By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
People are being killed for it. Simply having an opposing opinion can cost your family members. You may lose friends. You may lose your job. You may lose your life. We, in general, are losing our ability to disagree on an issue without hating the person with the opposing position on the issue.
I thought “cancel” in the modern definitive use was indeed a relatively new creation. But it seems that the new definition of cancel might have come from a 1991 movie called “New Jack City”, where the word was used when cutting ties with someone. In one of my rare moments of compassion for AI, I found the following summary: “Cancel culture is the withdrawal of support for public figures and companies after they have said or done something questionable or offensive. It is a form of public shaming, often conducted on social media, that can result in significant social and professional repercussions for the target.”
Speaking of AI, shaming, and cancelling, the following report hit the headlines this week: “Matthew Raine and his wife, Maria, had no idea that their 16-year-old son, Adam, was deep in a suicidal crisis until he took his own life in April. Looking through his phone after his death, they stumbled upon extended conversations the teenager had had with ChatGPT. Those conversations revealed that their son had confided in the AI chatbot about his suicidal thoughts and plans. Not only did the chatbot discourage him from seeking help from his parents, but it also offered to write his suicide note, according to Matthew Raine, who testified at a Senate hearing about the harms of AI chatbots held Tuesday.” (www.judiciary.senate.gov)
A phrase that has been used since at least the mid-19th century has apparently lost its meaning. When taunted and insulted by others, the old schoolyard saying used to be “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. The reality of that statement was that you can yell and scream words at me, and they will never harm me physically. It was simple and childlike. And true. This simple little children’s rhyme was society’s admonition to not resort to physical violence because you are offended by words from another.
It wasn’t a call for people to be silent. It wasn’t a direction to change your words. It challenged the reaction to words, to appeal to our “better angels” and be bigger than those words, and seek resolution or at least understanding through means other than physical violence.
We now live in a culture that breeds fear of retribution. We suppress what we say because of the radical reactions that we have witnessed from others. We weigh each social interaction, afraid that our words will be followed by “sticks and stones”. Or a bullet. We choose either to hold our tongue or accept that there is a possibility that a discussion will devolve into a fight ending in hospitalization or death. Sounds dramatic, but it has been borne out repeatedly. From road rage to mass killings in schools and churches, we see the signs of cancelling through physical violence instead of temperate discussion. There seems to be a mindset among some that when argument fails, violence is justified. Just my opinion, but that seems to be a lose/lose scenario.
Whether on a world stage or in the little hamlet of Cherokee, N.C., we see the effects of words. We also see the effects of violence. Yes, even here in our little town and our little community. The most recent CIPD weekly report shows the arrest report had 21 arrests of our people on it, four expressly for violent acts. The CIPD monthly report shows, year to date, 310 arrests for assault, five more than this time last year. The Cherokee Court Disposition Report reveals that in August 2025, two assaults on officers, two charges of elder abuse, five counts of assaults on females, two simple assaults, and nine counts of accused child abuse were adjudicated. Cringe-worthy information.
Society seems to be intent on being manipulated into two extreme factions. One extreme side of an ideology aims its aggressive agenda at the other extreme side, and most of us are getting caught in a crossfire of extreme rhetoric. My personal understanding is that God/Creator is the God of absolutes, a world of black and white. Mankind is a creation that lives in states of constant confusion, a world of infinite shades of gray.
And since I brought religion into it, during the Civil War, two very different ideologies clashed first in heated debate, then in a fierce battle with many mini conflicts, sometimes pitting biological brother against brother. Both sides claimed that they would ultimately see victory because “God was on their side.” It has been reported that Abraham Lincoln was once asked if he felt that God was indeed on the side of the Union. Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” (www.brainyquote.com) According to the American Battlefield Trust, by the end of the war, there were 1.1 million killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
If you don’t have a particular religious bent and if Christianity is not your thing, I am not debating that here. I am only saying that philosophically, it is sound thinking to examine writings attributed to God and glean from those what we think is a way to avoid words that turn into hate and actions that turn to violence. For example, in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Wouldn’t it be great if we truly could learn to speak to each other in love, no matter what the topic or ideological position is? I know that in my own personal dealings, when I start to get heated about an issue and when I remember to temper my speech with love, I always feel better about the outcome, even if I don’t “win” the argument.
I really enjoy reading and listening to good history presentations. Recently, I have been interested in the history of an event that occurred when I was nine years old. No, it wasn’t the Civil War; it was actually during the Vietnam War (technically for the U.S., a police action, because the U.S. never legally declared war). In mid-August 1969, a music event named Woodstock took place. It was supposed to be a music festival celebrating the mood of the times, a concert for peace. The organizers planned for and anticipated 40,000 to 50,000 concertgoers. Instead, 400,000 to 500,000 were estimated to have come to this event. I was reading some of the testimonials of people who attended Woodstock. While nearly all of them either participated or were witnesses to the expected drugs and sex that were perceived to follow such an event, they said most of the people were there for the music and the community of those advocating for love and peace. One commentary on Woodstock said, “Woodstock was much more than just a music festival. It was a gathering of like-minded individuals who were united by their opposition to the Vietnam War, their commitment to social justice, and their belief in the transformative power of art and culture. The festival’s themes of peace, love, and social justice were reflected in the music, the art, and the activism that surrounded the event, and have continued to inspire people around the world in the decades since. (www.hippieshop.com)
We are allowing social media and artificial intelligence to drive us further apart. No longer are there communal gatherings to just talk and see one another. It is so much easier to hate an emoji or avatar than it is to hate a flesh-and-blood person sitting across from you. We have become a society that phones it in rather than show up in person. There is a world of difference that we are letting slip away. We have seen it in recent weeks with the terrible images produced online of a disturbed individual looking at someone through the lens of a rifle scope and taking a life, like he was vaporizing an enemy in a video game. And with that decision, he destroyed many lives, including his own. Love instead of hate. Peace instead of violence. Discussion instead of rage. We can fix it. We can do better. The question is, “Are we going to realize what we need to do before it is too late?”
