Wow! Watching history being made with @h_smith. Remarkable.
07:06 PM November 04, 2008 from txt
That was my Tweet that I texted from my phone when I found out Barack Obama won the election. That Tweet was delivered from Twitter, to Facebook, automatically updating my Facebook status…just like all my Twitters do.
Getting Nasty
Seems like a relatively benign procedure. But if you were paying attention to either Twitter or Facebook on Election night, well, then you got a taste of what America thought about Obama being elected.
Let’s just say that mixed in with all the amazing comments, was some downright ugly and nasty statements. That’s to be expected. But what has many talking is that a lot of the comments that were appalling were coming from not only young conservatives, buy Christians as well.
I get that we all have our moments where we say stupid things. We send that email we shouldn’t send. We post that blog we shouldn’t have posted. We send that Twitter, or update our Facebook status and wish we could have taken it back. With instant access there isn’t a barrier that causes us to pause and think anymore. I am guilty myself of saying lots of stupid things online.
But watching the micro-blogging of the Election night was an education in in and of itself.
What Others Were Saying
Originally I didn’t think it was worth commenting on, but then I began to see that many were talking about what was happening on Twitter and Facebook status updates. I noticed Wess Daniels Tweet, @cwdaniels,
He may or may not have been talking about Christians. Or it may have been about young Conservatives. Whatever it was, it was worthy of taking up class time in seminary and bringing forth a discussion. Maybe Wess can comment on this post.
Then I was having lunch with some youth leaders who were so taken back by the comments of the Christian kids in their youth group that they decided that their next Bible study would be devoted to what was being said online. They pointed me to this article. I have linked the entire post in this text…scroll down to see the instant thoughts of young conservatives after Obama was elected. Young Conservatives Mourn Obama’s Victory on Facebook:
The best thing about the end of this election is that it just keeps going on and on and on and on! A sampling of doomsday Facebook status updates (some, we’re hoping, tongue in cheek) from young conservatives mourning the end of freedom, America and the world:
… is going to hell, because her sister voted for the Anti-Christ.
… is going to go shopping for a burka tomorrow.
… Welcome to the GRAVE!
… is moving to Australia.
… knows the heart of the KING is in the hands of the Lord.
… is proud of my country and ashamed of our anti-American/muslim/socialist president.
… is mourning for her country.
… pretends not to care.
… what will become of America now?
… is welcome to the USSA.
… is trusting in the sovereignty of the King.
… is wondering how you can live with the blood on your hands?
… is convinced that Comrade Obama will soon take the Divine Right! May he live forever!
… prepares for the dark ages.
… is praying that God will help her respect those in authority… even if it’s hard. May God be glorified! God, please forgive us and let your light shine!
… is mourning the death of capitalism.
… says that every great nation has its moment of glory and then it collapses. America started her downhill descent today.
… is praying that God will be merciful in His judgment of our nation—and praying for the salvation of our new president.
… remembers the 5th of November and prays for the protection of life and liberty.
… heck, maybe living under socialism will be fun!
… sighs and prays that the cost isn’t higher than we can pay…
… is praying for the future of her country, which she loves.
… hopes you all get what you deserve . . . and it probably won’t include lower taxes .
… is scared for her country.
… is prepared for four years of insufferable platitudes.
… is politically depressed.
… is celebrating her last few hours of freedom…
.
… is clinging to his guns and religion.
… is praying for the elections and that God will be merciful in His judgment of our nation. What peace may be found in the sovereignty of God. Rom. 8:28.
… is no no no no no NBC News, GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SOLUTION (and, while I’m at it, f*** the two-party system).
There were so many articles on this topic, and most of them were too vulgar for me to post on my blog, but hopefully this gives you a small sampling of what many were saying that night.
It’s a reminder to me that not only as humans….but specifically as Christians, I have a responsibility with my speech. What I say out loud and to others, speaks volumes about me as a Christian, and how others view not only me, but how they may, and will, perceive Christianity and Christ, whom I claim to follow.
