Cancel Culture has become such a big part of life and leadership, as have anger and outrage. How do you lead in that environment, and how do you respond to a culture that’s increasingly angry and unforgiving?
Authors Sarah Anderson (whose father ran for President) and Scott Sauls join the podcast to discuss the dynamics behind Cancel Culture, the problems with public shaming and how to find common ground with people you disagree with.
Welcome to Episode 381 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about five reasons that anger is a new epidemic.
Guest Links
Scott: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Sarah: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Episode Links
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CONVERSATION LINKS
A Gentle Answer by Scott Sauls
The Space Between Us: A Conversation on Politics and Religion with Sarah Anderson // Andy Stanley
Didn’t See It Coming by Carey Nieuwhof
Why Do We Hate Each Other So Much? (5 Reasons Anger is the New Epidemic) by Carey Nieuwhof
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INSIGHTS FROM SCOTT AND SARAH
1. All generations have “caved to the culture” not just Millennials and Gen Z
Older Christians today are seeing many young people either leaving the faith, embracing the opposite political party, or both and assume that those young people have “caved to the culture.” But, Scott would point out that many older Christians “caved to the culture” of the blending of the Church and the Republican party.
In fact, one of the biggest reasons that the younger generation is leaving the faith is, “Because our parents’ and grandparents’ generation conflated their right-leaning politics with their faith.” So, how can we fix this? Well, you need to act and believe that you can learn from the opposite generation rather than cancelling them.
2. Outrage spreads faster than kindness online
If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you’ve likely noticed that the amount of outrage you see has increased exponentially over the last few years. Both Scott and Sarah point out that the rise of technology and social media have played a key role in the sudden increase, and it’s doing a lot of damage to public discourse.
While kindness and outrage are both contagious in-person, outrage seems to spread much faster than kindness online. If you want to combat this, do the heavy intellectual work to be an individual with individual thoughts on issues rather than agreeing with the mob of people you agree with online.
3. Cancel Culture is not the solution to an individual’s failures
One of the saddest realities of the internet is the rise of “Cancel Culture” where anyone who steps out of line because of one statement or action is automatically a terrible person who can never be redeemed. Andy Stanley puts it this way, “All it takes is saying five wrong words for me to completely undo everything I’ve built.” Sadly, Andy’s right.
So, what’s wrong with this reality? Isn’t it good to hold people accountable? Scott, Sarah and Carey all agree that holding people accountable privately is a good thing, but the kind of public accountability Cancel Culture imposes is a recipe for failure.
While it feels right to publicly punish those who sin and step out of line, this is the opposite of what Jesus did. Carey, Sarah and Scott would all say that if you don’t have a personal tie to the situation, you should think twice before posting about it online.
Quotes from Episode 381
Just like kindness, outrage is contagious. @scottsauls Click To Tweet The older generations that critique the younger ones for caving to culture don't realize that they caved to culture, as well. It was just a different culture. @scottsauls Click To Tweet People who tend to act with the most contempt toward others are also those who feel the most self-contempt. @scottsauls Click To Tweet Shame does not lead to actual behavior change and health and human and decision-making. @sarahb_anderson Click To Tweet The natural religion of the human heart is self-righteousness. – Kathy Keller Click To Tweet The rise of Cancel Culture is also the rise of a lack of intelligence in our conversation culturally. @sarahb_anderson Click To Tweet When we have self-contempt, we will either self-destruct or we will try to destroy somebody else through character assassination, or maybe even actual assassination. @scottsauls Click To Tweet We need to be more methodical about the things that we do decide to speak out on, because we're losing our influence on the things that actually matter. @sarahb_anderson Click To Tweet Over-leveraging your influence makes you lose influence. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Shame is such a powerful demoralizer. @scottsauls Click To Tweet The most life-giving relationships are the ones where there is a back and forth. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Anger is telling me, ‘There was a bar that I thought you could have reached and you didn't reach it and so I'm disappointed.’ Contempt is saying, ‘There's no hope for you.’ @sarahb_anderson Click To Tweet All the great parenting experts would say the healthiest homes are the marriage-centered homes not the kid-centered. @scottsauls Click To Tweet The dividing line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Click To Tweet You're naturally more aggressive online than you are in person. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Distance between people desensitizes people. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Hate generates more clicks than love. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Thanks to technology, we've never been more connected than we are today and we've never felt more alone. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet Anger can get you heard even when you have nothing to say. @cnieuwhof Click To TweetRead or Download the Transcript for Episode 381
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Next Episode: William Vanderbloemen
WIlliam Vanderbloemen thinks 2021 will be the year so many churches and organizations see much higher than normal turnover, and why it will happen. In addition, he shares future staffing trends, how to do succession well, and lessons he learned leading the search at Willow Creek.
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