One conspicuous symptom of society’s deepening malaise is
the steady descent of public discourse into greater rancour and enmity,
reflecting entrenched partisan points of view. A prevalent feature of such
contemporary discourse is how political disagreements rapidly degenerate into
invective and ridicule. However, what particularly differentiates the present
age from those that preceded it is how so much of this discourse occurs in full
view of the world. Social media and related communication tools tend to give
the greatest exposure to all that is controversial, and the very same tools
allow individuals, in an instant, to disseminate more widely whatever catches
their attention and to register their support or opposition to various
sentiments, whether explicitly or tacitly. The unparalleled ease with which a person
can join in such public debate and the nature of the technology make momentary
lapses of judgement and incautious actions more likely and their residue more
enduring.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 1 December 2019 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the
Baha’i World Centre)
