I have a moral dilemma. Some people in one of my Facebook groups have been posting things that are bigoted. I feel a moral obligation to speak out against that, and a lot of other things, too. But these people are mean and angry, and that worries me, because they live in my town. I am not anonymous on Facebook, so they could find my address easily, which makes me feel unsafe. Also, having debated some points with them recently, I know that my arguments are unlikely to sway them. However, I cannot stay in the group and allow their comments to pass unchallenged. I would feel complicit.
I see two courses of action for resolving this dilemma. I might simply leave the group. Having proven that they don’t listen to reason, I can walk away comfortable in the knowledge that I did at least try. Plus I’m sick of their crap. So I can justify this course of action. I just can’t convince myself that there’s not some moral cowardice in it.
There is an alternative worth consideration. If I wait a few weeks before commenting again and change both name and avatar, they might be unable to recall my name or recognize the account, which would give me some anonymity going forward. My arguments may have proven ineffective, but they have disrupted the echo chamber, and that’s important. These people need to know that they don’t own the space and that not everyone agrees with them. More importantly, the people reading the posts need to know that. A brief comment and a link to a relevant website ought to suffice. This way I can can show another point of view while not involving myself personally in any arguments.