I think we’d all agree it’s been a brutal couple of weeks months lifetimes on the Internet. Someone asked me the other day how I’ve managed to stay sane, and I wasn’t sure what to say, not feeling particularly sane most of the time. But it got me thinking about a few truisms that have helped guide Mbird up ’til now — which is over eighteen years at this point. Maybe they’re naïve or outdated, but if you’re as allergic to us vs. them thinking as I am, perhaps you’ll find something in them to buoy you. Here’s what’s prevented me from logging off thus far. Take what you like and leave the rest:
1. It is okay not to know things. The pressure to sound off on subjects you know nothing about in order to pass some sort of public decency test is a form of contemporary insanity. When in doubt, keep stumm. And if you must open your mouth, stick to the things where you’ve got something knowledgeable/constructive to say. Nick Cave knows what I’m talking about. Also, never forget how during COVID everyone suddenly became epidemiologists and how supremely obnoxious that was. Don’t be an overnight epidemiologist.
2. On a related note, no one can care about or be interested in everything. There are times when not caring about certain subjects is a sign of privilege, when indifference is a matter of being buffered from suffering. However, if geopolitics has never held your attention and partisan stone-throwing always turned you off, that’s not necessarily a moral failing. Pretending to be something you’re not or feigning passion for the sake of approval (which you likely will not receive, at least in any lasting or meaningful way) is a recipe for burnout.
3. This one is a bit controversial but here goes: the political-ethical realm is only one slice of reality, and arguably the thinnest. The real action is almost always happening below it, on the existential and/or metaphysical level. Remember your visit to your neighbor in hospice last week: personal pain, spiritual hopes and doubts, the desire to love and be loved — these things are not secondary. Focusing on them is not irresponsible or cowardly. Reserve your time and energy for swimming in those waters and you’ll reach a broader swath of the population, on a deeper frequency, with less noise. See also: this series of posts by Richard Beck.
4. If your mental health has never been terribly robust, getting yelled at by strangers is probably not going to help it. And it’s not a bad thing to be sensitive. Only sociopaths and Philadelphia Eagles fans don’t feel empathy. If your reason for keeping quiet about this, that, or the other is purely a matter of self-preservation so that you can be a functional husband and dad, that is reason enough.
5. The Internet is great for a laugh, but it is terrible at filtering what’s true/important (and what’s not) in real time. The initial impression of a given event is almost always incomplete and sensationalized. Confirmation bias is a very powerful thing, more powerful than your awareness of it. So a little self-suspicion goes a long way, especially where anger is involved. In other words, sleep on your reaction if you possibly can.
6. Playfulness, especially when it comes to the sacred cows of the moment, is not a liability or cop-out. To those drowning in dreariness, it can be a radical witness to the reality of another world. An act of resistance even, and certainly nothing to apologize for.
7. Second to last, and this one cannot be overstated: you and almost everyone you know are being played by social media. These platforms profit off of our outrage; making us upset (and keeping us that way) is their entire business model — and they’re really good at it. This is not a secret, though people over the age of 50 have a particularly hard time internalizing this truth. Watch Eddington if you don’t believe me. Or reread the “Systems Failure” section of Low Anthropology. Or consult Bo Burnham:
I’ve been thinking recently that maybe allowing giant digital-media corporations to exploit the neurochemical drama of our children for profit … maybe that was a bad call by us? Maybe the flattening of the entire subjective human experience into a lifeless exchange of value that benefits nobody except for, you know, a handful of bug-eyed salamanders in Silicon Valley … maybe that as a way of life forever, maybe that’s, um, not good?
8. Finally, you will not do any of this perfectly. You will fail to see your own blind spots and biases and those of your loved ones and colleagues. You will get pulled into the quicksand and say things you regret. You will disappoint, and it will be painful. Yet if grace is the final word, maybe that’s also where you’ll see God show up. It’s where you’ve encountered him in the past, after all. Because there’s nothing neutral about grace when it comes to those who’ve transgressed.
Which is to say, if your pastor doesn’t talk about the forgiveness of sins this week, maybe it’s time to find… them a present. I hear the Light Phone III is pretty rad.
“You and almost everyone you know are being played by social media. These platforms profit off of our outrage; making us upset (and keeping us that way) is their entire business model — and they’re really good at it.”
YESSSS! Shout it from the rooftops, Dave. Great piece all around, full of grace and truth.
[…] that vein, I want to recommend an excellent article that went up on Mockingbird today: “Grace in a Time of Line-Drawing and Statement-Making: Eight Theses for Surviving the Internet… So much wisdom […]
Thank the Lord, I’m above all of this! Haha.
[…] think David Zahl nailed it yesterday: there’s more to life than insisting people arrive at the “Correctest Possible Take” on a […]
Even as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I must say, this is one of the most soul-enriching articles I’ve read all year.
