Don't Blame Facebook And Twitter

From Roz Kaveney at the Guardian:

When the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster criticises Facebook and Twitter, he raises some points of real concern; the problem is that he does not do so in an appropriate spirit of humility.

As he rightly points out, some teenagers have killed themselves over what has been said about them online; as he does not bother to mention, a significant factor in many other teen suicides is the discovery of sexuality or gender issues that clash with the faith in which teenagers have been brought up. To be told, by the Pope, that to be gay is to be "objectively disordered" is no less a cause of despair – some would say rather more of one – than to get a text saying that your breath smells and your hair is ratty.
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The most meanspirited of teenage bullies persecuting a classmate for acne or the wrong trainers does not expect to influence how the law treats their victim; Archbishop Nichols can have every realistic expectation that the irrational prejudice of his church and other religious organizations against LGBT people will be to some degree protected in law, even in the new Equalities Bill. One of the saddest things about the Archbishop's public role – and on some issues he is on the progressive side of things – is that he does not understand the deep suspicion held of him by the secular minded even when he is right.

When religious leaders of any faith make cruel, unreasonable, or foolish statements, their words may have far-reaching and unintended negative consequences. Roz's example is Roman Catholic Archbishop Nichols, however she could well have chosen her example from the leaders of other faiths. When those same leaders speak the truth about matters such as war, poverty, untrammeled capitalism, etc., few pay attention, for they have lost the moral high ground due to their foolish judgements on other issues.

The fault, dear people of faith, is not in our stars, nor in our Facebook or Twitter accounts, but in ourselves.

H/T to TheMe at ThatDamnBlogThat'sHardToSpell.