New places to spread the Word

Br. MichaelDavide Semeraro

The internet has increasingly become the place where we meet and live. However, to be able to hide our identities when expressing our opinions has given rise to a flood of malice, insults and vulgar abuse. Anonymity seems to make people capable of any kind of malice or barbarity. It’s like being able to throw stones while hiding behind a wall. However, the real problem is neither the wall nor the internet. The problem is that we allow this desire for evil to grow in our heart to the point where we take pleasure in insulting others. Am I wrong? How can we heal from such malice?

R.B.

Social media is a public square, and like all public squares, it can be a place where people reveal their best or the worst qualities. As Hermann Hesse wrote, “Evil takes root where love is not enough”. We must never forget that whenever violence and malice take over, people suffer and become vulnerable to evil. So they may become, more or less consciously, instruments of it. We should not be afraid of these new public spaces, where people sometimes come together to encourage each other to be good, but unfortunately also to influence each other with negative attitudes. As disciples of Christ, we must follow the example of the apostles and saints, who bore witness to the Gospel in the public squares of their time. They even accepted, as Paul did in Athens in his speech at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-34) not to be understood, and to be insulted. However, we must not lose faith in the goodness that dwells in every human heart, and we must do everything possible to awaken and cultivate it, even in the virtual public squares of our time.