Cancel Culture and Our Problem with Rigid Moral Certainty Anthony Hamley January 5, 2020

If you’ve ever been on social media, whether Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or whatever, you know that those platforms can be a great way to share ideas, information, photos, you name it. But those platforms can also be a cesspool of hatred, trolls, and manufactured outrage, making rational discourse virtually impossible. If you want a nightmare scenario, imagine for a moment if our normal, everyday conversations looked and sounded like Twitter discussions. Here’s the problem: in many ways, they do. The same rigid moral certainty that infects our online discussions have seeped into our personal interactions, not just with those with whom we disagree, but also with those who would seem to share our basic values. My talk will discuss why I’m so concerned with the direction we’re headed and how UUs and other progressive-minded folks can – and need to – right the ship.