How to respond to a Facebook post

  • Thread starter Thread starter foolintherain
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
F

foolintherain

Guest
A friend of mine posted this article on facebook asking the question:

“How can anyone come to the conclusion that what government needs anywhere on earth is MORE religious influence?”

Now on the face of it I can see the fallacy in the article. The blatant appeal to emotion. The illogical conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the faith of a people the poverty they suffer.

His comments are specifically directed at the Catholic church and not the government of the Philippines.

How do I respond to this drivel?
 
Moving from World News to Social Justice Forum

Please do not discuss political candidates or parties
 
When I can’t think of what to say I usually stay silent. I don’t know if it is the right thing to do…
Pray for them as well. Prayer always works.
 
Sometimes not saying anything is the best option. I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut sometimes when I know I should. Getting into religious or political debates over facebook isn’t really the best thing to do. If you want to talk about it with your friend in person, I would suggest that if you really feel strongly about it. I would not suggest doing this over facebook.
 
I usually avoid responding if I think it will just start a huge war. If I respond, it is to tactfully give another point of view.
 
foolintherain said:
A friend of mine posted this article on facebook asking the question:

“How can anyone come to the conclusion that what government needs anywhere on earth is MORE religious influence?”

Now on the face of it I can see the fallacy in the article. The blatant appeal to emotion. The illogical conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the faith of a people the poverty they suffer.

His comments are specifically directed at the Catholic church and not the government of the Philippines.

How do I respond to this drivel?
Click to expand...
I don’t think it’s drivel, there is a real problem there. Parents are having up to 12 children but haven’t the means to house, clothe, feed them properly and mostly can’t educate them or afford medical treatment. It’s a problem faced there my millions and millions of people there. At present birth rates how can such a small country sustain the huge increases in a poor population there over the next hundred years.

If you read the article carefully, I can’t see where the fallacy is. They are quite blatant about promoting birth control, that’s true, but the problem of the large families not being able to sustain themselves or get themselves out of the cycle of poverty is real. The case of the woman concerned IS an emotional issue, she faces hard realities every minute of her existence… and there is no relief in sight.

The ‘causal’ conclusion drawn was about how poor people can’t afford birth control because being able to eat is a greater priority, and hence they fall pregnant serially which puts greater stress on direly limited family resources. A percentage of the 80% Catholic Philippine people might want birth control but can’t afford it because they have more immediate needs like food, shelter and clothing.

It’s up to us Catholics to work out solutions that do agree with the Church’s teaching. The rhythm method hasn’t worked well in Western nations. Where is the know-how among us Catholics to be able to come up with a workable solution?
 
“… Stay silent…”

"… keep mouth shut… "

"… don’t respond… "

Turn the other cheek. be the better man… kill 'em with kindness. yada yada yada…

These are all tactics I’ve used in the past.

Frankly I’m sick of doing that. Equally as frankly… this b.s. ticks me off. Why must I “Stay silent” while they spew this nonsense all over the place.

Yes… FB will no doubt launch a flame war… and ultimately they will have the last word because I know no matter what i say their own hubris will not allow them any other outcome.

But seriously…i really can’t take it any more. And if i decide as I probably should to forsake FB entirely because of it haven’t I given ground rather than ‘a word back’?
 
foolintherain said:
“… Stay silent…”

"… keep mouth shut… "

"… don’t respond… "

Turn the other cheek. be the better man… kill 'em with kindness. yada yada yada…

These are all tactics I’ve used in the past.

Frankly I’m sick of doing that. Equally as frankly… this b.s. ticks me off. Why must I “Stay silent” while they spew this nonsense all over the place.

Yes… FB will no doubt launch a flame war… and ultimately they will have the last word because I know no matter what i say their own hubris will not allow them any other outcome.

But seriously…i really can’t take it any more. And if i decide as I probably should to forsake FB entirely because of it haven’t I given ground rather than ‘a word back’?
Click to expand...
You do always have the option of unsubscribing from their posts without unfriending them. That way you don’t have to look at it.
 
foolintherain said:
Now on the face of it I can see the fallacy in the article. The blatant appeal to emotion. The illogical conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the faith of a people the poverty they suffer.
Click to expand...
Ask them “If your solution is to shrink the population to solve the Phillippines problems, then why don’t you advocate for genocide?”

