Should I delete my Facebook account?

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Holly3278

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Hey everyone. I am seriously considering deleting my Facebook account. The reason is because I will often find images or status updates that are quite clearly hateful. One for example was blatantly anti-Catholic. It had an image of Pope Benedict XVI with a caption saying that he prayed to molest a boy. I reported it as hate speech and Facebook ruled that it was not hate speech and let it be. Another was a status update which implied that a certain person is illiterate because he is black (not any other reason mentioned). This is clearly racism. I reported it and again Facebook ruled that it was not hate speech and let it stay.

But yet on the other hand if you post an image which supports traditional marriage and opposes gay “marriage”, Facebook is likely to remove this as “hate speech” even if it is not hateful in the least. This is one example of the hypocrisy that is on that site.

The main reason why I have thus far kept my Facebook account is because I run several pages as evangelization ministries and I use Facebook to share apologetics articles and explain the Truth about the Catholic Church to those who have misconceptions or who seem to hate the Catholic Church. That and keeping in touch with family is the two main and just about the only reasons I keep my account.

So anyway, I was looking for some (name removed by moderator)ut. Should I delete my Facebook account? I am finding it increasingly difficult to support a site that thinks Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI praying for a child to molest is not hate speech but an image which charitably condemns gay “marriage” is.
 
No don’t delete,continue your evangelization for the Lord ,Our Lord was scourged mocked spat upon and every wicked thing done to him, but in his infinite Mercy He forgave them for they knew not what they were doing,
 
Why not just delete the pages and friends that are offensive? Like only those pages that are supportive of the Catholic Church. I’m very selective with my Facebook and who I am friends with or the sites I “like”. Its not that difficult to make your Facebook pro-Catholic.
 
I agree with the other posters. If they chase away your evangelizations sites by offending you, then the enemy has won and your FB ministry loses.

That shouldn’t be. See 1 John 4:4-6
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

There are plenty of good people on FB; I get God Quotes all over my newsfeed from Catholics and other Christian and non-Christian faithful, with occasionaly bad things like pro-gay marriage or anti-Church. I usually just let them go. I could hide them but for myself I like to monitor what’s being said and what kind of comments it draws from others.

Turn the other cheek. Do not report them, for that is asking worldly judges to act on your behalf. It strengthens them and encourages them when their own kind holds them up against (worldly) scrutiny, and makes you the common enemy instead of just a personal enemy.

Just delete the posts from any pages you have control over – or get creative about responding to them (and don’t make it combative – the enemy is expert at verbal combat, not to be confused with spiritual warfare in which love reigns) and unfriend friends who post those things routinely if you want.

If you intend to evangelize, this goes with the territory. As I heard Ted Nugent tell Rush Limbaugh once, “if you aren’t making waves, then you aren’t paddling.”

Paul did a lot of evangelizing. If you want to catch fish, you have to be the bait that doesn’t scare them off. I call it “going in under the radar” like as in 1 Cor 9:19-27. I’m not saying to be like them, just to act in a way that you don’t offend them. Yes, I said “You don’t offend them.” Sure stir up their beliefs but don’t challenge their negative statement directly and be confrontational, because then it will be you who have taken their bait, and fallen into the worldly trap of loud bickering.

The biggest risk of fighting them on their terms was summed up by Mark Twain: "“Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Evangelists have to consider what third parties see when they see you interacting with both good and evil.

Alan
 
I think you should report them and perhaps, you should find a new way to socialize with others. This board is enough if you seek support, but for interaction with others, it is best in person.

All the best!
 
I’ve given thought to deleting mine, but decided to keep it. Even though right now my newsfeed is filled with posts from friends supporting SSM, I just hide the posts that I find bothersome. Sort of the same way they ignore what I post things about Catholicism and my faith.
 
As the original poster pointed out, I think the bigger issue is that Facebook (i.e. the site, not the users) is allowing the content to remain, even after it was reported. In other words, they’re showing bias in that they choose who is allowed to break the rules and who isn’t, or in the case of the anti-gay marriage stuff, they choose to enforce rules that don’t even exist as an excuse to remove legitimate content).

