As someone who occasionally responds to on-line causes, I was arrested by this article: Uprooting fake online activism – Eureka Street.
It reminded me of how grateful I am that suspicion is an inherent part of my nature. When someone asks something of me, my internal radar goes into overdrive. Up goes the antennae, then the scanning software, always humming along in the background, goes into overdrive. What are they really asking me to do? Are the facts right? Are the facts selective? What is being left out? What is the other side(s) of the story? How does this fit into the big picture? What am I not asking that needs to be asked before deciding to trust this cause?
What I once considered a character blight I now count as a blessing! The on-line causes I have come to support are backed by people or organisations that have some runs on the board as far as integrity and effectiveness are concerned. New causes that are in sync with my personal and public commitments are investigated, assertions checked against a range of sources, including my own homegrown intuitive savvy, which has taken me a life time to learn to trust.
“Wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove” seems to be a worthy guideline as one negotiates the cyberspace plethora of causes that lobby for our attention.
Wondering Pilgrim 