One of the fastest growing trends of our contemporary setting is called cancel culture. A working definition of this term is as follows:

“The Cancel Culture is a collective attempt to harm the reputation, livelihood, and social presence of people, products, TV shows, celebrities, employees, etc., for violating a particular ideological standard.”

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, January 5, 2021

This, of course, is only one of many attempts at defining the term, but it will be used in this blog as a beginning point for our discussion of the topic. Cancel culture is the targeted attempt to destroy the reputation of someone or some entity that disagrees with your particular view of reality.

In the opinion of this writer, we are seeing this played out in the arena of our modern American society. It can be readily seen in every avenue, but for the sake of time and space I will focus my thoughts on one particular area: social media. It has become quite obvious that anyone who makes comments on any social media platform is subject to extreme scrutiny. We have all heard of someone being place in “Facebook jail” because they posted some remarks that went against Facebook’s policy. I know quite a few individuals who were censured because of remarks made in a personal post.

This is a seemingly innocent thing, wouldn’t you agree? Well, I, for one, adamantly disagree. It seems to me that if you are of a particular political persuasion which does not align with the “policy” of whichever social media platform you use, you could be banned from that platform for propagating what they deem to be inappropriate. For example, if you are against abortion, but the social platform police deem your comments about the harmful effects of abortion are against their policy, then you could be censured. Therefore, anything that does not align with their ideology is banned.

Again quoting from the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry:

Cancelling can occur for not being on the right side of such topics as…

1. Black Lives Matter – A leftist, anti-family, pro-marxism ideology
2. Critical Race Theory – Examining society as it relates to race and power.
3. Gender Identity – A person’s sense of his or her own gender regardless of biology
4. Intersectionality – How discrimination and privilege manifest in a person’s social framework
5. LGBTQ – An acronym symbolizing many sexual deviations
6. Race/Racism – Discrimination or privilege based on a person’s skin color.
7. Sexism – Discrimination of privilege based on a person’s sexual orientation
8. Socialism – Increased governmental oversight with a decrease of personal freedom
9. Transsexuality – The surgical alteration to change a person’s birth-sex
10. White Privilege – The inherent privilege in society due to being white

Please note carefully my next statement: Cancel culture is not solely the agenda of the left. Please read that sentence again. Anyone, of any ideological mindset, can be guilty of attempting to cancel culture. Advocates of pro-life can attempt to cancel advocates of pro-abortion. Advocates of the Biblical view of marriage being between one man and one woman can strive to cancel the beliefs and practices of the LGBTQ community. Cancel culture goes both ways, and it is wrong, no matter which “side” you happen to be on.

I, you, have the right to stand up for, speak up for, use social media as a platform to present our views and beliefs without being ridiculed, harassed, and verbally assaulted for our particular beliefs. I may adamantly disagree with you on any given topic, but you have just as much right as do I to present my views in a public forum as I stand for what I believe.

Different beliefs should be open for discussion, but not for being shamed, ridiculed, and even banned from presenting those beliefs. It would be wonderful, in my opinion, if we could join in healthy dialogue on controversial topics instead of striving to cancel each other out because of those differing points of view.

My thoughts and comments are always rooted in political and theological conservatism. Yours may be rooted in extreme political and theological liberalism. We may never agree on certain social and cultural beliefs and practices. But that doesn’t mean we have to go at each other with verbal assaults, trying our best to cancel each other out. We should respectfully allow each to his own.

I can, and should, love everyone, no matter what. That doesn’t mean I have to like you or what you stand for, but it does mean that I respect you and your right to your opinion. I’m not going to bash you in any public forum, but I may discuss with you why I disagree with your particular views.

In conclusion, I have no right to involve myself in any attempt to ‘cancel’ someone or some entity simply because I disagree with them. I will respect you, and ask you do the same for others. What I will do, as a believer in Jesus Christ – striving to follow His mandate to be a light shining in a world of darkness – is to share the message of His love and grace with red, yellow, black and white, as they are ALL precious in His sight. And ALL need to hear about His amazing love story of redemption.