By REY FLORES
I am a news junkie. I consume news all day long via the Internet and talk and news radio. I like to stay current with the geopolitical happenings as part of my research as a writer.
Sometimes I get burned out by reading about the same political shenanigans, especially with the 2016 elections. But thanks to the Internet, we can seek out our news and information from all sorts of sources instead of merely relying on the government-approved propaganda, which is spoon-fed to Americans everyday via major television networks and newspaper websites.
Blogs are a good way to read what some people are thinking about current events or about the overall human condition. Today we also have social media outlets that are active in real time, so if something is either happening to my relative, friend, co-worker, of the Queen of England herself, I am kept abreast of it almost instantaneously.
One thing I have noticed, however, in my years of research and writing is that we must take almost everything with a grain of salt. Just because it’s on the Internet does not make something true. There isn’t any foolproof way to either confirm or disprove breaking stories, so on some level, unless we are firsthand witnesses to a newsworthy event, we often have to do further research and wait for further reports
The one thing we can all take comfort in, however — at least us Catholics — is that we must always view the world and everything happening in it through the lens of our Catholicism.
Oftentimes we get caught up in the game of social and political labels that only serve to remove our Catholicism and make us part of the whole big entire mess that is the world. We might one day weigh in on how either “patriotic” or “conservative” we may be, but we do so at the peril of making our Catholic beliefs secondary when they should always come first.
Of course, we can agree with, identify with, or support causes which can be described as either “patriotic” or “conservative,” but we must remember to always look to the crucifix and ask our Lord what we should really be thinking before we say, write, or act upon anything.
I say all this because recently I have heard and read what some of my Catholic brethren are saying, writing, or posting via social media.
I am far from being innocent of forgetting my Catholicism at times on Facebook and Twitter, because sometimes I just throw a comment out there which is not charitable, edifying, or Christian.
Sure — we get fired up and passionate about certain current social matters like abortion, the attacks on traditional families and marriage, and the Christian persecution by the liberal left, as well as the bloodiest persecutions by terrorist groups like ISIS.
We certainly have every right to our feelings and thoughts, but what others see is our external reaction to how we deal with different situations in our daily lives. If we take pause and ask ourselves the clichéd but effective, “What would Jesus do?” question, that is the probably the best course of action.
We seem to be emboldened by the anonymity and safety of our computer keyboards — but would we really say the same things to each other if we were standing there in person, face to face?
I don’t think we would be as rude in person as we sometimes are online. I know I would probably be walking around with a black eye every other week if I said some of the things I say in person instead of posting my opinions online from the safety of my own home.
I say these things not just to play Mr. Good Advice, but to remind myself that truth can be shared firmly and effectively, but always with charity. That doesn’t mean we have to concede our beliefs on something like abortion or so-called same-sex marriage. It means that if we start insulting people right off the bat, there is very little chance we will win hearts or change minds.
We must take the technology God has put in our lives to further His Kingdom. Social media are very powerful and I have actually succeeded in changing some people’s minds on abortion. It took a few conversations after some initial bickering back and forth, but following some respectful conversation, a longtime abortion supporter read what I had to say and admitted that he’d been wrong all along.
Imagine if we could do that over and over again, simply because we took the time to treat another person with respect instead of calling them names and making fun of them or insulting them seven ways to Sunday.
Again, I do not claim to be a saint here because I admit — it’s hard not to pick on Bernie Sanders supporters or berate Hillary Clinton pro-aborts on their own Facebook pages. That’s when that little Internet devil gets on my left shoulder and starts telling me to poke fun at them.
What’s worse is that when some of these folks then go to my Facebook page or Twitter account and see that I am a Catholic, the first thing they will do is call me a Christian hypocrite. Yes, sir, that is what they will do to any of us, so watch how you represent all of us when you are making incendiary comments online.
I’m not saying don’t have the discussions. I’m just saying that we need to remember how the secular, anti-Christian haters will take any and every opportunity to point out how un-Christ-like we can be at times.
A former boss of mine who was an indigenous woman once told me, “Where I stand my people stand. If I do something to shame myself, I have done something to shame my people.”
I ask you to remember that advice and I especially remind myself to follow that advice as well.
Our faith and our Catholicism are not being represented when we are behaving disrespectfully. No wonder people call us hypocrites when we act less than Christian.
Do nothing to shame our people — Catholic people.
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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