Mom of 6, Enedina Vance, is under fire for piercing her baby’s cheek and broadcasting it to Facebook. Except Vance didn’t actually pierce her child’s dimple. Rather, her post was a sarcastic, Photoshopped jab at anyone who thinks body modification without consent is acceptable, and apparently the internet either doesn’t bother to read a post the whole way through or is incapable of identifying verbal irony, even when it smacks them straight in the eyeballs.

Despite the fact that her post was obviously dripping with sarcasm (not to mention that she actually used #sarcasm at the end), many were quick to lash out at Vance, leaving nasty comments, sending her emails, issuing death threats, and even reporting her to CPS.

Vance responded to the criticism later that same day, clarifying what should have been crystal clear from the beginning.

Vance’s intactivism, which focuses on the importance of not altering a person’s body, especially a child’s, in any way without their consent, such as through circumcision, is itself controversial for many. But that’s not what initially sent the internet reeling. Instead, it was that they took her post literally without bothering to read the subtext.

Regardless of whether you agree with Vance’s stance on circumcision and other body modification, I think most can agree that the internet is quick to judge and spew vitriol before taking the time to fully understand someone’s message.

And I, for one, side with Vance on her assessment of the general public’s critical reading skills.

As a teacher myself, instilling in my students the importance of taking the time to break down a text for its deeper meaning is at the forefront of my instructional objectives. I have also worked in the online publishing industry long enough to know just how sorely lacking we are as a society in this department, and I’ll be damned if even one child leaves my classroom without having been subjected to in-depth practice at being a critical consumer of information.

It seems as though we are descending ever further into a black hole of anti-intellectualism, either due to laziness or incapability, and it’s depressing as hell.

Whether you choose to take Vance’s message to heart or not is up to each individual, but let’s at least all pledge to step back and properly analyze and evaluate any future texts we encounter, whether they be written or visual.

Because we cannot possibly continue to exist as a people if we’re going to be this willfully ignorant.