I\u2019m simply a student today, friends. Join me. If we studied more than we shouted, my sense is each of us would benefit. Hence, first, what is \u201ccancel culture\u201d? From Dictionary.com:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cancel culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [ kan-suhl kuhl-cher ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Or the \u201ctop definition\u201d from the more colloquial UrbanDictionary.com:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cancel Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A desire to cancel out a person or community from social media <\/em>platforms.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is characterized by the response of an evil individual when they are shown to be wrong. They will call on their followers to report the social media accounts of the person or group that did the criticizing rather than discussing the criticism or showing by evidence where the<\/em> criticism<\/em><\/strong> is incorrect.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissists make up the majority of the people who engage in <\/em>cancel culture,<\/em><\/strong> and others who do this would include immature individuals.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When something is \u201ccancelled,\u201d it’s declared null and void. \u201cCall-out culture\u201d is a similar term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference in contemporary usage is that a cancel culture is not focused on declaring a series or subscription null and void. It is canceling a person. <\/em>From the dictionary once more, \u201cIn the latest use of the word, you can cancel people<\/em>\u2026 anyone who takes up space in the public consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, the student asks again: is cancel culture good?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It certainly isn’t respectful, but does that matter? Or… is the mattering tied to effectiveness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the cultural moment before us, one of the aspects I personally find hopeful is that many are finally sitting with the pain of other people; they are recognizing their own perspective is incomplete. Each<\/em><\/strong> of our perspectives is incomplete.<\/em><\/strong> It seems many are recognizing that others don\u2019t experience life the way they do. Such seems a God-honoring, healthy pursuit, and one that is always part of a wise one\u2019s journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As pondered here six months ago\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy Hispanic neighbors across the street are consistently engaged in managing their business and chasing after their adorable, young children.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My gay friends on the corner take some glorious, fantastic vacations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The married professionals next door are gone a lot; we don\u2019t talk as much as any of us would like.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And the single, black mom down the block has an incredibly full plate.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of us experience the world differently. And that\u2019s just on my small street.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What would happen if we actually took the time to listen to people who don\u2019t experience the world the way we do?…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My student sense is that positive cultural change is most lasting and effective if heart change is included. Yet individual hearts aren\u2019t positively changed if simply declared null and void. What if, therefore, in this moment, each of us<\/em><\/strong> recognized we had something to learn? What if we each listened better? What if we became a student of one another instead of cancelers? \u201c\u2026 when we don\u2019t understand how another person can believe or behave the way they do, it is we who don\u2019t understand. We don\u2019t understand the realities of another and how they experience the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So if we are going to love our neighbor well, we need to listen and learn from others. If we are going to minimize the ignorance in our own lives, we need to ask good questions and seek to understand. We need to seek out and engage with those who are different than us\u2026 the citizens and immigrants, black and white, Democrats and Republicans, etc. Otherwise we are going to be guilty of discounting every bit of information that doesn\u2019t fit perfectly in our current, narrow world view. We will only add to our own ignorance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me be gently but boldly more clear: each of our world views are narrow. Each are incomplete…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us thus listen and learn from all of the above… even when it’s hard… even when we don’t want to… even when cancelling would be easier and certainly more convenient. Let us love each of our neighbors well. Let us choose to be a student\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR I\u2019m simply a student today, friends. Join me. If we studied more than we shouted, my sense is each of us would benefit. Hence, first, what is \u201ccancel culture\u201d? From Dictionary.com: cancel culture [ kan-suhl kuhl-cher ] Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done … <\/p>\n
I continue from our previous post\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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