Social Media and Religion – Shelby Says

This is another in the “she said, he said” series of posts in which Shelby Sapusek and I share our opinions on social media related topics. As always, ladies first, so today Shelby has her say on religion and social media, and be sure to check back tomorrow when I’ll weigh in.

I should tell you this right off the bat: I’m not going to share my religious views with you in this post.

Religion is one of those topics that, for me, just doesn’t need to be discussed in the social media world (and I do consider blogs to be social media.) You may remember I took a similar stance in my last post in the “She Said, He Said” series concerning politics.

First, no one likes to be preached to. It doesn’t have to be religious preaching; it could be in other ways like how you raise your children, clean your house or train your dog.

Second, religion is just a very personal subject. Even if I wasn’t trying to start a debate, putting my religious views out there might antagonize someone who is looking for one. I’m more comfortable knowing that I have what I believe and others have what they believe. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Finally, I don’t want to offend anyone. While I won’t divulge them, I have pretty strong views on the subject. As with anything someone feels strongly about, conversations about it can inadvertently lead down a bad road. I’d rather be a person who respects others’ opinions and not one condemning them for those views.

Avoiding religious conversations was actually pretty hard last weekend when the Rapture and Judgment Day topic was everywhere. I watched and read news sites, blogs and Twitter feeds as the May 21 date approached and watched and read some more as it passed. The talk about this subject was so rampant on that Saturday that I didn’t send out a single tweet all day until well after 6 p.m. The tweet I finally sent was this:

I sent this tweet out for two reasons. I hardly ever go a full day without tweeting and, in the past when I haven’t tweeted for over 24 hours, some of my followers wondered if I was okay. I also wanted to tell my followers, in a roundabout way, why I wasn’t tweeting.

My reasons for not discussing these topics are similar; yet very different. In both the cases of politics and religion, I’m trying to avoid conflict. However, in my opinion, religious conversations are just way too personal and have the potential to create greater offense to those participating. In a large way, my decision is all about respect.