Cruelty Behind the Keyboard Must End
I've had a couple moments of awakening in the last few days as I've watched cruelty from behind the keyboard. Unfortunately, I also know I've been one who has participated.
In one, a friend who has faced a horrible loss is now navigating opinions on what caused it with no real understanding or compassion.
Another hits close to home with two people I care about deeply being the recipients of feedback that was neither requested nor constructive.
We have created something in our culture that has not only enabled us to be far more vocal, terse, and even cruel as we type out a message that we would likely cringe to deliver face-to-face, but also seemingly the idea that it’s necessary to do so.
I'm guilty of this.
I don't think I've shared the "should have" or "here's why I don't like you" stuff, but especially in the realm of politics, I have reached out with unrequested feedback and allowed my own passions to bubble over into unnecessary and unhelpful statements.
I've done so thinking I was defending the concept of accountability or consistency. I've been wrong trying to help them see what's "right."
Here's what I know and what's become very clear in my heart:
I never want to be more "right" than I am kind.
As Michael Jackson said, "I'm starting with the man in the mirror." I need to make a change.