Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Silence=Acceptance?

I have found the realm of social media to be an interesting and entertaining one at times and a divisive and drama producing one at other times. I gave up Facebook probably 4-5 years ago out of a need to refocus my energies away from what everyone else was doing and focus more on what my children were doing right in front of me. I kept Twitter since it really didn't suck my time and attention away. It was more to follow celebrities and fan girl a little bit from time to time. A couple of years ago, our church had an Advent Instagram challenge to put a picture up that represented the Advent word of the day so to speak. So I got an Instagram account to participate in that...and kept it. It has been fun and not so fun at times. You get to see all that others are doing, but then you get to see all that is being done without you or your children and that hurts, not gonna lie. But, I'm a big girl and I can opt out of Instagram at any time, so that's that. What I have found most disturbing lately is the ignorance posted on said social media here lately and by youngsters who really have no idea what they are saying or the weight their words carry. A student colleague of one of my children posted a HIGHLY anti-Semitic picture on Instagram to the point it took my breath away. What shocked me even more was how many people liked the post, people who go to churches and are nice kids. As a mother, as a wife of a man who has Jewish relatives who I Iove and my children love and love my family, as just a plain old human on this planet, um, what do I do? I don't know some of these kids other than their name and they know mine. Do I comment on their post and call them out? I read an article today about the danger of remaining silent in these situations and what that teaches those around us. I have felt guilty all evening not commenting, but I just don't know exactly what to say. I talked to the kids tonight at dinner. One said that even Jewish friends make the jokes about Jews and they found that very confusing. After this weekend's death of Elie Weisel, I felt the need to teach to this. Maybe it is just me, but after you hear a Holocaust survivor speak and hear of their experience and liberation story, you will never forget it. Never. I am not trying to be holier than thou in any way. I just haven't been that moved by a speaker in my life. Ultimately, I guess the only thing I can do is equip my children to be compassionate people to all they come in contact with and to stand up for what is right.

On that note, I'm going to bed.

Night all.


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