Polemic disease
A friend posted a funny cartoon on facebook today, and I wanted to 'like' it...but hesitated, thought better of it, and passed on to something else.  It's bothering me that I made that decision, so here I am bloging about it.  The cartoon was a joke aimed at the Republican Party.
What was my motivation for wanting to 'Like' the cartoon? 
1) It made me chuckle
2) I wanted to thank the friend who posted it for making me chuckle
What was my more powerful motive for NOT wanting to 'Like' the cartoon?
a) I'm a pastor and most of my church is Republican, and a good chunk are staunchly Republican.  There is a real danger (almost certainty) that some of them would have interpretted my 'like' as an anti-republican jab, and that would harm my relationship with them.  I value my relationships more than my need to thank a friend for making me chuckle.
b) I'm a pastor and many of my church is passionate about supporting traditional marriage and might have seen my 'like; as a vote in favor of lesbian marriage.
c) It was a political cartoon, and I'm a pastor and many might have seen my 'like' as political involvement and will think less of me for getting involved in politics. (This topic needs a whole blog post of it's own.)
d) Facebook is a forum where people often instantly react, rather than step back, consider, pray, consider some more, and respond thoughtfully and charitably.  Thus Facebook is a relational minefield.  Postings loom larger than the people who post them.
e) I live in a circle of brothers and sisters in Christ, friends, colleagues and aquaintances that are soaked in the polemic of America in an election year.  Anything you say or do is considered fair game for rapid judgment, condemnation and polemic over-the-top heavy interpretation.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could just laugh at ourselves with a little levity?
Relational footnote:  I lean right, but not exclusively, and believe in traditional marriage.  I also like to chuckle.