The " Power " of the Internet !

It could be termed one of those "Only in America "stories, but this one reached into the hip pockets of folk all over the world - and certainly some of the money came from Australia.

The American state of Indiana has passed what is called the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act "which allows people to refuse service if a customer offends their religious views.  It seems that a US ABC 57 network reporter was in the tiny Indiana town of Walkerton and approached the father and daughter proprietors of a pizza shop - and asked them for their reaction if a gay couple wanted them to cater for their wedding.   Both had strong religious views - and the daughter replied that they would decline.

It was a purely hypothetical question.  Few weddings are catered for out of a cardboard pizza box and this tiny shop simply eked a living as the local takeaway - but that interview brewed a storm of reaction across the entire United States.  The fire and vitriol was enormous and there was talk of burning the shop down. Harassment and spiteful contact forced both father and daughter to close the business and go into hiding.  It was a financial disaster - caused by a simple, off-the-cuff remark.

Then a miracle happened.   This incident was getting a big mention in the national news and a cable company started an appeal on the Internet.  Instantly - a trickle of donations increased in volume and quickly passed the appeal target - and kept growing.   As the total mounted, it took on a life of it's own and that father and daughter achieved fame as the reason for sending those donations - and the amount in the kitty quickly passed a million dollars.

What happens next is unclear.  That pizza shop may never reopen and perhaps the father and daughter may retire, but the whole thing can be directly attributed to "happenance  ".   A TV reporter at a loose end and looking for a story in a small town chose to ask a seemingly innocent question of one of the locals - and the reply lit the fuse that drew an action response right across a nation of over three hundred million people - and onward to the wide - wide - world.

That could never have happened before the electronic age.  The coming of the Internet has wired the entire world into an instant news cycle and we have all become players in the moral decision making process.   What passed unnoticed in a previous age will now have us sitting at our computer keyboard or Smartphone and passing judgement by way of Facebook or Twitter.  The means are at our fingertips to contribute a few dollars - or to blast our political representative with our view and demand action.  The Internet has delivered enormous power.   Whether that is used for good or evil is another question !

This past weekend competing mobs did battle in the streets of major Australian cities on an issue that is fast dividing this country.   The police were tasked with keeping the competing sides apart and in essence that was a religious battle.   One side of the spectrum is protesting at the rising tide of Islam in Australia and demanding an end to Islamic migration and the cessation of new prayer halls and mosques - and the banning of Halal identification on food products.    The other side regards this as a form of racism and demands the closure of immigration detention centres.

If nothing else, that incident in Walkerton, Indiana illustrates the care we need to take when someone pushes a microphone in our face - and asks a question.  Depending on our answer, we may face financial oblivion and end up tarred and feathered - and run out of town on a rail - or we could find ourselves a national hero and bestowed with a bounty of a million dollars.

The world wide web has replaced that lady with the sword and the scales whose statue represents justice outside most court houses.   It's just that we need to weight our answers and consider all the implications - before we commit to an answer !