The Modern-Day Pharisees

Two recent stories encapsulate the ongoing prevalence of “cancel culture” on the internet. Last week, the Portland Trailblazers introduced Braiden Bell as their newest play-by-play announcer – and then fired him a few hours later for offensive social media posts he made as a teenager – in 2012. And a viral video of a couple at a baseball game – the wife holding a sleeping baby while her husband ate a hot dog – led people on the internet to rush to judgment about the couple’s marriage. Cancel Culture allows us to be modern-day Pharisees. It collapses the distinction between “you did something wrong” and “you are permanently the wrong kind of person.” Marcus has more.