Bullying Decades Ago
The urge to bully and demean other people has been in our culture for a long time. Back in middle school, a gang of 4 girls made my life miserable with their cruel words. That was decades ago. Now those women have hopefully grown into loving grandmothers.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.(My source is Stopbullying.gov)
…sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else…causing embarrassment or humiliation…
Personal Questions
As a believer, I have to ask myself; how is my mind bent? Am I quick to believe evil of others? Usually I would say no. I tend to make positive assumptions about people when meeting them for the first time. But wait a minute. What about celebrities? Or politicians? Or just well-known TV personalities?
If I hate a Senator’s or President’s politics, how easily do I believe anything evil that’s said about them?
Pretty easily.
So this proverb I read recently is pretty convicting.
Ouch.
Trial by Tabloid
The tabloids in the checkout line often catch my eye. But even if I don’t buy them, glancing at the headlines does harm. I’m prone to believe the “featured scandal” if it’s about a celebrity I dislike.
Yet I know many of the articles are outrageous lies, only meant to make people buy the magazines.
The Cure
Does the cover of a tabloid ever trigger an urge in me to pray for the celebrities pictured? No, of course not. It only triggers my curiosity.
So I’d like to suggest a new course of action. Anyone featured in a tabloid is obviously under heavy attack. So let’s provide some “prayer cover.” Take a moment to lift these famous people up into the throne room and ask the Lord to minister life to them.
Then buy your groceries and go home.
It would be a very God-honoring habit to develop.
These images came from Pixabay.com
Resources:
My late mother, Kathleen Hall, had a cardinal rule she lived by. If she heard something good about someone, she passed it on. But she heard something bad about someone, she kept it to herself.
Smart lady.
Good post, Maureen! We always need to be reminded, it’s so easy to get led off track these days. I shared on FB 🙂
Thank you!
Thanks Mary. Good to hear from you.