When we say nasty, vulgar and un-Christian things about others, and about Presidential candidates, whether it be McCain or Obama, then we don’t represent Christ very well I’m afraid. This issue has caused me to stop and think about a lot of things regarding my social media presence and what I say about others that I blog or Twitter about.
I could say more, but instead, let me leave you with one beautiful Facebook status update that came in after Obama was elected. Brittany is one of the many on election night who shined a beautiful light amongst the ugly side of micro-blogging. Facebook Status Report Roundup, The Presidential Election Edition
Brittany Mendenhall is in shock. My grandmother drank out of a COLORED water fountain. I mean I can’t even believe it! AHHHHHHH!
Updated via Facebook Mobile about an hour ago
thanks for writing this.
My most unfavorite thing is reading statuses and blogs that are just about “saving face.” Christians saying I support Obama now and will be praying for him…though I didn’t vote for him or do I support his policies. Why can’t Christians say they will prayer for him and his Presidency…why do we have to clarify we didn’t vote for him? Why is it more important for other people to know we are “good” Christians and voted Republican?
Great post. I agree…I was amazed to see the variety of responses. Some were more gracious than others.
I appreciate this post. In fact, I had to apologize to my roommate tonight for statements I made brashly about the Prop 8 protestors outside our window (literally). How do you feel about all those who just posted the “god is in control” blanket? I feel like that’s just taking God out of his box when it fits their agenda. I mean, sure, the guy I voted for didn’t win…but so? I didn’t LOVE McCain, either. Lately, I’m going with complete change of subject. Refferring all inquiries to my blog post. Haha.
mm… one facebook message got one kid kicked off the UT football team.
mm… one facebook message got one kid kicked off the UT football team.
Rhett, we were talking about Christians. One interesting point for most everyone in the class is that as Fuller student we were finding ourselves in the middle of crossfire between the right and the left and of course we were getting shot at too!
Rhett, we were talking about Christians. One interesting point for most everyone in the class is that as Fuller student we were finding ourselves in the middle of crossfire between the right and the left and of course we were getting shot at too!
I am emotionally EXHAUSTED after the last couple of days. I come from the midwest, moved to CA to go to Fuller, and now everyone thinks I have fallen off the deep end (I hate babies, don’t believe in marriage and no longer love God) because my status update said “julia is happy” – Wess is right, we are in the crossfire and there is no way to please everyone (or anyone).
I’ve just decided I have to stay off my facebook for a week or so until this all cools off a bit more…
I am emotionally EXHAUSTED after the last couple of days. I come from the midwest, moved to CA to go to Fuller, and now everyone thinks I have fallen off the deep end (I hate babies, don’t believe in marriage and no longer love God) because my status update said “julia is happy” – Wess is right, we are in the crossfire and there is no way to please everyone (or anyone).
I’ve just decided I have to stay off my facebook for a week or so until this all cools off a bit more…
this is the opposite of the responses i saw. the vitriol, hatred, and hysteria i saw on facebook was not from conservatives but from liberals, especially liberal christians whose response to prop8 was much more than i would have anticipated.
this is the opposite of the responses i saw. the vitriol, hatred, and hysteria i saw on facebook was not from conservatives but from liberals, especially liberal christians whose response to prop8 was much more than i would have anticipated.
hey everyone:
all awesome comments.
Tyler, I love your thoughts. It’s funny how we often have to qualify our choices to others.
Kyle: Yes, there was vitriol on all sides…the left is just as entrenched as the right.
Julie: sorry to hear that. we moved from LA after living there for 7 years, to Dallas…very different for us. Fuller is a great, great place..hang in there. It’s great seeing both sides at Fuller and getting to interact with such a wide variety of people.
rhett
Interesting research on Twitter. One cool place to aggregate Tweets is on a microsite I’m working on with Tropicana called AnOrangeAmerica.com. The site takes all of the tweets about the election in a really interesting way – think of it as “Freshly Squeezed Election Tweets!” – and then shows the frequency and context of election-related terms as they happen.
So when is the buzz is about the transition team or Palin or Obama’s presser, you’ll see a graph showing the volume also which words its being cross-referenced with.
