Editorial: Facebook Is The Worst Thing To Ever Happen To Christianity
When Recreational Time Killing Is Presented As Gospel Sharing
Facebook is essentially the 21st-century equivalent of Solitaire. As such, being that recreational time-killer that it is, the idea of Christians proclaiming that they are embarking on spreading the gospel through Facebook sounds dubious at best. This is true if one's idea of "spiritual outreach" is seeing how many religious memes they can flood their timeline with as if spirituality is some sort of empty contest.
For those who
impulsively share anything to their heart's content, these memes have
become the digital equivalent of bumper stickers. They ruin timelines in
the same manner that their sticky equivalents have ruined countless
Caprice Classics!
Ultimate Time Killer
When one creates a Facebook profile, the user will typically friend people that they already know. One isn’t going to typically friend complete strangers. There is typically a security risk and a chance that your profile can get hijacked or compromised by one of these dummy accounts. As such, most of those on the friends list are already people who you already know, and vice-versa. As such, the vast majority is already fully aware of your beliefs, and vice-versa. When one joins groups, they are typically going to be with groups of like-minded people with shared interest. Facebook has become the ultimate time-killer.
Gospel spreading isn’t something as trivial as posting an image of Jesus with the words “I Love Jesus. Type Amen If You Agree”. That is not spreading the gospel, just showing personal preference. Also, God’s words and Jesus’s teachings can spread on its own merit, even in the realm of social media. As a result, any meme is automatically invalidated when one inserts one of the two most horrible abused phrases in the English language : “Share If You Agree” and “Type AMEN If You Agree”. The former is a motto of that unwanted attention seeker seeking their 15 seconds of fane while the latter turns spirituality into a empty gimmick and spectacle. Yet, many been conditioned into thinking that sharing lazy, trivial post is the same as spreading the gospel.
Now spiritual outreach could theoretically be possible within the social media realm. The platform is useful for quote “shouting” information. A church can send a notice out for a activity that everybody in the community is invited to. In fact, it’s a useful tool for those who want the community about a particular activity or spiritual outreach program. However, these post can quickly be drowned out as people who use Facebook as a toy engage in Internet pollution by flooding their timelines with these empty post.
Since the platform is so informal, I seriously doubt that one experienced Salvation or spiritual enlightenment through some random meme. Despite this, it is possible to spread God’s word online in an untainted state. However, what I find disturbing is that many have abused scripture in the realm of social media. Often times, creators just won’t leave the verses alone. They will add there own social and political commentary to it and pass it off as quote “God’s Word”.
This isn’t spreading
the gospel, but distorting it to conform God’s word into one’s
worldview. Those sharing the post will quote “make a hint" to present
that view of commentary as Biblical teaching. This is often done when
one mixes religion and politics together. For them, party policy and
faith become one and the same. Party policies are presented as Biblical
teaching as secular parties are given spiritual attributes. Despite the
fact that both political parties are consumed by corruption and prone to
moral and ethical shortcomings, many elevate their secular leaders as
pillars of morality. This is reflected in those memes. Worse happens
when such memes reflect their leader as equal who is on par with God and
Jesus. Blasphemy results when this occurs. This will be covered in a
future article.
The Ugly(ier)
Christians who should be engaging in far more important things are posting empty drivel and passing their actions off as spirituality. These memes give Christianity a bad name and are counterproductive in a person's spiritual walk. They can do a lot of harm to a person’s character and taint that spiritual walk. The memes that I’m referencing is the one with an image of an angel and devil with the words “Type Amen If You Love God, And Keep Scrolling If You Like The Devil”.
I love God, but I don’t have to prove my spirituality to anyone, especially some self-righteous chump posting these empty meme on Facebook. Scrolling past one of those obnoxious memes does not mean that you like the Devil. Your spirituality isn't going to be determined by some random religious meme that’s been posted on Facebook. The poster is engaging in spiritual exploitation to guilt people into liking the meme. Jesus never had to guilt people into his ministry.
These memes usually come from click-bait mills that generate revenue. As a result, the sharing of these memes are generating some unknown party money. I can also be doubtful that the party in question isn't a church because they wouldn't engage in such spiritually exploitative gimmicks.
