 |
| "Library books." by Jeffrey Beall is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. |
I'm beginning to realize I have a love/hate relationship with Matt Fradd's YouTube channel and podcast.
On one hand, there's a lot of genuinely interesting conversation on faith, morals, and culture over there. On the other, he occasionally gives advice that's incomplete or misguided. I've refuted something he's said on my blog before, and here I find myself in that position again.
The advice that this post focuses on came during a conversation on the degradation of culture he had with Dr. Jennifer Morse. The overall thrust of the conversation, that individuals have a responsibility and a power to act in their individual communities (even if they can't do everything), is a good one.
Unfortunately, some of the particular advice/examples left something to be desired. One such example could be paraphrased as "Just take out all the gay books you can find in the library and never return them."
On a closer listen, Matt did say to pay for them if you do this. This wouldn't be stealing, as such. I'm honestly still pretty conflicted on whether it's moral to "almost" steal a book like that, whether censorship is ever to be pursued in a free society (and whether that depends on the audience (kids)), and how effective that sort of tactic would actually be. Even if it isn't stealing, it seems a lot like lying.
Assuming it's neither stealing nor lying and it's moral, it seems like a limited, negative thing to do. At best, it's a stop gap.
The other example given was to band with like minded people and stage a protest. This one sits a lot better with me morally because it isn't so duplicitous, but it's still primarily a negative. It asks for something to be removed rather than offering something better. Often necessary, but only part of the picture.
So, in addition to the negative, here are some positive small scale "culture war" battles you can fight.
At the Library
- Request books you want to see at your local public library. A library's purpose for being is to be a resource for their community. If people are asking for a certain book or resource, any librarian worth their salt will try to get it for them.
- Donate books or DVDs to your library. I was first exposed to the Focus on the Family series "McGee and Me" through VHS tapes at the library when I was a kid, and our local library currently has a very healthy Veggie Tales collection. I'm willing to bet at least some of those were donated.
-Two general rules of thumb: try to help drown out the bad stuff by adding and encouraging good stuff, and give librarians the chance to fail at preserving free speech rather than assuming that they already are. Assume good will or honest ignorance behind their actions.
Schools
-Even if your kid doesn't attend public school, pay attention to who is running for school board. The school is often the heart of a community, and the board wields a lot of power.
-Volunteer at your kid's school, whether that be public or private. You have more sway when they know you, and they know you when you show up. Often, activists are the ones that show up; that's why they've gotten so much influence in so many schools.
- Have a relationship with your kid's teacher. Be someone they can work with for your kid's success. Don't blindly trust, but do work on having a decent rapport.
Pro-Life (this one just got a lot more necessarily positive)
-Organize a diaper drive for a community pregnancy resource center, or just buy a pack of diapers next time you're at the grocery store and drop them off.
-Be kind when you see a mom struggling with small children in public, and offer support when appropriate (open the door for the lady with the stroller, block/distract the escaping toddler, etc).
- Make it a family tradition to gift a meal (whether homemade or via Door dash) whenever you hear of a new baby being born. Even if you're not close friends with a person, people will generally appreciate food. (If you're feeling particularly ambitious, you can organize and promote a meal train for them using this site).
- Research candidates and vote in state level elections. They just got more important.
General Thoughts
- It's rarely helpful to assume you'll be treated with hostility. Don't be naive, but give people a chance to do the right thing.
- If you want to influence your community, you need to live in your community. Show up to library storytime or swim lessons, or the local community garden.
-See people as sons and daughters of God, even when they're living a lifestyle contrary to that reality. It's not enabling evil to seek out areas of commonality or to let them know you care about how their weekend went.
So that's one woman's opinion on how we can wage the culture war in a more positive way.
What are your ideas?
Hmm. Well, I don't generally have to wage a culture war much, because our community for the most part shares our values. However, even if you're not in a place like that, I would say that it's a good thing to be a part of your community so that you can be an example to the people who know you. As a general rule, I dislike preaching and giving advice, but am happy to explain to anyone who asks why we chose what we chose for our kids. People are often surprised by the complete absence of television or any devices for our children, for instance, but I bet they see the correlation between that and our kids' reputation as precocious readers. Not that that's necessarily a moral issue, but I feel like the most powerful thing we can all do is just be a good example.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Absolutely agree. Just be a freakin' decent person living your life, and that takes care of a lot of it.
DeleteI didn't cover this in the post, but I grew up in a very "preachy", exclusive culture. My husband and I have a term for that ethos: "rosary envy" (mine has more beads than yours!!). In my experience, a lot of the "negative" stuff follows that culture, and it's all very fear based and snotty. That's not how I want to live my life, but I do find myself slipping back into it from time to time. This post is to remind me to be positive as much as it is anyone else.
It's worthwhile to try to see where your money is going when you can too. I'm never going to have a Disney plus subscription even though there's a lot of stuff I think I would enjoy on there, because I don't want that company to have any more power and money. You can vote with a ballot every two years, but you can vote with your dollars every day.
ReplyDeleteSame person, that was a negative example, but you can be positive, by making a point of buying from the people that you do like, or that just don't have an agenda.
DeleteThat's a good point. I've actually been very interested in watching alternative media companies spring up: it's becoming more feasible to do without the big corrupt ones.
Delete"It's rarely helpful to assume you'll be treated with hostility. Don't be naive, but give people a chance to do the right thing."
ReplyDeleteHow much the world would change for the better if we all lived this out.