you or not. My fear of losing your love and respect is no longer going to deter me from sharing what I believe or what I know to be right on social media.
I guess that's what this blog post is: It's me gathering my courage to "stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [I] may be in," even on social media.
Love this! Great thoughts!
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