They’ll probably say because that would be “wrong.” And you say, “And so is contraception. Therefore, just because something will ‘fix a problem,’ it doesn’t make it right.”
 
roveau said:
a workable solution
Click to expand...
JUSTIN MARTYR

The First Apology

Chapter XXIX.—Continence of Christians.

“But whether we marry, it is only that we may bring up children; or whether we decline marriage, we live continently.”
 
foolintherain said:
A friend of mine posted this article on facebook asking the question:

“How can anyone come to the conclusion that what government needs anywhere on earth is MORE religious influence?”

Now on the face of it I can see the fallacy in the article. The blatant appeal to emotion. The illogical conclusion that there is a causal relationship between the faith of a people the poverty they suffer.

His comments are specifically directed at the Catholic church and not the government of the Philippines.

How do I respond to this drivel?
Click to expand...
I would just tell him that Catholics have the same civil rigthts as any other groups ( like Planned Parenthood ). Then I would tell him that all forms of contraception are a mortal sin and nothing is ever gained by encouraging people to sin. Especially, the government should not be involved in encouraging people to sin. To prove this you can point out to him that the " birth dearth " is destroying all Western nations. None of them are having enough children to replace their populations. Consequently, it is estimated that by 2050 most of Europe will be Muslim. The U.S. is being saved only by the influx of the Spanish from the South. So sin does have consequences.

👍👍
 
foolintherain said:
These are all tactics I’ve used in the past.

Frankly I’m sick of doing that. Equally as frankly… this b.s. ticks me off. Why must I “Stay silent” while they spew this nonsense all over the place.

Yes… FB will no doubt launch a flame war… and ultimately they will have the last word because I know no matter what i say their own hubris will not allow them any other outcome.

But seriously…i really can’t take it any more. And if i decide as I probably should to forsake FB entirely because of it haven’t I given ground rather than ‘a word back’?
Click to expand...
I engaged in these type of discussions when I first joined FB, and quickly realized it was an utter waste of my time. Nobody’s opinion was ever changed, and everyone ended up being annoyed at each other.

Many of these people were marginal in my life anyway; I might see them at most once every few years. So I simply booted them off my friends list. Facebook is now a whole lot less stressful, and much friendlier. If you choose not to go this route, you could always hide their posts.
 
Facebook is even less suited to serious discussion than most internet forums.
 
MarcoPolo said:
Ask them “If your solution is to shrink the population to solve the Phillippines problems, then why don’t you advocate for genocide?”

They’ll probably say because that would be “wrong.” And you say, “And so is contraception. Therefore, just because something will ‘fix a problem,’ it doesn’t make it right.”
Click to expand...
Are You seriously suggesting this?
 
MarcoPolo said:
Ask them “If your solution is to shrink the population to solve the Phillippines problems, then why don’t you advocate for genocide?”

They’ll probably say because that would be “wrong.” And you say, “And so is contraception. Therefore, just because something will ‘fix a problem,’ it doesn’t make it right.”
Click to expand...
That is one of the worst arguments I have ever heard. Comparing birth control to genocide? Really?
 
Linusthe2nd said:
I would just tell him that Catholics have the same civil rigthts as any other groups ( like Planned Parenthood ). Then I would tell him that all forms of contraception are a mortal sin and nothing is ever gained by encouraging people to sin. Especially, the government should not be involved in encouraging people to sin. To prove this you can point out to him that the " birth dearth " is destroying all Western nations. None of them are having enough children to replace their populations. Consequently, it is estimated that by 2050 most of Europe will be Muslim. The U.S. is being saved only by the influx of the Spanish from the South. So sin does have consequences.

👍👍
Click to expand...
Oh no!!! Not the evil Muslims!!!
 
Stay silent, I am having to do a lot of that these days on FB as my no longer Catholic friends post political nonsense. I think silence speaks volumns for me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top