Rabbi Brian Strauss - Cancel Culture vs. Forgiveness

i am thankful that social media didn't exist when i was a teenager i said many stupid thoughtless reckless things i cringe when thinking if i would have posted some of those words and that was my immediate reaction to the news back in march about a black reporter named alexi mccammon alexie mccammon had an impressive resume for a 27 year old she had served as a successful political reporter for nbc the national association of black journalists named her the emerging journalist of the year in march teen vogue chose her to serve as editor-in-chief but then something from her social media past re-emerged when she was 17 she had posted a few anti-asian and homophobic tweets two years ago when those tweets had first resurfaced mccammon had deleted them and apologized calling her words deeply insensitive in march she posted a second apology writing that there's no excuse for perpetuating awful stereotypes in any way i'm sorry to have you such hurtful and inexcusable language a prominent journalist jonathan swann tweeted i've worked with alexi for four years i know her well can say this unequivocally the idea she is racist is absurd his words and her apologies weren't enough for the staff at teen vogue in the online twitter mob who called for her resignation just a few days into her job she was forced to resign is the editor-in-chief of course it's never okay to use or post any sort of racial slurs no matter our age but did alexi mccammon deserve to lose her job now you may be asking rabbi why should i care i don't read teen vogue i really don't want my teens to read teen vogue and my child or my grandchild they would never post something so wrong who cares my friends don't be so sure stories like these are now happening every single day across the united states you see them endless examples of expulsions school acceptances withdrawn jobs lost life's ruined for example another young woman from tennessee was borrowed from the university of her dreams for a word she used in an online video when she was 15. a top executive was fired because of an opinion he held over 30 years ago never mind that he had changed his mind or that his opinion was commonly held at the time a muslim immigrant's successful food and catering company was destroyed were not him but his daughter admitted to posting racist comments neither is long-standing in the community nora's quick action to sever his company's ties with his daughter were able to salvage his company yes we would be disgusted by what his daughter posted but should the father's company be destroyed for the sins of his daughter after he saw his life's work evaporate in a matter of days he admitted he now struggled to sustain his belief in the american dream i could go on and on all night how often do we read about online mobs damaging the lives of people of all ages sad that again someone else was a victim of cancer culture yet go on relieved it wasn't us the forgiveness a neighborhood often gave a person who said something wrong now has to be granted to him or her by everyone with the phone we become a society of people walking on eggshells constantly looking over our shoulders worried about anything we've ever texted emailed tweeted blogged liked or said in passing is this the world we want to live in yes of course there are positive aspects of the numerous voices found on social media it's provided influence for those who might have been intimidated by people or institutions with power and access to strong legal representation the case is brought out against reprehensible characters like harvey weinstein are great examples it allows people who might otherwise not have had the time money or resources to bring public attention to behavior that ought to be condemned here the effect has been positive empowering and morally significant yes there are people who do not deserve to be restored to good reputation but there's a difference there's a difference between stopping a type of behavior that is collectively agreed on as despicable and wrong like workplace sexual harassment versus canceling someone for one mistake without any real and nuanced discussion with all the good in most cases on social media there is vigilante justice that follows no legal norms or no due process no impartial procedure for deciding whether wrong has been committed no alibis or acquittals there's mob rule where people are quick to judge and slow to question and once the mob has been let loose it becomes difficult to distinguish between genuine cases of wrongdoing and other accusations motivated by malice a desire for revenge politics or some other less than fully moral cause today the judge and jury seem to be the thousands and thousands of anonymous twitter trolls many with mischief and malice in their hearts and too much time on their hands instead of innocent until proven guilty it's become guilty until proven innocent but online it's almost impossible to prove innocence there's little chance at all for the accused to present his or her case if the accused gets a chance to explain or the truth finally emerges the online crowd is already moved on and their lives have already been destroyed anyone anyone can be a candidate for cancellation no one seems to get a second chance instead you're tossed away and forgotten lifetimes remembered by their worst moments the sin is a stain on the which cannot ever be entirely removed in our day and age in the america of 2021 why are so many people being cancelled easily and often this past year the jewish world lost a giant rabbi jonathan sacks may his memory be for a blessing before his death he finished his landmark book morality restoring the common good in divided times in these times a division i can't recommend his book more and in his book he gives us an answer by making the distinction between a shame culture and a guilt culture the world of social media has become the perfect example of a shame culture shame societies think of morality as an external demand they're other directed to feel shame is to experience what one looks like in the sight of others who pass judgment on us and once judgments are made they can't be