I’ve noticed this before on a few occassions (mostly regarding abortion stuff… I saw that Facebook allowed a certain pro-abortion image (which clearly broke at least 2 rules, probably more) to remain on the site while removing a certain pro-life image (which as far as I know broke no rules)).

As for deleting the account over it… I’m not sure. If you are running some useful Pages then deleting the account probably does more harm than good, since Facebook is one of the most widely used social networking sites (and I don’t see that changing any time soon).
I’d continue to report such images though, hoping that whoever reviews the report will be less biased when dealing with it.
 
I’ve left my FB account unused and unwatched since early November.

Abandoning it was a reactionary move at a pinnacle in my despair of a challenging year where I watched various things I believed would really be true, authoritative, protective, caring and orderly turn rancid, vindictive, judgmental, idiotic, expensive, untrue and painful…

I’ve taken a lot of time to reconsider if Facebook is appropriate for my own spiritual journey. While some of us are extroverted and have a more social nature, I do not. I’m all too aware that some posters there intentionally try to stir the pot, to irritate and ridicule.

I am reacquainting myself with Christ’s many encounters with the Pharisees–with me in the role of those ancient Jews. Have I looked down at others on FB while propping myself up as “holier than thou?” Turns out I have. While the attacks on FB are not excusable in the sense of their goal, I have control in forgiving those who do not know what they do. When there is an opportunity to propose a better viewpoint, or defend the faith, I can do so.

I cannot take responsibility nor be angry at the ignorance of the human person on Facebook. Working in I.T., I’m doubly aware that the pseudo-anonymity of online postings make people into something I should believe are not their true nature. I must remember that I am in control of what I see and how I react to it. I cannot react angrily or withdraw for that is what evil wants me to do. That behavior is what I’ve been doing lately until I’ve lately realized that the fault is mine. Closed minds are often all around me. Sometimes, it’s my own mind that is closed. I’m no better than others in being condemning of other’s behavior when I myself am not a paragon, either.

Thanks to this timely thread, I think I’ve made a decision to return there. I just need to treat my Friends list as doors I knock on to talk about things. Should that door be closed, I will close the other side and move on, leaving the judgement to Others in better position to make such things. Facebook is a tool. Use it properly, give it periodic maintenance. Don’t leave it unattended, and never let it injure you–or others.
 
PatriceA said:
Why not just delete the pages and friends that are offensive? Like only those pages that are supportive of the Catholic Church. I’m very selective with my Facebook and who I am friends with or the sites I “like”. Its not that difficult to make your Facebook pro-Catholic.
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This.
 
I’ve been considering deleting mine as well. I just looked through it for the first time in a while, and a significant portion of my friends have that stupid equals sign nonsense. It makes my blood boil to scroll through the pages and see how blinded all of my friends, even the ones who claim to be religious, have become to reality and proper nature.

Times like this, I seriously can’t wait to die so I won’t have to deal with this stuff any more.

On an interesting note, I’m thinking of putting this up (attached) along with the caption of “Proud support of marriage as it was intended by God and nature, as evidenced by genetics, sexual compatibility, and several millennia of rational thought”

What do you think, too inflammatory?
 
ProdglArchitect said:
I’ve been considering deleting mine as well. I just looked through it for the first time in a while, and a significant portion of my friends have that stupid equals sign nonsense. It makes my blood boil to scroll through the pages and see how blinded all of my friends, even the ones who claim to be religious, have become to reality and proper nature.

Times like this, I seriously can’t wait to die so I won’t have to deal with this stuff any more.

On an interesting note, I’m thinking of putting this up (attached) along with the caption of “Proud support of marriage as it was intended by God and nature, as evidenced by genetics, sexual compatibility, and several millennia of rational thought”

What do you think, too inflammatory?
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Help me understand this. This is directed at anybody that is considering deleting their Facebook, not you specifically, fyi.

