Safe Spaces From Controversy

  What is the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word controversy? Facebook debates, old people yelling at each other from across the dinner table? College students on YouTube screaming at strangers who disagree with their political views? 

  I have never been a stranger to controversy, even as a kid. I always spoke my mind, I didn't care what others thought about me, and the very topics that were considered off the table to discuss due to general politeness, were the ones I was most often interested in. In fact, to me it seemed like you couldn't really even know a person unless you understood their worldview, religion, and the politics that shaped them. Now, I wasn't necessarily interested in changing their mind, however, I was interested in knowing the rational thought process behind their views and how they arrived at their conclusions. Our worldviews shape our entire outlook on life after all. Our moral compass, why we behave the way we do, why we associate with the people we associate with, yet we aren't supposed to talk about the very things that make us who we are. To me, this was absolutely not okay, and so I said, "Screw it". I became very open about my religious beliefs and my politics. Some people were okay with this and actually encouraged my outspokenness as a breath of fresh air, others saw me as argumentative, annoying, and intimidating. 

  Either way, the world has come a long way since then and it seems like there are more opinions floating through the hemisphere than I can even keep track of. Political posts flood social media, activists take to the streets, and families are never speaking to each other again because they can't agree that president Trump is the worst president alive. You could say that there is no shortage of opinions these days, which has made some people (usually those with less popular worldviews or those who feel uneducated/inadequate to discuss such things) completely shut down. These people usually post memes, pictures of their lunches, and sunsets, all the while complaining that they're tired of politics and wondering why we can't go back to posting cat videos.

  The problem with society today is that while everyone has opinions, so few are actually willing to have an intellectual discussion on how they arrived at them. People aren't interested in defending their stances, they just want you to know that you're a horrible person for not agreeing with them. We as a society have come to love controversial topics, but we hate having to defend or debate what we believe, and we have a serious inability to handle anyone who fundamentally disagrees with us. But why? Why are we so open now with our own stances, but also so afraid and threatened by someone with a different worldview? 

  Recently, I was messaged on Facebook by an old coworker who wanted to inform me that due to my stance on the controversial topic of vaccines, he would have to unfriend and unfollow me from all social media. It boggled my mind why he felt the need to message me and tell me this, and it also made me wonder what he thought he was achieving by doing this? Was I supposed to view it as a punishment? Was I supposed to repent and take down all of my posts regarding this issue and never talk about it again? What reaction was he looking for and why did he feel so threatened by my views that he couldn't even be my friend anymore? You would think he would at least want to discuss the issue and lead me to the "truth" or what he saw as the truth. Sadly, this isn't uncommon. We as a society seem to love our echo chambers and the thought of someone not sharing our worldview makes us create our own safe spaces by eliminating people who don't think like us. There is a massive need for true, civil debate in this society, and we cannot allow fear of being on the outside keep us from being outspoken and engaging in conversation about things we feel strongly on. We should be mature enough to have discussions on important issues that effect our lives, and shape society. We should be able to disagree without running to a safe space of people who think and act and do exactly as we do. It is NOT brave to have opinions and to voice them, it IS brave however, to engage in discourse about your opinions with a listening ear, without insults, degradation, and condescension. If you are going to stand for what you believe in, then actually do it. Be open to questions, ask your own questions. Encourage dialogue. Encourage civility. Purposefully put yourself around people who disagree with you. Stop running to your safe spaces and hiding behind your protest signs and cliche chants. If you really want to change the world, start with a conversation. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something. And to my fellow Christians, we have a duty to be public and open about our faith and to be ambassadors for the gospel. God also tells us in Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause." We need to stand up to corruption, against abortion, against policies that harm the most vulnerable/our neighbors, and society. We can do that by not just sharing truth, but by showing the world what true civility in discourse looks like and by being an example of that with one another. It's very easy to get riled up and emotional when you are in a debate, but that doesn't mean you should stop debating all together. Not engaging in hard conversation because "it's pointless" and "you'll never change their mind anyway", is not the answer and is frankly a cowardly cop out. The answer is learning how to engage properly so that you can actually be effective without ruining your testimony. Trust me, I know it's not easy, and there are soooo many times where I fail miserably at this. But we have the strength of the Holy Spirit to approach these issues. Jesus was very controversial in His time, and He is our ultimate example of patience, loving-kindness, and humility when it comes to sharing truth. Keep the main thing the main thing (the gospel), but don't be afraid to let the gospel bleed into moral areas of society that need to be corrected. We can never have heaven on earth, but we can do what we can in our power to seek justice and fight oppression one conversation at a time.

 “Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost." Thomas J Watson