removed and like the world of social media a shame society lives and breathes on taking someone's worst moment out of context and elevating a moment of ignorance on exaggerating a misstep to publicly shame someone the world of social media is an impersonal world where it doesn't even make sense to confess your sins with no space for forgiveness no path back from shame to acceptance it makes more sense to try to cover up your wrongdoing by any means possible america has become a country based on shame and there's a large difference between a shame culture and a guilt culture our jewish tradition is an example of a guilt culture which probably doesn't surprise any of you yes a jewish guilt trip is one of the most powerful forces in the universe but as hard as jewish guilt can be it can actually be a very good thing because a guilt culture thinks of morality as an internal demand not an external one it's a voice within it's a voice of conscience given to us by our creator judaism has always said we believe in a just and compassionate god who can help us determine correctly whether or not a sin has been committed our moral lives are based on something other than the whims of current public opinion rather on the integrity and sanctity of all people a guilt culture helps people move past shame by making a distinction between the sinner and the sin yes the act may be wrong but even when the person is guilty the person is still given the opportunity to transform themselves it makes more sense to admit a genuine mistake you can be forgiven if there's teshuva that word that we'll use tonight and tomorrow that hebrew word for making up for doing something wrong that word shubha comes from the hebrew root meaning to return when we miss the mark we go astray as we all do the hope is the hope is that we can do what we can and we must to return to the good graces of a god in the community jewish teachings insist insist most people in most occasions cannot be forever cancelled your worth as a person is just too valuable that's why in our jewish tradition there's not shame that allows for a permanent rejection rather we have guilt that allows for all important days like yom kippur otherwise there'll be no reason to be here tonight no reason to give up food and water in all comforts for 24 hours no reason to pray with all of our heart and all of our soul that's why we have yom kippur it's not a burden it's our most sacred day it's our yearly opportunity god's gift to us to all of us to start anew it's a celebration of divine forgiveness and unlike the unforgiving nature of our current cultural moment yom kippur allows us to release the heavy burdens of our past at its core this holy day which has now begun teaches that you are more than the worst thing you've ever done if you accept the call for change in fact making toshiba is considered even greater than being a completely righteous person from the start it said the place where the repentance stand the righteous could not stand the rabbis teach us if you break a vase and put it back together it never looks as good as it originally did but in the eyes of heaven if you break a vase and put it back together it looks better than ever before as the katsuka rabbi reminds us nothing is more whole than a broken heart i've seen it often from all of us who are broken nothing is more whole than a broken heart perhaps our jewish tradition has a lot to say to our fellow americans can we shift our cultural norms to allow for normal people like you and me to apologize make to shiva and move on from the mistakes we as humans often make for everyone who is not perfect can we be more forgiving i believe the problem of cancer culture is not a left-wing issue or a right wing issue it's a hume issue what i found is that the loudest voices online on both sides on the right and on the left are often not the ones that represent most of us they ignore that most of us as americans are very forgiving i believe we want things to change according to the cato institute 62 percent of americans say they have political views and opinions that they're afraid to share in another poll 80 percent of americans of all ages religions races and political persuasions believe political correctness is a problem 80 percent why are we too afraid to do something let me end with the following this past year nba player myers leonard was seen on the video app twitch using an anti-semitic slur i have no idea what twitch is but it made big headlines and this nba player quickly issued a prompt apology admitting his ignorance and saying he was deeply sorry for his action yet his team the miami heat released him sponsors dropped him he was canceled but julian edelman a former nfl player for the new england patriots and a proud jew stepped in he posted an open letter open letter on twitter inviting leonard to a shabbat dinner so they could talk he offered to teach him why he was wrong and at the same time he offered to educate him about jewish history to give him the opportunity to work together to fight anti-semitism he gave him a path to take from guilt to repentance and since that time myers leonard has been more remorseful and emotional saying he wished he could go back in time and correct what he did what he did because he knows it was wrong he then backed his words with actions which makes true teshuva he visited the miami beach holocaust memorial study with rabbis and community leaders and befriended holocaust survivors he even spent a week teaching youth basketball at a miami jcc summer camp that's repentance julian edelman's approach was the very opposite of cancel culture instead of immediately dismissing myers-leonard he offered him a pathway to forgiveness and it was taken a true demonstration of tikkun olam repairing the world one action at a time for there's nothing greater than giving an individual the opportunity to make amends don't we live in a better world when instead of working to cancel we work to repair [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Congregation Beth Yeshurun

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Length: 16min 23sec (983 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 16 2021