I just want to stick my Facebook-head in the sand for awhile

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3DOCTORS

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I’ve been posting on there material about the HHS mandate. And hiding posts from my friends who post pro-choice stuff, Obama rah-rah stuff, anything that for me is an occasion of sin :mad: because I know if I let myself go I will blast my opponents and ruin friendships and give them an excuse to say, “See? Another raving religious lunatic.” 😦

So I guess I’m asking for opinions - I guess it isn’t a sin of omission NOT to post these things on Facebook, and it’s certainly optional whether to even have a Facebook page.

Is it okay to just quietly withdraw from the mess if it feels like my sanity’s at stake?🤷 Or am I being a coward?
 
3DOCTORS said:
I’ve been posting on there material about the HHS mandate. And hiding posts from my friends who post pro-choice stuff, Obama rah-rah stuff, anything that for me is an occasion of sin :mad: because I know if I let myself go I will blast my opponents and ruin friendships and give them an excuse to say, “See? Another raving religious lunatic.” 😦

So I guess I’m asking for opinions - I guess it isn’t a sin of omission NOT to post these things on Facebook, and it’s certainly optional whether to even have a Facebook page.

Is it okay to just quietly withdraw from the mess if it feels like my sanity’s at stake?🤷 Or am I being a coward?
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well it depends what you use your facebook for -

I see where you are coming from - I sometimes get a little political on my facebook and Ive noticed it can stir the pot

I would refrain from ruining friendships - but you could like groups on Facebook that are supporting your beliefs - so your not really shoving it down peoples throats, and arguing

thats what I would do at least
 
Maybe you should take a break from facebook until after the election. Opinions and passions are running high right now, and I doubt you will change anyone’s mind. Most people who post, are there to convince you of their point of view and are not open to discussion.
 
Catholic1954 said:
Maybe you should take a break from facebook until after the election. Opinions and passions are running high right now, and I doubt you will change anyone’s mind. Most people who post, are there to convince you of their point of view and are not open to discussion.
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Definitely. :yup:
 
That is exactly why I don’t post on FB. I know I would not be charitable. 😉
 
3DOCTORS said:
I’ve been posting on there material about the HHS mandate. And hiding posts from my friends who post pro-choice stuff, Obama rah-rah stuff, anything that for me is an occasion of sin :mad: because I know if I let myself go I will blast my opponents and ruin friendships and give them an excuse to say, “See? Another raving religious lunatic.” 😦

So I guess I’m asking for opinions - I guess it isn’t a sin of omission NOT to post these things on Facebook, and it’s certainly optional whether to even have a Facebook page.

Is it okay to just quietly withdraw from the mess if it feels like my sanity’s at stake?🤷 Or am I being a coward?
Click to expand...
Of course it’s OK! Facebook can be a cess pool. Do what you want; if you can’t stand the political stuff, hide it or unsubscribe from those friends’ status posts. Or just don’t post political stuff. Or, do what I did and make another page that is non-political and put your family and friends that are liberal on that page, and then you can rave to your heart’s content on the OTHER page and you won’t get any flak for it. My political page is de-activated right now or I’d friend you!

🙂
 
I have gone through so much persecution for converting to the Catholic church and people on my facebook are to the point they ignore me if they don’t like what I put on. My husband has a nephew who keeps puting on junk about homosexuals and he is gay, so I just keep putting on the Catholic stuff about what is right. 🙂

Pray for your friends to soften their hearts.

If there is problems, just don’t share major things. But if you click like they may still be able to see in the right column.

God Bless you!
 
My personal opinion is (Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.” )and so I voice my opinion on Facebook as well as to my friends in person in a gentle way befitting a Christian. Just because people might disagree doesn’t mean Jesus wouldn’t have refrained from speaking out(John 6:66*From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.). Number 1 we are called to try to live holy lives, but we are also called to stand up for our belifes, and be a voice for God in our communities. if you are rejected by people because of your belifes then that is their fault, not yours, such as if you were to reject a gay or lesbian friend because of their beliefs. Like Jesus we shouldn’t avoid people because of their faults or sins, we should be a friend to them and show by our examples that Christian life is fruitful and full of direction and fullness in a world full of empty promises and doubt.

By no means should we go nuts and shove our belifes down their throats.
Be everything in moderation is key. (1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect)
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Of course it’s OK! Facebook can be a cess pool. Do what you want; if you can’t stand the political stuff, hide it or unsubscribe from those friends’ status posts. Or just don’t post political stuff. Or, do what I did and make another page that is non-political and put your family and friends that are liberal on that page, and then you can rave to your heart’s content on the OTHER page and you won’t get any flak for it. My political page is de-activated right now or I’d friend you!

