Against Us, Or For Us

We live in a world where you are “against us if you are not for us”, and opposing views are met with such disdain that many people don’t take the time to look at the facts. It is convenient for today’s exhausted generation to base their position on an attention grabbing headline, instead of taking time to review the situation, which in some cases, may cause personal discomfort. 
Today’s media using technology, specifically Social Media, has created an environment where messages, true or false, speed through the world so quickly, that by the time the truth comes out, people have already built a wall around an "opinion" which has been fueled with such emotion, that it has become a belief. True or false.  It is now widely accepted as truth.
 It has become a psychological foundation or illusionary structure that has weaved itself into the fabric of our lives. We have become a society of people that make decisions based on information that is provided to us via subliminal emotional hooks, all done with headline grabbing titles. 
 We are a hypersensitive society, due to diversity in many forms, which has created a healthy concept of allowing everyone their preferred lifestyle, be it religion, sexuality, etc.  Everyone has a need to be and feel accepted.  However, while I value and accept the individual who is addicted to gambling, I do not have to support their behavior.  Likewise, I highly value and accept the LGBTQ individual and their community, but I do not support their lifestyle or trending agendas.
Sadly, one of my long term friendships has ended because of two disagreements.   Although my friend and I are both “straight,”  we each have separate friends that do engage in the LGBTQ lifestyle.  Nevertheless, we cannot agree that there is a clear distinction between one’s personhood/value and one’s behavior/lifestyle.  In addition, I believe social media and mainstream media headlines have heavily influenced my friend’s—and, perhaps others—decisions without careful research of the facts.   The second disagreement that has helped to end our friendship is the apparent hypocrisy of my friend deciding to boycott one business “A” while continuing to indirectly support a philanthropic organization The Salvation Army, both of which have received much media coverage for not approving/supporting the LGBTQ lifestyle.  Recently, my friend interpreted my decision to eat at business “A” as a personal “slap in the face,” and an act of disrespect because business “A” supports philanthropic organization The Salvation Army with millions of dollars.  However, there are many other businesses and organizations, in addition to business “A”,  that also contribute millions of dollars to The Salvation Army.  Yet, my friend chooses to continue paying for the services of those other businesses that are not highly profiled in the media resulting in my friend indirectly supporting The Salvation Army which is no different than me choosing to eat at business “A”.  

It is unfortunate that an uninformed decision could so easily end a friendship. If you choose to boycott one company for their donation to an alleged anti LGBTQ philanthropic organization such as The Salvation Army, shouldn't you boycott all businesses/organizations that donate to The Salvation Army? 

-Caleb Koke is an entrepreneur, investor and author and can be emailed at [email protected] .