Our obligation to be honest in our criticisms
We have a Ninth Commandment obligation to be judicious in what we share on social media.
Context matters. Everyone knows this, but far too often we see people taking a statement someone made, ignoring the larger context, and then mischaracterizing what was said. Do not do that.
When Charlie Kirk was murdered last month, Leftists seized on two “quotes” to “own” him. One was about empathy and the other was about gun control. Seizing on his criticism of empathy, a Facebook friend said Kirk “wouldn’t want us to be sad for him anyway.” But Kirk explicitly said sympathy is a good thing, while criticizing empathy, so it is simply not true that Kirk would not want people to have sympathy for his family.
(I do not agree with Kirk on empathy, but that’s not my point.)
There are lessons here for all of us - myself included. First, actually research what was said before you try to “own” someone, to avoid misrepresenting them. Having failed there, if you make an incorrect statement out of ignorance of the entire quote, you should correct your statement. Obviously, outright lying cannot be excused.
The statement on gun control is indicative of an “all or nothing” mentality, especially on safety. We have about 48,000 gun deaths annually. (Over half of gun deaths are suicides.) We also have more than 40,000 traffic deaths annually. People seized on Kirk’s statement that we accept gun deaths to have Second Amendment rights, but ignore that we accept traffic deaths to have freedom of movement. Somehow, gun deaths are “different.” We also have deaths that could be prevented by outright banning alcohol, but we do not do that. It is not indicative of a callous disregard for life to recognize these trade-offs exist. You can disagree on where lines should be drawn but taking an “all or nothing” approach is simple-minded and childish.
This is hardly exclusive to the Left, as I have seen plenty of people on the Right do the same thing. And both sides (myself included) need to be more careful to offer honest criticisms of political opponents. We especially should think about claims made before we share them, because there is so much fake news that circulates. Spreading unverified rumors and especially false claims can do real harm, not just to the target of the fake news but also to his family. We have a Ninth Commandment obligation to be judicious in what we share on social media.
I know I might as well be literally talking to a brick wall instead of writing an article about this, but it is worth remembering our obligations as citizens and as people. Be honest. Fact check your claims. If you make a mistake, do not be too arrogant to admit that mistake. It will not only prevent needless harm, it will preserve your own credibility. We do not need to lie to “fight back” against our political opponents.