In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Facebook phenomenon of picking sides in political and philosophical battles hurts families. Facebook has made it easy to tell tales out of school, and many have found themselves filled with sorrow at such actions. At one time, we disagreed with our parents’ politics in dorm rooms. We complained about our in-laws over coffee to close friends. Those we loved, but disagreed with or even disrespected, in part, remained mostly unaware of it. They were not hurt very much by it. We could strut and boast and conduct thought experiments in relative safety, without much long-term damage. Now we broadcast our disagreement, and often our disrespect, all over the world in an indelible, digital format that might well follow us the rest of our lives. Was the old way more dishonest than the new? Perhaps. But it was also less damaging and less painful, easier to correct and amend.
Our families are more broken and dysfunctional than we care to admit. We look back at the medieval idea of courtly love and Victorian romance with derision for its artificiality. But any judgment on our part reveals our hypocrisy. We are a people raised on sitcoms and pop music. Our culture’s view of love is that it is mainly a matter of affection and that the good feeling it gives is the highest good. We think love is god, but by love we mean our own amusement and pleasure. Thus, we have little room for sacrifice or duty. If it feels good in the moment, it must be love, and if doesn’t feel good, or if it grows stale, we drop it.
