I hereby proudly present my first guest-post. My good friend Shawn shares some of his thoughts from his first year as a member of the LDS Church.
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The Soft Apathy of Low Expectations
For over a
year, Karl Stefanovic wore the same sports jacket every day that he co-hosted
the show, “Today” on Australian’s Nine Network. For a year, no one noticed or
otherwise called out that he wore the same blue blazer everyday on-air; not his
staff, not his co-host, not even a single viewer. Mr. Stefanovic had a thesis
that he wanted to illustrate by wearing the same jacket every day; that in
today’s world, people often miss
the simple things that are glaringly and repeatedly in front of them—things that would normally be obvious but are not
because of the distractions that we choose to surround ourselves with. While
mundane, not noticing Mr. Stefanovic’s
coat is hardly a transgression, but his point and his example are symbolic—analogous to many spiritual situations that members
encounter in society today and the topic I wish to address: the soft apathy of
low expectations.
Too many
distractions act as barriers between us and the relationship with the Spirit we
should have and between us and our willingness to help others. As Saints, these
distractions are often the secular ancillary activities that are increasingly
damaging—and for some consuming—our spiritual relationships with ourselves and others.
Our social media accounts, the movies and television shows we watch and our
constant need of consumption (or otherwise idolatry) of these things are
suffocating our spiritual wellness and impeding our potential to achieve the
higher standards we should all strive for.
Lately, I have
been fascinated considering the way technology, social media and the
entertainment that we inundate ourselves with might be destroying the spiritual
beauty in our lives without us knowing it. Most unfortunate, is that this spiritual
harm is being inflicted largely without our conscious awareness and yet, with
our willful and eager consent. Why is it that the things that seemingly
distract us away from the Spirit the most are the things that truly matter the
least? What should otherwise be obvious is obfuscated by the rote manner of
worldly habits—where instead of meeting
our responsibilities of serving spiritual nourishment to others, we
accidentally abandon it out of an unconscious, self-focused apathy.
We live in what
academics and commentators call the ‘postmodern’ world where the ideal of its inhabitants is to
constantly seek a constructed reality better than reality itself. Essentially,
this idea means that rather than deal with the world as we know it around us,
we are increasingly allured to the world of make-believe. Our attraction to the
world of make-believe removes us from the world God created for us and places
us in a world we create for ourselves. It distracts us from establishing the
kingdom of God on earth, from bringing others to the Spirit, from being in
touch with the Holy Ghost. This is
perhaps on no better display than our relationship—if not obsessive, than addictive—between contemporary films and television and the
soaring popularity of social media. But the ideal realities of make-believe
that postmodernity presents—and the one we too often
immerse ourselves in—is a worse reality than no
reality at all. More importantly—this kind of mindset is in
direct opposition to Jesus, his teachings, his broader message and everything
else we read in scripture. On this topic, Jesus and the words of our prophets
are very plainly spoken.
“And he said unto them, ‘With desire I have desired to eat this passover with
you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until
it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God,’
says Jesus in Luke 22:15-16. Far from the kingdom of God, the most popular
television shows and movies today idealize a dystopian world where suffering
and death are as indiscriminate as they are crude and nonsensical, where
sex is always about power and manipulation; where the terrible ends always
justify the horrific means; and where vulgarity is done for vulgarity’s sake without any rhyme or reason. Nudity and sex has
always been pervasive in our media but the tone and direction these popular
shows has taken in recent years have somehow presented itself as more
acceptable to watch. The degradation of human life is not the message of Christ
and should not be something we regularly entertain ourselves with.
In the first letter of John 3:16-18, we read, “Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives
for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother
have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in
tongue; but in deed and in truth.” Ratings get even higher when the next season of a
show promises more deaths, gore and violence by zombies. This year’s highest grossing movie was
all to quick to give us the satisfaction of having the bad guys get eaten by
dinosaurs and a few innocent people too because, why not? “But I say unto you, That ye
resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him
the other also.”
Shows on HBO glorify revenge and torture as do Netflix originals, especially if
you want to be President.
These are not the shows and movies on some of the time or
even most of the time. Ever more gradually, these are the topics and the
direction of our entertainment on all of the time and the ones we choose to
watch. It does seem that the coarseness of our media is accidentally and
increasingly resolving to be the attitude we adopt towards ourselves and
others.
Likewise, our
almost constant addiction to social media and the distraction it poses does not
often augment our relationship with others—spiritual or not—it hinders it. In today's age, there is hardly a time,
situation or event when checking our Facebook feed, opening our Snapchat
account or viewing the latest picture uploads on Instagram is not inappropriate
or somehow justified. Perhaps even right this very moment. Never underestimate
a human’s capacity to defend
itself from an addictive behavior.
