CCP13: On Cancel Culture

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the nature of today's cancel culture. What started in the '80s in the dating realm has taken on a life of its own in the last few years, largely through the platform of social media. On one side, you have those who say that it keeps people accountable and on the other side you have those who say that it violates free speech. Regardless of where you land, cancel culture has become the effort to block someone from their platform and, when possible, to end their career. So what are Christians to think about it all?

Episode Links

Dr. White has written a few blogs that have touched on this topic that would serve to add to this conversation. “Cancelling Cinderella's Trip to the Ball” looked at the desire some people had to keep Oral Roberts University from playing in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 due to “the university's deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ policies.”

With the increasing frequency of people being “canceled,” it can be tricky for pastors especially to know what topics are considered “safe” to talk about - you can read about that in a blog titled, “Preach the Bible or Talk about Culture? The Answer is…”

Much of the issue with cancel culture has to do with society's quick-to-anger temperament. You can read about that in a blog called, “What's Wrong with People?” And read more about how we've become so divided as a society in the blog post “Why Have Christians Suddenly Become So Divided?”

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. In fact, here are two recent stories shared related to this episode's discussion that you may have missed:

From the Pew Research Center: “How Americans feel about ‘cancel culture' and offensive speech in 6 charts”

From NPR: “Quidditch leagues look to change their name, citing Rowling's anti-trans stances”