🙂
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I’ve begun to consider this kind of option, actually. :sad_yes:
 
3DOCTORS said:
I’ve been posting on there material about the HHS mandate. And hiding posts from my friends who post pro-choice stuff, Obama rah-rah stuff, anything that for me is an occasion of sin :mad: because I know if I let myself go I will blast my opponents and ruin friendships and give them an excuse to say, “See? Another raving religious lunatic.” 😦

So I guess I’m asking for opinions - I guess it isn’t a sin of omission NOT to post these things on Facebook, and it’s certainly optional whether to even have a Facebook page.

Is it okay to just quietly withdraw from the mess if it feels like my sanity’s at stake?🤷 Or am I being a coward?
Click to expand...
3Doctors:
How co-incidental is this ! Just yesterday I deactivated my Facebook account. The frustration and wasted time isn’t worth; I can do more positive things like say a Chaplet of Divine Mery, a Rosary or pray LOTH.
 
FloridaJoan said:
3Doctors:
How co-incidental is this ! Just yesterday I deactivated my Facebook account. The frustration and wasted time isn’t worth; I can do more positive things like say a Chaplet of Divine Mery, a Rosary or pray LOTH.
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👍 Food for thought!
 
First of all, 3doctors, I want to express my gratitude to you for creating this thread - I was about to come on here and do the same!

I just lost a friend on Facebook. He was a roommate I had who went to the same church I did, and was a homosexual battling his same-sex attraction. He later became a non-believer and went back to his homosexual practice. That was about four years ago. Anyway, I left an impassioned, spontaneous post on Facebook after Obama announced his support for same sex marriage, not really thinking things through, where I unsparingly condemned homosexual practice, Obama, and same-sex marriage, and posted the verse in the Bible where bestiality and sodomy are mentioned side-by-side and both are called an abomination. He dropped me off his friends list. I have no more say in his life, no more open door to him. I’m not ashamed of my faith - but I wonder now if that was the best approach? Was there a better way of expressing my views while at the same time being mindful of my relationship with my friend? Jesus was a friend of sinners. What was the purpose of having him as a friend in the first place if I’m only going to shotgun-blast it all away with one comment? Or am I being too careful about this relationship, and should be looking at the mess things are becoming in our nation, and to “cry out, spare not - lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to the house of Israel their sins”? Sorry, I don’t mean to hijack this thread - these are just questions I’m asking myself 🤷
 
The problem as I see it with facebook, is that people have many “friends” that are not truly friends, they are mere acquaintances. Not only that, they are acquaintances that people never actually get together with, and wouldn’t even if they could. (I am not talking about people that live far away or family that you never see.) It is very easy therefore to argue, spew volatile statements or political views because you are not going to see them face to face. I know that a lot of people claim to keep in touch with their friends this way, but honestly, they are not the kind of people that I consider real friends if I never ever see them, and our only way of communicating is by posting a “like” or reading their status.

So, that being said, I see no reason to share or read political views, theirs or mine. I know I am terribly out of touch with the times, but I prefer to send an “old-fashioned” 😉 e-mail if I want to catch up with someone online.
 
Well, I think I’ve come to my senses a bit more. It’s really simple. A war is raging on all fronts and we are the Church Militant. Christ came not to bring peace, but a sword. Facebook, social media, may be considered just one of the fronts. Sin is sin, virtue is virtue, goodness is goodness, evil is evil, no matter what people may think. In such a sinking ship as our society, the last thing we should be thinking about is not offending people with the truth that it is sinking, and with the reasons why it is sinking. As someone pointed out, “lets not hide our light under a bushel” - let’s let the light of God’s word, God’s truth, God’s values shine. We are the “salt of the earth” - let’s do our best to preserve what’s left.

Of course, I don’t think this necessarily means we must continuously quote scriptures on Facebook (not a bad thing, though), or raise controversial subjects - but I don’t think we should be afraid to when we feel compelled by our love of God, truth, and justice. The trick is in behaving that way in face to face encounters as well, without shame of the gospel, because there is definitely something to what Irishmom was saying…but I’m still working it all out, myself…
 
I agree this is a difficult issue. I think the main thing to remember is balance charity and evangelism the best you can. I know it’s vague, and it may take trial and error, but that’s the root principle.

