Code of Ethics

The internet is a fascinating place. It is a platform of social interaction, political discourse, a source of news and information, a showplace for the arts. The internet is also an invaluable tool in terms of education, acquiring information within seconds. It also serves as a gathering place, enabling anyone to voice their opinion on any issue.

I have seen the good that can be done on the internet. People can pledge money to help get a movie made, donate funds for relief efforts after natural disasters, even ask for thoughts and prayers and share updates with family and friends in times of illness and death.

It is also true that internet is home to the opposite effect. Anyone can go on the internet and voice their opinion, positive or negative. Anyone can write about anything, including negativity, racism, and hate speech. Any group that has hate as their message can set up a website, write propaganda on any issue, and share grisly images of violence to instill fear.

Of course in this age of social media there is another trend happening now, one of apathy, closed-mindedness, negativity, hatred, disrespect. Someone posts something online, and they are then immediately criticized and insulted for their point of view. 

In my writing career I have had exposure to that very thing. I once received an immediate backlash over something I had written here and shared on social media. I could not believe the anger and hate that was aimed in my direction. My position on the issue at hand was put into question, along with my intellect.

I did not mind that people disagreed with me, or that they expressed their opinions; however I was offended at the way their opinions were expressed. It is one thing to be passionate in your beliefs and to express your opinion in a respectful manner. It is another thing entirely to share an opinion in a harmful or hurtful way, to be disrespectful, to spout negativity and spread hate. If someone has a differing opinion or point of view than my own, I agree to disagree. I do not engage them in a debate, I do not try to change that person’s opinion, or try to prove that I am right and they are wrong.

To my mind this is a disturbing trend that needs to be reversed immediately. We are all one people; we need to treat each other as such and respect one another.

Perhaps someone reading this is and thinking, “What can I do? I am just one person. I cannot change anyone else's response. I cannot change the world.” I beg to differ. We have wonderful examples in our past: Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa. They all worked for peace, to change the world for the better. They were only one person. They changed the world for good. You can too. You can do it right now. Today.

I have been thinking about how to best accomplish this, how to stop this from ocurring. The way to begin to stop the spread of negativity, racist remarks, closed-mindedness, disrespect and hate must come from within. We need to change our thoughts. Our thoughts become our words. Our words become our actions. Our actions affect our interactions with one another. Our actions can alter those of another. 

Just because we see a comment or story we object to, or an opinion or point of view that differs from our own, we do not have to respond to it. If we do not wish to participate in such negativity, we should resolve ourselves to not engage in such behavior. We can just roll our eyes, scroll down the page and ignore it. 

Or, maybe we should take it one step further. Perhaps we should have an understanding of our standards, or a code of ethics, within ourselves. A knowing within us of what we will respond to and what we will not.

If I were to have a code of ethics, it would read thus:

I agree to conduct myself in a civil and respectful manner. I see this blog as a sacred space of self-expression, a creative outlet to share my thoughts and opinions. I promise to continue to treat it as a sacred space. I promise to not fill this blog with writings of negativity or hate. I promise that this blog will continue to be a creative space, a respite from negativity, racism, disrespect, and hatred found online and in the world at large. My online profiles will be negativity free zones. I promise to continue to agree to disagree. If anyone engages with me in a hateful and disrespectful manner, I promise to not respond in kind. I promise to change my thoughts, which will in turn change my words, which will change my actions, which will change the world. 

Do you have a code of ethics? What would your words say about you? How can you change the world for the better?

Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.-Yehuda Berg

Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”- Pearl Strachan Hurd

“If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative.”
-Betty Eadie

“When words are both true and kind we can change the world.”-Buddah

"Words are things."-Dr. Maya Angelou

"I choose to believe I can and will change the world with my words, thoughts, and actions."

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