If interested, check out the site at http://AnOrangeAmerica.com
Rhett,
I read both of your posts and several others like it over the last few days. I will grant you that it is wise to be careful how we speak, and some comments have been regrettable (if not downright unscriptural). However, what is greatly concerning to me is the fact that in all corners, comportment seems to be trumping convictions: including for Christians, which is astounding to me. You are correct that some comments have been unbecoming of Jesus followers, and I do not believe Obama is the Antichrist. But you seem to be artfully dodging the SIGNIFICANT differences that many Christians have with him ON THE ISSUES in favor of focusing on the reactions to his win. I think what you are seeing (and criticizing) is not lockstep conservatism, at least for everyone, but genuine fear. For several reasons.
1. Obama is not only pro-abortion but seems almost rabidly so. God help us if even CHRISTIANS see wholesale killing of the unborn as a “secondary issue” that we just wish no one would talk about! I’m not going to clutter this response with a bunch of links; just look up his voting record on the matter. And opposing parental consent at the very LEAST is unconscionable. Look also for links on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIP)–protecting newborn infants who somehow survive an abortionist’s efforts to kill them–and Obama’s rationale on not supporting such a common-sense measure. If you believe the Bible is true, how can you believe a nation will remain unpunished for not only killing its most defenseless citizens, but voting in those who see no problem in doing so with impunity? Or do we suppose that God’s changed a bit… gotten soft since He sent His Son for us, isn’t ticked anymore, and will just look the other way? In other words, is He less holy and therefore more tolerant of ungodliness than He used to be? It is not lost on me that Billy Graham, who has been a spiritual advisor to almost every president since Eisenhower, although urging fellow believers to pray for our new president in his difficult task ahead, has stated that he cannot be advisor to Obama because of his stance on abortion.
2. Support for the homosexual agenda and ENDA. This includes a private fundraiser at the GLSEN founder’s home in March 2008 at which he apparently assured one individual that the hate crimes bill could likely be passed into law. Similar laws have passed in Sweden and Canada, and have resulted in pastors being jailed for daring to preach on what the Bible has to say on the issue. Don’t think it could happen here? Don’t kid yourself. I don’t know many mature Christians who speak with hatred toward homosexuals; but although loving the person and disapproving the lifestyle are not mutually exclusive propositions, some people seem determined to say they ARE. One need only lodge a complaint of “hate speech” under proposed hate crimes laws to get pastors in a LOT of trouble, even when they are reaching OUT to the very community they’re accused of “hating.”
3 God holds nations accountable for their leaders (1 Samuel 8, 2 Samuel 24); how much more so if WE vote them in?
I disagree with a lot of the economic policies Obama espouses. Did you listen to his notions on taxation, and do you still believe charges of his having socialist leanings are entirely unfounded? I am concerned how much he talks about “change” without ever saying much about WHAT he plans to “change.” The Bolshevik Revolution was quite a “change” for Russia in 1917, but I don’t think that was a positive thing! I worry what his stick-it-to-the-rich approach, however viscerally appealing to those of us on the lower rungs, will do to an already damaged economy. So yes! I have concerns, no matter how much of an intelligent, good-looking, well-intentioned, nice guy he is. But his willingness to condone things I think it’s pretty clear the Bible condemns is what terrifies me.
I concede your point that there is still an undue amount of vitriol preceding and following this election. I myself am guilty of some of it–as I mentioned in a private post to you, I think getting TOO wrapped up in who won or who lost is evidence of our having forgotten (and I do sometimes) that this is our secondary citizenship to a far more long-lasting Kingdom. But while I do not [yet] see a Thought Cop around every corner, nor do I buy the notion that we should all just ditch the issues and chant with Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” I think what we support and whom we support matters: and I will be doing my best to pray for our new president and the new country leadership, as Paul directs us to. But I am still very afraid of where he will take us… not because Obama himself can do anything to us outside of God’s sovereign will, but because God Himself certainly can. Unlike a lot of Americans, and American Christians, too, apparently, I don’t believe God places the happiness and prosperity of Americans above His stated expectations for people–individually, and as a nation. And knowing my own shortcomings and sinful inclinations as I do, that is enough to give me pause on both levels. C. S. Lewis said it well: “I have no patience for people who say they do not fear God ‘because He is good.’ Have they never even been to a dentist?”
