What should we talk about in public or for the public?
This is one of those topics that is more of a thought experiment than it is a statement of opinion.
Today there are many ways to express yourself publicly. Just like this blog, social media, and the ability to broadcast things by E-mail to as many people on your list as you want, all of these methods are completely open today. We can say anything, to anybody and everybody. But, the question is...should we?
Of course, I believe in freedom of speech and the right to express ourselves in public on any topic we want. But, just because we may doesn't necessarily mean we should.
Do we really want everyone to know our 'stuff'? Do we really need to tell everyone how we feel about things? Do we really need to talk about our problems to others?
I think one problem with this overt openness to others in public makes us more vulnerable to thinking about what others think about us. Included in that is the fact when expressing our opinions on various topics we are doing exactly that, thinking about others and how they are.
We are somewhat defined by what we think is right. We all have the right to believe what we believe and yes challenging those beliefs isn't a bad thing. However, what happens is when people state their position on topics, especially certain topics, it has a way of organizing people into groups of people who share or disagree with those opinions. It has a divisive effect and as much as I appreciate the ability to peacefully allow for divergent opinions to coexist it doesn't appear that, after a certain point, this is preserved.
Two of the most polarizing topics that have existed throughout time are religion and politics. Religion and politics are pretty much given to us at birth and throughout our formative years by our family and the society around us. Both topics are personal topics and we all have our own set of ways of thinking about them. Religion and our relationship to "God" is between "God" and us. It is a personal relationship and it really is nobody else's business. Politics we express at the voting both and our votes are anonymous and private. Why do we so often chose to make these things public? If anything, how we vote in the voting booth should not be known to anyone. That is how we protect ourselves from political forces that may want to influence us in some way.
Making public our political and religious beliefs actually takes away our freedom to choose for ourselves. Expressing political and religious beliefs publicly also forfeits our personal freedoms and it also serves to influence others as well. I believe we should be private in our beliefs so that everyone can be honest behind the curtain of privacy.
There is all kinds of content all over the internet. Social media is the graveyard of ethics. Anything goes. You can lie about anything and everything under the guise of Freedom of Speech. Lying is known in the Ten Commandments as "Bearing False Witness." It is one of the principles of being a decent human being. However, it seems that nobody cares about the truth anymore and that anyone who holds someone to the truth is being unfair or mean. Today truth isn't decided by fact but rather by ideology. The respect for science, the rule of law, and facts has pretty much been destroyed by novices who either don't care what they say or say it because they want to achieve some sort of goal by lying.
Tell a lie enough and people will believe it. This seems to hold true.
All of the other Red Button Topics are also ways to confuse and agitate people. We should all be wary of these types of topics because they are data gathering bait to evaluate you and your profile. It is a disturbing fact of life today and it is only going to get worse.
In essence what I am saying is to show what you believe in by your actions not your posts. Do things in real life and don't shout your opinions from the mountain tops. This will not serve anyone well. You might think you are a hero, but you aren't, you are a target.
I'm going to have to review these things, but I had to get them on 'paper' and then I can edit and evaluate later.