Safe to say that a lot of people have an unhealthy craving for controversy these days. If you don't believe me, spend 5 minutes on social media or reading the comments of any news article, and that should convince you otherwise! Once Simone Biles withdrew from the Olympics, it was as though a tidal wave of people looking for a fight was unleashed upon the internet, despite the fact that not a single argument likely resulted in a productive conversation. However you may feel about it, does being in 'constant friction' seem productive? Do continuous 'quarrels about words' seem like they're leading anywhere good?
I watch the debates on the internet and wonder at how it's dividing people. On the internet, it's easy to make a caricature of the other person, to reduce them to basic facts that are then found objectionable. It's easy to discard someone's argument, and maybe even that person, online. It's much harder when you sit down at a table to discuss something with someone and you realize they're not that different than you. On the internet, you can decide that someone is categorically different than you. In person, we're often starkly reminded at how similar we are. In the flesh, our humanity is much more apparent.
So may we always opt for in person discussions, in person debates, and may we not seek unnecessary controversy. We can enter into debates, discussions and the like, but it's important that we don't do so with a hope for controversy but rather with an intent to love, to serve, to be gracious.
It's not easy, but it's ever more important these days.
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