A study was
recently completed that asked several individuals who are smokers, drinkers and
social media users to give up all three for a week. To study the effects of
addictiveness, after seven days the individuals were given the option to have
one of their habits back. Unanimously, everyone asked for their phones back so
they could check their Facebook accounts, forgoing cigarettes and alcohol. If
we cannot help ourselves from stopping to do something, then we have become
addicted, and that is hardly ever a good thing. Just because the Words of
Wisdom does not proscribe an act, that does not mean that the action is any
less mitigated if we do it. Perhaps as Saints we have become too entrenched by
the repetitiveness and limited set of issues that we constantly focus on that
make us believe we are being good Mormons, that we lower our expectations and
lose sight of the bigger picture of what it really means to be a Christian.
Christianity is not demonstrated through a recitation of facts or processes.
More and more,
social media makes us fail to rise to the better angels of our nature and skews
us to sink in the pit of shallowness of ‘swipe left’
or ‘swipe right.’ Rather than judging others on the content of their
character, we deem worthiness on the perceived physical appearance of others.
While intending to bring us closer together, social media has become all too
impersonal, often silly and unproductive. Relationships are built on trust.
With no trust, we have no relationships and social media often exposes our
insecurities to the world.
Following the
news feed of others does not give us a true sense of how someone is doing, it
gives us a constructed one, making us all too apathetic. It gives us a false
sense that we are actually reaching out into the lives of others- simulating a
better reality that we find appealing. Recently, researchers found that those
who used social media exclusively or even as the primary means to track or
follow up with their friends knew less than those who used no social media at
all. The realities that are projected on social media are repeatedly the ones
we want others to think and to know. Conversely, we have been all too willing
to rely on the outsourced management of what used to be some of the most
intimate and personal of relationships to algorithms crafted by engineers in
Silicon Valley who give us the updates we want to have and share the things we
want to know. When did we become so distracted that we are willing to delegate
our relationships to math equations? I do not know, but we do.
Prayer
is direct, personal and confidential with God. So too should our communications
be with each other. We alienate the Holy Ghost through our constant trivial
distractions and miss cues and opportunities to help others when
they need it the most. It takes effort to keep in tune. When we do, there’s room to hear more subtle things—that is when our intuition
starts to blossom and we are able to see things more clearly and be in the
present. Our minds
slow down and we see so much more than what we could see before.
As a convert,
the most significant milestone in my spiritual life has been meeting with
missionaries. It is not a coincidence that missionaries are not allowed to watch
movies or television or use social media. It does keep them more connected with
the Spirit than they otherwise would be—focused in on the task at hand. Maybe we all should
strive to be more like missionaries so we can more readily engage these profound
relationships with members and non-members alike.
I do not mean
to suggest that we should not go to the movies or use the Internet or to tell
anyone what to do. We get enough of that already. Social media has its purpose
as does our means of entertainment. After all, Jesus led a secular life for 30
years before his ministry. However, the constructed and make-believe realities
of television and movies should never be confused with anything other than
fiction—to say nothing of ideal.
Moreover, social media should never interfere with our own spiritual
development or get in the way with us bringing others closer to Christ or
helping another in need. Too often it does just that.
Is this likely
to stop? Right now, the reality of the situation indicates no, probably not.
Our consumption and usage of social media and entertainment controls us, we do
not control it. As bad as it is now, it is only going to get worse over time
and with each new generation. Despite addressing this topic, we are likely to
again revert to our old habits. We will continue our obsession with the
television shows we probably should not watch and go to the same lengths to
make sure we watch them—even if that means
breaking the law to download them. Always doing it, cannot stop doing it,
breaking the law to do it; the true sign of addiction. We will continue to view
our world in terms of how many 'likes' we can get and use dating apps
for...whatever reason it is again that we use them. Again, my goal here is not
to tell anyone what to do. I could not change anyone's behavior on this topic
even if I wanted to. My goal is to change the way we think. The first stop of
solving of problem is recognizing there is one.
We
always should try to hold ourselves and others to a higher standard, to have
higher expectations. When we do, our apathy that results from our distractions
fades away. We again start to see what is right in front of us and more
appropriately act in a manner that spreads and fulfills Christ’s message.
This is a great article. It put words to the thoughts that I've had in my mind about the same subject. Very well written, I love every sentance of it!
ReplyDeleteShawn, I love how thoughtfully constructed every sentence is in this piece. I have re-read it many times. A very pithy article that covers a lot of ground. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete