Light & Thought
A collection of Steve Graves’ reflections.
Facebook became a problem for me.
Those who know me well know that I see the world differently than most -- it's something of a curse. My ability to reason and to understand things has made me unique, but it has also made me a lifelong target for bullying.
What made it even harder was that my intellect was combined with being raised Christian.
My Christian values were often seen as a weakness.
Even as a child, I thought deeply about what the world would be like if everyone acted as I tried to act: with kindness, with respect for others.
I believed -- and still believe -- that a society where people treat each other with dignity and compassion is a healthy society.
For most of my life, it felt like history was bending in that direction. We were building a better world.
Then evil learned how to use the Internet.
In particular, the Russians weaponized our social media, feeding us lies, hate, and misinformation.
Putin is thrilled at the damage he has done to our society.
At first, the billionaires who run social media tried to resist it. But then they realized something: the collapse of society benefits them.
Musk bought Twitter and turned it into a misinformation machine. The other platforms followed.
We are in serious trouble.
A society where everyone acts like Trump -- selfish, hateful, lawless -- is not a society.
It's chaos.
It's a return to the tribal warfare of the past.
The rest of the world will eventually isolate us.
At first, we might bully others into submission. But over time, the world will organize against us, just as it united against Germany in World War II -- only this time, we will be the pariah.
What makes this even harder to watch is how people are pretending to be Christians while promoting anti-Christian values.
To destroy us, Putin needed to get people to hate Christian values.
To justify that hate, he needed to demonize Christian teachings.
But real Christianity is not what they are selling.
Christ is the Golden Rule.
Christ is the Beatitudes.
Christ is the woman at the well.
Christ is turning the other cheek.
Christ is woke.
Christ is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
The hatred of true Christian values -- kindness, honesty, openness, respect -- is what will destroy our society if we don't change course.
We must find our way back.
We must return to the path Christ taught us:
Compassion.
Truth.
Justice.
Respect for all people.
Only then can we begin again to build a world that improves.
Next: I talk about how our moral values have been inverted
This essay is part of a series. Here is a link to the top.
Foundations -- Every structure needs a base