On Outside the Walls: Rebecca Bratten Weiss on Not Unfriending.

Last week, Rebecca Bratten Weiss wrote a fascinating piece called The Politics of Not Unfriending.

I need to know what you are thinking, o sharer of offensive material; I want to understand what motivates you, which preconceptions you’re clutching. I may be tempted to reduce you to a stereotype, but when I consider how humans interact I remember: you can’t work for social justice by fighting caricatures or stereotypes. Honestly, I’m not sure you can work for social justice by fighting at all, because no matter how correct I may be, no matter how many logical arguments I amass, or – if I’m arguing with fellow-Catholics how many church documents I quote, you are probably not going to change your view because someone hammered you over the head with reasons. And I expect that calling you a “bigot” or “racist” won’t help, either. If I somehow succeed in shutting you down by shaming or shouting over you, I don’t imagine that I will have thus created a more humane or civilized culture simply because I no longer hear the things I don’t like.

On Outside The Walls, we talked with her about how and why she avoids unfriending. Listen to the podcast below, and catch future episodes on the Breadbox Media app at 4pm Eastern.