Kyrie Eleison!
Tedd
Nice response, Ted. I can’t believe the blind-eye that has been turned by so many Christians towards a lot of what Obama stands for.
I was one of those people who twittered something along the lines of “I voted for McCain, but I will support and pray for Obama.” I think some people have gone too far with what they said, but why can’t we express our concern for the direction of the country. I am an open person and I don’t shy away from much. I wanted people to know who I voted for and why, but I also plan to do whatever I can to be a support to this country and its President.
I guess I am just tired of being told I voted for McCain simply because I’m a Christian and he’s a Republican. The truth is I voted for McCain because he doesn’t support murdering babies, semi-socialist ideals, redefining marriage, nor big government. Period.
p/s — I DON’T believe Obama is the Anti-Christ or a muslim extremist or anything else like that. For the record…
Wow. Lots of good thoughts from everyone. Thanks for commenting.
I agree…both the Right and Left side can be quite ugly to one another….and I was simply giving one snapshot in a much larger picture…that of commenters on Facebook, and more specifically Christians.
I hear a lot of people saying “Well, they do this or that….or the liberals are rude, etc., etc.” Personally, when are we to set a standard for our own behavior in comparison to others? We aren’t. So regardless of the rhetoric out there, we are to response and move forward in a more loving, Christian way in my opinion.
Also, Tedd, you took your comment in much different direction than my post. I appreciate your comments and that you took time to lay them out. You posted reasons why Obama shouldn’t be the candidate, or where he falls short. My post was not about why someone should or shouldn’t vote for Obama, but simply about the comments rolling on through Facebook status and the nature they had taken in the discourse. I don’t have a desire to get into reasons why I supported or didn’t support either candidate.
Ultimately, we must be very careful when we speak as if one candidate is more Christian, or is God’s candidate. Both candidates had inconsistencies in the Christian ethics I hope that I can live out….just as I have inconsistencies. Everything that one says about Obama, we could write up the same thing about McCain, just fill in the gaps with other issues.
There are a couple of great articles that have been published this last week that I think speak for many Americans.
I think the change will be good…he can’t fix our problems, but maybe we can all take on more responsibility as citizens.
http://www.conversantlife.com/politics/change-has-come-obacalypse-now
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/james-dobsons-letter-from_b_139253.html
Wow. Lots of good thoughts from everyone. Thanks for commenting.
I agree…both the Right and Left side can be quite ugly to one another….and I was simply giving one snapshot in a much larger picture…that of commenters on Facebook, and more specifically Christians.
I hear a lot of people saying “Well, they do this or that….or the liberals are rude, etc., etc.” Personally, when are we to set a standard for our own behavior in comparison to others? We aren’t. So regardless of the rhetoric out there, we are to response and move forward in a more loving, Christian way in my opinion.
Also, Tedd, you took your comment in much different direction than my post. I appreciate your comments and that you took time to lay them out. You posted reasons why Obama shouldn’t be the candidate, or where he falls short. My post was not about why someone should or shouldn’t vote for Obama, but simply about the comments rolling on through Facebook status and the nature they had taken in the discourse. I don’t have a desire to get into reasons why I supported or didn’t support either candidate.
Ultimately, we must be very careful when we speak as if one candidate is more Christian, or is God’s candidate. Both candidates had inconsistencies in the Christian ethics I hope that I can live out….just as I have inconsistencies. Everything that one says about Obama, we could write up the same thing about McCain, just fill in the gaps with other issues.
There are a couple of great articles that have been published this last week that I think speak for many Americans.
I think the change will be good…he can’t fix our problems, but maybe we can all take on more responsibility as citizens.
http://www.conversantlife.com/politics/change-has-come-obacalypse-now
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/james-dobsons-letter-from_b_139253.html