jews d

in
the

Unfriend
now!

on the cover/digital age

Really?

Scary
opinion!

Not true!

Unbelieveable!

Fight Or
Flight?

When politics clash
on Facebook,
friendships can go
down for the count.

Rabbi Jason
Miller

T

he schools of the great sages of the Jewish people,
Hillel and Shammai, were known to debate each other
on just about every topic. The students of these two
schools rarely agreed on anything; each strongly and passion-
ately arguing the opposite position of the other, albeit always
with respect for the other’s opinion.
In Judaism, we believe that each human is created in the
Divine image and, thus, we have the responsibility to treat one
another with respect. However, many of us humans don’t act
with godliness when participating in Facebook discussions
involving political viewpoints.
The 2012 election was bad when it came to a lack of civil-
ity on Facebook, but the 2016 election a year ago was many
times worse. I’m scared to think of what 2020 will bring us.
Many close friends unfriended each other on the social net-
work, relatives blocked relatives and, even worse, long-term
relationships in real life were severed because of hurt feelings
during political arguments.
While the election was decided last November, the heated
arguments on Facebook continue. This year, with a president
known to send many divisive tweets before most people have
had their first cup of coffee, the Facebook battlefield has only
intensified.
If you have a Facebook account, you’ve likely witnessed at
least one heated interaction. It has been impossible to post
much of anything political without a couple of trolls coming
in to paste the latest talking points from the most extremist
online blogs they could find to bolster their position or refute
everyone else’s opinion.
This has been true on both sides, from the extreme left and
the extreme right. On social networks, especially Facebook,
people have learned to hide behind their screens when they
say hateful things, but it affects all their relationships and not
only their virtual relationships.
In the run-up to the 2016 election, most political opinions
on either candidate would be met with attacks in the com-
ment section of that post. Many comments were not fact

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November 16 • 2017

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