R: Tar and Feather

“Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone." The words that Jesus Christ spoke to the Pharisees should be ringing in the ears of the body when they hear this resolution. Perhaps the stakes in today’s world are not quite as high as being stoned to death, but the consequences of public shaming are disastrous and real. This is not a debate about whether we can judge other’s actions or whether we can publicly shame actions in the public sphere. Our government officials and others who represent us are nominally accountable to us, and we ought to all agree it is our prerogative to actually hold them accountable. What is more complex is whether we should actively publicize the mistakes of those in the private sphere, participate in and amplify the dialogue on social media, and stone those with whom we vehemently disagree with our 140 characters and retweets. 

Like the arguments in the affirmative of R: Snitch, many people may see public shaming as a soul-saving quest. If we do not make those who have sinned feel the physical and real impacts of their decisions, they will never repent. There is power in numbers and if the many can convince the one of his or her wrongdoing, is his or her repentance not worth any ill-effects incurred? After all, we are our brother’s keeper. Many may even see the confessional as using shame to accomplish this goal. Still, it is certain many of us would rather air our sins to a priest in persona Christi and not on Twitter. Where does a society founded on this type of pubic shame end? We have suffered through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s exploration of that very question. Others still have thoroughly enjoyed Arthur Miller’s. Are we really living the good life by tarring and feathering our neighbors? Can our neighbors live the good life without our and others… encouragement?

The body is encouraged to consider the ramifications of social media on public shaming. Audiences have grown. Ideas have gotten more extreme. The landscape has changed drastically.  This has made public shaming easier, more common, and more effective. Should we see this as the improvement of an already useful tool? Or should we fear this as the refining of an already harmful vice? Finally, if we are comfortable endorsing the public shaming of others, are we comfortable accepting the same may happen to us— regardless of whether it is justified? Must we be?