For me, the balance is the following rules for myself:
  1. No comment on pro-GLBT posts. This is one issue where regardless of what I say, it will be viewed as judgmental.
  2. Share occasional pro-life posts. Usually ones that are near-impossible to argue with. My favorite one recently was a picture of a baby with the text “Any child brought into this world is a blessing, not a mistake” or some such. Anyone who knows my story knows that when I was younger, my love for sex was much greater than my fear of pregnancy. This resulted in one child at 20 and another at 22, so I will “take the fight to the enemy” on that particular issue ANY day of the week. But anyway, I also share “I survived an abortion” posts, because you can’t argue with the human element there. Usually my pro-life friends “like” it, and most other people steer clear.
  3. Share other intellectual, pro-Catholic stuff. The Bad Catholic blog is a good source (patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/) for intellectual heavy-hitters. Hopefully I get some click-throughs and provoke some thoughts.
  4. Share funny stuff of any or no ideological stripe.
  5. If someone else has the courage to post something controversial (in my circle, usually pro-life) and gets ganged up on, come to their defense. There is one particular high-school girl who has this problem occasionally, and it’s a lot of fun to swoop in with my story and put some young pro-choice punks in their place.
 
I haven’t posted anything political in the last few days now, except for a couple of fairly innocuous cartoons (not about specific candidates or positions). I did find a couple of great links - on CAF :D- that I posted about being Catholic. They were just too good not to share.

The posts on this thread have been helpful to me, and I hope they are to others! 🙂
 
We are supposed to be a light to the world in how we conduct our lives, not in the vehemence of our preaching without any consideration of the consequences. Doesn’t the NT teach that we are to be all things to all men and we shouldn’t cause discouragement for those who have a weaker faith. We should be gentle in our relationships with the weak and faithless… with sinners.

You are mistaken if you think you can bring anyone to Christ by starkly telling them how to conduct their lives. We’d be better off, as Christians, correcting the errors in our own lives first.

Yes and our Lord triggered the self-righteous of His day to condemn him because he associated with the sinners, the despised and the diseased. Harlots, tax collectors, people of low socio-economic position.

My Facebook is mainly for friends, people I know or relatives. I’m not going to de-friend a niece because she has a silly slightly suggestive picture of herself with friends as her main facebook photo, or a distant relative who obviously works in a night club. It’s not my job to condemn them by using the Scriptures. We must try to preach without using words, by example, like my seraphic father did, St Francis of Assisi.
 
Well, I generally don’t “preach” myself, but I have shared links with just a short comment, often with no comment at all. For right now I stay away from the gay issue altogether on Facebook. The kind of links that I’ve shared that have been the most “controversial” are pro-life ones and the ones about, for example, the HHS contraception mandate/religious freedom issue.

I try to share pro-life points of view that are compassionate and that give a perspective that people often don’t think about. An example might be something about how the Planned Parenthood and/or abortion industry targets the African-American community. I try to post stuff that exposes the “dirty little secrets” that the secular media isn’t going to touch with a ten-thousand-foot pole.

However, some of my FB friends are way on the opposite pole of these issues and once in awhile they respond with counterarguments. For me, it’s more often than not people I do have at least a casual friendship with. The people I went to school with that I happened to find but haven’t been in contact with until recently tend not to respond. But it’s different for everyone probably in that regard. Just depends more on how ready your FB friends are to argue their position.
 
3DOCTORS said:
I’ve been posting on there material about the HHS mandate. And hiding posts from my friends who post pro-choice stuff, Obama rah-rah stuff, anything that for me is an occasion of sin :mad: because I know if I let myself go I will blast my opponents and ruin friendships and give them an excuse to say, “See? Another raving religious lunatic.” 😦

So I guess I’m asking for opinions - I guess it isn’t a sin of omission NOT to post these things on Facebook, and it’s certainly optional whether to even have a Facebook page.

Is it okay to just quietly withdraw from the mess if it feels like my sanity’s at stake?🤷 Or am I being a coward?
Click to expand...
Dearest Friend:

Run from facebook as fast as you can. 😛 I finally got rid of my account and I am do happy. I am a Catholic and had to learn the hard way like you might. I think if you are that devote, be happy enough that we have the CAF. If you do keep it, keep it to close friends and family. People you just want updates and casual talk. Also, unless you are selective, you have to remember not everyone on FB is your friend. My motto is " If you are a close friend, I have your number". I too have seen much problems because everyone uses FB for different reasons. 👍 I think your gut feeling is what you should go with. YOu never know, it might be God knocking on your door. 👍
 
I got off of FB last fall,for many of the reasons you cited.A lot of posts that were antithetical to my beliefs,by people,who I really did not want to get into it with,namely extended family members. So I just disappeared…😉
 
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