By FRANK REMKIEWICZ
Columnist
Anyone see Christ’s comments on his X (Twitter) account? Oh, you didn’t? Well, that is probably because Jesus doesn’t have a Twitter account. In fact, Jesus does not appear on any social media platform. It might be good for Christ to have a social media account. Still, alas, in 31 AD, social media was pretty much limited to itinerant preachers, sandals, a tall rock on the side of a hill from which to preach, and a crowd from the local town.
In today’s world, the explosion of social media is overwhelming. Millions of Americans use various applications, such as X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. On the surface, these applications appear to be great. Anyone can talk to anyone else in real time. For example, I can use FaceTime or Zoom to talk with my sisters in Whittier “face-to-face.”
Social media, like all tools humans create, can be used for good or for evil. Social media platform use has become increasingly evil and incredibly toxic. Using social media to spread hate and bigotry, harass and abuse others, denigrate others in order to lift themselves up, and spread lies without regard for the truth violates the second great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
What makes it worse is the lack of accountability among users who do and say these things. There is little responsibility to think before you write (or speak) when the victim is not standing in front of the person writing or speaking. Decency often disappears when communication barriers, such as social media platforms, emerge. That twinge of conscience does not exist when there is not a real person to confront. The personal hurt expressed in the eyes of those abused cannot be seen and felt by the person doing the damage.
The misuse of social media platforms, particularly in this manner, is a fundamental rejection of one human being by another. Cutting through all the vile language is the concept that each of us is a child of God and, as such, deserves respect.
In the English Standard Version of the Book of Genesis, we find that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” In the New Testament, Matthew writes, “Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female?’” And Mark writes, “However, from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.” If you consider yourself a Christian, how is it possible to treat someone created in God’s image like a piece of trash to be crumpled up and thrown away? And how is this treatment of a person created in God’s image not a rejection of the God so many Christians say they love? If you love your Creator and God, the Creator who created you, and you believe that you were created in the image and likeness of your Creator, how can you not love everyone else created in God’s image and likeness, just like you?
This is one of the many ways the two great commandments are strung together. Why do we love ourselves? At the heart of loving ourselves is the understanding that we are all created by God in His own image. Not to sound redundant, but isn’t God’s image, God? And the first great commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. To love God is to love the image of God. The second great commandment is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We have just a few lines above discovered that, in large part, we love ourselves because we are created in God’s image. If we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, and our neighbor is also created in God’s image, how can we not love our neighbor?
Let’s not be blinded or fooled by the fact that the person we are about to “hate on” is not standing in front of us. We cannot pretend that because we cannot see them, the person does not exist. In fact, we all picture the person we are writing about, whether we write in a letter, a text, or on a social media platform. We know the person we are writing about. Yet, oftentimes, we write mean and vicious things about others because they are not standing before us.
One last thing. Those who have created the various social media platforms have largely abdicated their responsibility to police their own platform in the name of “free speech.” I was always taught that we have the freedom to punch the other in the nose. However, your freedom to do so ends where my nose begins. At the end of my nose is where my freedom from being hurt begins. The mere fact that some humans have abdicated their responsibility to keep their social media platforms free of hurt does not mean we are all now free to cut loose. Our Father in Heaven still polices the social media platform through our conscience. That tiny, soft voice in our head is not tinnitus; it is God’s way of telling us we ought not to hurt each other.
In Christianity, freedom of speech is not synonymous with the freedom to hurt someone. Make no mistake, the vile, hate-filled, bigoted things we write do cut people to the bone. I believe we have all had one or, most likely, many cutting remarks written about us by others. And yes, it is hurtful. That is why the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Frank Remkiewicz is an area resident and contributes a monthly column focused primarily on faith and religion. He can be reached at fremkiewicz@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
