The Cult of Negativity

This is the worst.

These people suck.

This is not enough.

I cannot be happy.

These events are too wrong to fix.

Everything is going to collapse.

We’ve heard these words before. On the news, on YouTube, on Facebook, wherever. The feedback cycle has gotten out of control. The negativity has reached a point of cultish fanaticism.

I’m as guilty of it as anyone. There’s a lot of bad out there, and it’s easy to latch onto. It’s easy to get drawn in. But the ease of a thing is not a requirement to do it. And as the world gets more and more negative, we’re feeding back into that loop. We’re being more cruel than ever before.

This came to my attention while reading from Saint Augustine’s City of God. In it, Augustine takes a chapter to discuss the death of a woman named Lucretia, a pagan. He points out that her death by suicide was a tragedy, in spite of the fact that she was the opposition he was speaking out against.

Meanwhile, on the internet today, I see people actively advocating for harming each other, cheering death by suicide, and engaging in some of the darkest behaviors I’ve ever seen.

What happened to that deep kindness that we used to be able to connect with? We worship at the altar of negativity. We have cultivated minds that are ungrateful, and loathsome.

What happened to loving your neighbor?

What happened to the Good Samaritan?

I think one of my major goals this year has to become being more positive. Not only building myself up, but the people around me. I would urge of you, beg of you, to do the same.

Because this cult is insane.

This is not the worst.

These people are a gift from God.

This is enough.

I can be happy.

And so can you.