But you are thinking of deleting your Facebook because your friends are posting things that are upsetting to you. So you delete the page, how are you going to handle your friends now when you encounter them in real life? Aren’t they still going to have the same views and opinions that were upsetting on Facebook? Are you going to deny the relationships in real life as well? What does deleting your Facebook page really accomplish if you continue to associate with people in the real world that make you so upset because of their views and opinions? Wouldn’t it be better to build those relationships that support you in your faith in your real life AND on computer social site such as Facebook? I don’t understand what deleting Facebook really accomplishes if you’ve never considered who to “friend” even in real life.
 
Hey everyone. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut. Anyway, I had flagged a certain page’s picture post for what was clearly anti-Catholic hate speech. Facebook did not remove it but allowed it to remain. I also messaged the owner asking them to remove the image but they did not do so. Instead they asked me which image I had flagged and I was honest and told them. I thought they were open to discussing with me why I found it to be so offensive. Well, this page is pro-“gay marriage”. As soon as they found out that I was anti-“gay marriage” they decided to harass me by continually sending messages to me from their page even after I have told them a couple of times to leave me alone. They still will not leave me alone and they basically told me that their harassing of me is the consequences of flagging things on their page so they are trying to punish me. Unfortunately there is no way that I can find to stop Facebook pages from messaging me. I was finally forced to resort to reporting the conversation for harassment. I am getting really distressed by this person harassing me like this. Now I just need to hope and pray that Facebook will do something and force this person to quit harassing me by messaging me. But with Facebook’s track record on reports, I highly doubt that they will heed my warning and I will continue to get harassed with no way to amend the issue.
 
Maybe I need to be a little clearer… :hmmm:

Why do so many of us run like scaredy-cats when someone says a bad thing about us or our faith? :takeoff:

Jesus said “rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven” when they do this. DUHHH! :rolleyes:

So do we rejoice? :extrahappy: No way. We get angry and/or run away instead. OUR FEAR, ANGER, AND PRIDE ARE CAUSING US TO ABANDON A RICH SOURCE OF BLESSINGS. :okpeople:

Then there’s “do not judge,” but I know we don’t REALLY believe in that. 😉

It’s easy to be a light among other lights. How can we bring our lights to the world unless we go where it is needed – i.e. where there is darkness? 🤷

Hello? Anybody home? :newidea:

Alan
 
AlanFromWichita said:
Maybe I need to be a little clearer… :hmmm:

Why do so many of us run like scaredy-cats when someone says a bad thing about us or our faith? :takeoff:

Jesus said “rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven” when they do this. DUHHH! :rolleyes:

So do we rejoice? :extrahappy: No way. We get angry and/or run away instead. OUR FEAR, ANGER, AND PRIDE ARE CAUSING US TO ABANDON A RICH SOURCE OF BLESSINGS.

Then there’s “do not judge,” but I know we don’t REALLY believe in that. 😉

It’s easy to be a light among other lights. How can we bring our lights to the world unless we go where it is needed – i.e. where there is darkness? 🤷

Hello? Anybody home?

Alan
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👍👍
 
PatriceA said:
Help me understand this. This is directed at anybody that is considering deleting their Facebook, not you specifically, fyi.

But you are thinking of deleting your Facebook because your friends are posting things that are upsetting to you. So you delete the page, how are you going to handle your friends now when you encounter them in real life? Aren’t they still going to have the same views and opinions that were upsetting on Facebook? Are you going to deny the relationships in real life as well? What does deleting your Facebook page really accomplish if you continue to associate with people in the real world that make you so upset because of their views and opinions? Wouldn’t it be better to build those relationships that support you in your faith in your real life AND on computer social site such as Facebook? I don’t understand what deleting Facebook really accomplishes if you’ve never considered who to “friend” even in real life.
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Quite frankly, there’s a very limited chance I’ll ever interact with any of them in real life again period. That has nothing to do with their political opinions, it’s simply a fact of geography. That being said, I’m not considering deleting it specifically because of those posts, mores o because I think Facebook is a huge waste of time and a breeding ground for stupid people to have their opinions bolstered by more stupid people. I don’t follow your last sentence: “I don’t understand what deleting Facebook really accomplishes if you’ve never considered who to “friend” even in real life.” Most of the people posting this are people I once considered to be close friends, and at one point many of them would have never been caught dead supporting gay “marriage.” I friended them when we were close, and didn’t bother de-friending them when we weren’t, mainly because I thought it would be somewhat insulting.