Empty gimmicks are numerous on Facebook. Several will post memes declaring that they will spread the gospel. That's good. However, that time spent posting that declaration could have been spent well.....spreading the gospel. It is time not well spent if the person was spending time making a declaration on Facebook when they could have used to fulfilling that declaration. Many Christian make a mockery of their spiritual pursuits when they engage in this activity.
Anther example of this is when a meme declares that "Some said that we can't say Jesus is the Son of God on facebook well I just did, can I get a amen." A meme like this is intended as a declaration of faith. However, all the potential meaning of that post is lost when one inserts the phase "can I get a amen". The meme becomes a empty gimmick. Also, while the meme is meant to be a declaration of faith, it presents that declaration as an literal account that has happened. Did anyone actually say that though, or did the poster think that it happened. Their would be no credibility unless context is provided. Otherwise, the poster/creator could be using lying by passing off a open-ended declaration as an literal event that has happened already.
A lot of these memes take the Lord’s name in
vain. Not in the traditional sense which is commonly associated with
taking the Lord’s name in vain. With several of these memes, the poster
implied that God directed the creator to make the content in question.
Since I can make the very safe assumption that God have far more
important things to do with his time than to direct random content
creators with creating trivial memes, stating that God directed you in
making the meme when he probably didn’t is taking his name in vain.
Cursed Algorithms/False Misinformation
Given how Facebook's algorithms work, things only get much worse. Like any social media platform, Facebook's revenue is generated from ads. Ads are generated from content that is going to get the most attention. Do you see where I'm going with this. Facebook's algorithms are going to serve content that is going to generate the most controversy because that is what's going to generate the most hits, and thus, the most revenue. Coming from the holiday season, this is where one encountered those countless "Someone got offended by someone saying Christmas" on their timelines. The Facebook algorithms know that the piece in question is going to generate massive amounts of clicks from its intended demographic. This is regardless of whether the content in question has any merit behind it.
From their, things only get uglier. Many will blindly believe anything they read from Facebook at face-value without question. Many will believe anything that comes from any place that has the words "Christian", "America" , "Liberty", or "Freedom" in their title. As a result, these users will impulsively share these post at face-value without questioning the validity of the information. Those operating the sites know how gullible and naïve their audience it. As a result, they will make the most outrageous of claims, knowing that their audience isn't going to bat an eye. This is often why Facebook becomes a very toxic place.
Combined this that many Christians are slaves to conspiracy theories don't help matter. Already, despite the fact that the Covid vaccination doesn't have a microchip in it or designed to kill millions as part of a population control scheme, many will blindly believe such rubbish and run with it. Facebook will serve these post as this will generate the clicks, and thus, revenue. This is regardless of the real-world consequences that follow. Hostile views and opinions are formed from misinformation.
Conclusion
Facebook is the worst thing to ever happen to Christianity. It’s sad when a topic like this is even a thing as this should be spiritually irrelevant. However, the issue of spiritual manipulation is taken to a new level that I didn’t even think was possible. Memes like the ones mentioned above is what gives the Christian experience a bad name. A person can be honest in their spirituality without resorting to sharing such drivel.
Our Facebook profile is intended as being a digital representation of our-self, and hobbies, and our interest. As such, that profile should reflect how that person is in real life. Yet, when one resorts in posting trivial nonsense, one could give a false impression of themselves to others. Facebook has done positive things. It allowed us to connect with friends and family. Facebook has given a voice to those who didn't have one before. This is what we should be reminded of. This is why I will end the article like this: don't resort to bad habits. Don't give Christianity a bad name by sharing empty rubbish.
https://journeymadison.com/four-reasons-why-you-should-never-share-that-post-that-says-share-this-if-you-love-jesus/?fbclid=IwAR0pMoGwn0DtfIl19xReWsLvzz5s1k7rU48F81aHJSXGPmZwFjq0cQK6c7Q
5 Reasons “Share If You Agree” Posts Drive Me Crazy :https://heatherannemaclean.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/228/?fbclid=IwAR0Th2l1fiieO7k2TBDtuOfGugPaqAQJK10-PnI-mb87j1kbRKaiX1xMf3M
Snopes : Did Angels Prevent a Rape? - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alley-oops/
Snopes - Did Facebook Ban All Christian-Themed Content? : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-bans-christian-content/
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