The Shame Culture

In the most recent general conference, Elder Christofferson spoke about the “shame culture” that we live in.  He quoted one writer who described it this way: “In a guilt culture you know you are good or bad by what your conscience feels. In a shame culture you know you are good or bad by what your community says about you, by whether it honors or excludes you. … [In the shame culture,] moral life is not built on the continuum of right and wrong; it’s built on the continuum of inclusion and exclusion.”  We certainly see that with the pressures of social media that seek to shame those who hold to traditional Christian principles of right and wrong.  We see it now more and more; one famous example was Brendan Eich, former CEO of Mozilla who supported traditional marriage and who was run out of office because he had contributed financially to supporting marriage as an institution between a man and a woman.  Activists even put together an “online shaming” campaign against him.  It’s clear that Isaiah was speaking of our day when he prophesied of those who would “call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) 

But of course, shaming, mocking, and putting social pressure on those who seek to follow the Savior is really nothing new, and we see examples of it throughout the scriptures.  The way the Savior was treated by the leading Jews of his day is perhaps the most obvious example.  They constantly sought to put societal pressure on Him, saying things like “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” when he didn’t do what they did (Matt. 15:2).  When He didn’t follow their Sabbath traditions they tried to call him out on it in front of the people: “Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day,” suggesting that if they didn’t act like the Pharisees and scribes then they were in the wrong.  Even when He clearly did good by casting out devils, they still accused Him of wrong doing because He wasn’t doing what they did on the Sabbath: “This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils” (Matt. 12:24).  And when He testified that He really was the Son of God to them, their shaming knew no bounds as “they did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?” (Matt. 26:67-68).  They then turned Him over to be crucified because they simply couldn’t handle having someone among them who was so different from them. 

Other examples of this shaming and mocking are found throughout the scriptures.  The people of Ammonihah couldn’t bear the teachings of Alma and Amulek, and after attempting (unsuccessfully) to publicly humiliate them for their teaching they threw them in prison.  Their accusers “came again on the morrow; and the judge also smote them again on their cheeks. And many came forth also, and smote them, saying: Will ye stand again and judge this people, and condemn our law? If ye have such great power why do ye not deliver yourselves? And many such things did they say unto them, gnashing their teeth upon them, and spitting upon them, and saying: How shall we look when we are damned? And many such things, yea, all manner of such things did they say unto them; and thus they did mock them for many days” (Alma 14:20-22).  Because they had spoken out against their “law,” the views of the majority, and the wicked practices of the people, that majority mocked and shamed them.  We see another example with Peter and John who preached about Jesus after the resurrection.  The leaders of the Jews didn’t know what to do with them or how to get them to stop, so they did “straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name” (Acts 4:17).  When the apostles wouldn’t obey that restriction, the leaders took them again and beat them, commanding them again “that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go” (Acts 5:40).  Again they used social pressure (and physical abuse) to attempt to get the apostles to stop teaching that which was threatening to them.  Other examples include the treatment by the masses of Samuel the Lamanite, Abinadi, Elijah, Paul, and others.  

               These scriptural figures show us that if the world tries to shame us for our beliefs or mock us or reject us out right, we are in good company.  As the Savior told us, “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).  We should simply be grateful that we have the gospel of Jesus Christ which doesn’t change with every tide of public opinion and provides true security in our lives.  As Elder Christofferson said, “Contrasted to this [culture of shaming] is ‘the rock of our Redeemer,’ a stable and permanent foundation of justice and virtue. How much better it is to have the unchanging law of God by which we may act to choose our destiny rather than being hostage to the unpredictable rules and wrath of the social media mob.”