Thank you for this, David; there is much needed wisdom here. With that said, I can’t escape the feeling that Mockingbird is staying far too quiet at a time when it should be speaking out boldly. I am, of course, talking about the escalating authoritarianism in the US, headed by President Trump and backed by a kind of Christian Nationalism that, quite frankly, just as well may be classified as Christofascism.
Who can witness the speech made by Stephen Miller at the Charlie Kirk memorial and honestly say that the USA is not veering into a form of MAGA-fascism? I can understand the apolitical stance that Mockingbird takes, and I have at times appreciated it, seeing that my theology, more than anything, is formed on the basis of Luther’s theology of the cross, with its emphasis on God’s mercy and the forgiveness of sins, no matter what political views the believer might hold.
But when the Christian faith is so obviously misused in the service of violence and power, should we not speak up? Is there then such a thing as neutral ground? I think not.
I urge Mockingbird to take a clear stand against the MAGA movement, and against President Trump.
Make a statement. Draw a line.
Counter-point: Trump is actively advancing a major deal between Israel + Hamas. There is a good chance it won’t work, but if it does, it will be a big stride toward world peace.
Counter-point #2: Mockingbird actively stands against the kind of coercive, violent Christianity you’re describing. No one who reads Mockingbird could ever think this organization is not actively challenging legalistic, exploitative forms of Christianity. When the message is all grace, that’s not “neutral.” When it sinks in, it is the most active force there is, and has the most lasting effect.
For a few items off the top of my head that show Mockingbird is not “neutral” or “quiet”: https://mbird.com/music/why-i-invited-daryl-davis-to-speak/ Here: https://mbird.com/the-magazine/discerning-what-power-is-for/ and Here: https://mbird.com/religion/preaching-politically-in-turbulent-times/ Plenty of others.
A message of grace is going to operate a little differently, and more consistently, than reactive protesting
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Why Jesus chose a tax collector for the Empire and Simon who was a political provocateur as followers is interesting. Did they get along? I doubt it. The Gospels reveal that the whole band argued quite often.
It was at the ascension that they wanted to know if Jesus was ready to establish the kingdom.
Only after the coming of the Holy Spirit did they understand the mission was to preach the resurrection of Jesus, forgiveness and the Grace of God. They all died for the sake of the Gospel.
I have some really great political views. The last thing I want is Mockingbird to be the place to promote them.
Great article! Well said David!
Thank you for those articles, CJ; maybe «neutral» and «quiet» are a bit much; maybe I’m being unfair. But still. The only two articles directly addressing the horrendous murder of Charlie Kirk on Mockingbird (https://mbird.com/news/america/come-together/ and https://mbird.com/grace-in-practice/grace-in-an-age-of-vengance/) are both full of grace, forgiveness, and wisdom, operating on the level that David Zahl refers to as existential and/or metaphysical, which is a good thing and much needed in the current climate. And yet. Without a direct confrontation with Charlie Kirk’s theology and his role in pushing for the autocratic turn that is now taking place in the USA in the name of God, the overall impression left on me is that Mockingbird is unable or unwilling to tackle the threat from Christian Nationalism head-on.
I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes the existential and/or metaphysical level and the political-ethical level are intertwined in ways that have to be addressed, even here on Mockingbird, as part of the Christian witness and its prophetic vein. One such example is the Charlie Kirk memorial service, where these levels merged in the most horrific of ways, and I think Mockingbird is in a unique position to address that vulgar display of a theology of glory with its own 100% proof theology of the cross.
That said, I’m not even an American citizen (I’m Norwegian), and so I’m well aware that I know nothing about what it means to actually live within the polarization that is taking place in the USA, where friends and neighbors might be on the “other side” of the political divide.
In other words, I value Mockingbird and its message of grace immensely, and I hope that your country will find a way to move forward without falling apart. (And I’m loving the new design!)
I found myself nodding along, yes, yes, after each point until this statement, “You and almost everyone you know are being played by social media. These platforms profit off of our outrage; making us upset (and keeping us that way) is their entire business model — and they’re really good at it. This is not a secret, though people over the age of 50 have a particularly hard time internalizing this truth. Watch Eddington if you don’t believe me.” Ouch. Within my circles of family, friends, book clubs, volunteering, etc…it is just the opposite. Perhaps I was just stunned to see such an ageist statement from my beloved Mbird, Eddington or not.
“ sleep on your reaction if you possibly can” really hit me. I’ve been retired for 10 years, but when I was working. I would type out an angry reaction and let it sit in my drafts folder thinking that if I still felt the same the next day I’d send the message out. But not once did I ever send the drafted message out. And thank goodness for that.
I think it would be wonderful if social media sites would provide a way to let you save your reaction for later posting or at least ask something along the lines of “Do you really want to post this”. Of course I know this is naive, but I can hope.
Thanks for all you, RJ, Sarah and all of your staff do. Y’all are such a blessing.
The pressure to sound off on subjects you know nothing about in order to pass some sort of public decency test is a form of contemporary insanity. – Preach!