I am actually still close friends with a few of them, two of my closest friends (well, friends I trust the most even if we aren’t particularly close anymore, again due to the constraints of geography) are gay / bisexual, and one of them is a hard-lined atheist. I have no trouble interacting with them in real life because they know my views and I know theirs, and we generally just don’t breach the subjects that would cause significant conflict… except with the atheist friend, with whom I enjoy many debates, even if he is a fairly irrational person when it comes to religion. The problem with Facebook, and the reason I’ve considered deleting it, is because it’s basically a concentrated dose of this stuff every time I check in. I can handle a few off comments, but when every other post is supporting this nonsense, it becomes a little much to handle.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hey everyone. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut. Anyway, I had flagged a certain page’s picture post for what was clearly anti-Catholic hate speech. Facebook did not remove it but allowed it to remain. I also messaged the owner asking them to remove the image but they did not do so. Instead they asked me which image I had flagged and I was honest and told them. I thought they were open to discussing with me why I found it to be so offensive. Well, this page is pro-“gay marriage”. As soon as they found out that I was anti-“gay marriage” they decided to harass me by continually sending messages to me from their page even after I have told them a couple of times to leave me alone. They still will not leave me alone and they basically told me that their harassing of me is the consequences of flagging things on their page so they are trying to punish me. Unfortunately there is no way that I can find to stop Facebook pages from messaging me. I was finally forced to resort to reporting the conversation for harassment. I am getting really distressed by this person harassing me like this. Now I just need to hope and pray that Facebook will do something and force this person to quit harassing me by messaging me. But with Facebook’s track record on reports, I highly doubt that they will heed my warning and I will continue to get harassed with no way to amend the issue.
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You can block them, which, if they don’t respect you enough to not harass you, you honestly should do, because they’re not a true friend.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
You can block them, which, if they don’t respect you enough to not harass you, you honestly should do, because they’re not a true friend.
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I do not know how to block a Facebook page though. This is not a normal member of Facebook but a Facebook page which is harassing me. Otherwise I would have blocked them by now.
 
PatriceA said:
Unlike the page.
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I never liked the page to begin with because it is a pro-gay “marriage” page. Nevertheless, the problem has ended. I simply quit responding to them and so they are no longer messaging me.

That said, I am really seriously considering getting rid of Facebook. Facebook is now accusing me of spamming when I have not been spamming at all. I know what spam is and I am definitely not spamming. I think people marked my messages as spam because they don’t like what I am saying (they are not actually spam though) and so Facebook is trying to prevent me from publicly commenting on threads without even investigating as to whether or not I am really spamming. :mad: This combined with the other issues has me completely fed up with Facebook. Were it not for my evangelization pages on Facebook and the fact that it is my only means of chat with a friend, I would have already gotten rid of it.
 
Holly3278 said:
I never liked the page to begin with because it is a pro-gay “marriage” page. Nevertheless, the problem has ended. I simply quit responding to them and so they are no longer messaging me.

That said, I am really seriously considering getting rid of Facebook. Facebook is now accusing me of spamming when I have not been spamming at all. I know what spam is and I am definitely not spamming. I think people marked my messages as spam because they don’t like what I am saying (they are not actually spam though) and so Facebook is trying to prevent me from publicly commenting on threads without even investigating as to whether or not I am really spamming. :mad: This combined with the other issues has me completely fed up with Facebook. Were it not for my evangelization pages on Facebook and the fact that it is my only means of chat with a friend, I would have already gotten rid of it.
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The battle lines have been drawn. Those who report you as SPAM would like to see you leave. Facebook has challenges that apparently come up based on your style. Find a way to post without getting silenced. Say less, or at least tone it down, until you can gain control, then gradually build up using what you’ve learned. That is, if you want to use FB for the huge resource that it can be. Wonderful Christians and many other religions – even new agers – post on my facebook newsfeed every day with all sorts of inspiration messages.

When you go into this venue, there are obstacles, but there are huge opportunities. If you want to quit your FB ministry that’s fine, but don’t let them chase you out or they will have won.

Alan
 
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