Thursday 9 February 2017

Social Media - Good or Bad?

 Facebook, Twitter and all these other social media platforms are now part of our everyday lives. The new President of the U.S.A. appears to love Twitter as a medium to get his thoughts and opinions out there for us.

Most of us use platforms like Facebook to communicate with friends, see what our friends and family are doing and let people know about our lives and special events etc.
    There are help groups on Facebook for people who suffer from the same illness or have the same interests which are generally a good thing and can be helpful and reassuring to read that someone else is going through the same thing as you and be able to support each other. I have heard about young people who, not feeling able to speak to their parents about bullying, have been able to speak to other young people about what they are going through and get advice - You get the idea, these social media sites can be a great platform for good.
    Sadly, I have noted the opposite applies and over the last few months have been saddened by the number of people, whom I know to have a faith in God, posting or sharing posts that are incompatible with their faith.
    As a Christian I believe that everyone was created equal and God loves us all equally, therefore posts that are anti immigration are not compatible with the Christian faith. One post recently shared said that we should put our elderly before immigrants. One group is not superior to the other, they both need our love, compassion and help equally. It is not the case of putting one group first, then if you have any money, love or compassion left over, consider giving to the other - All human beings were created equally, all life matters.
    There have been many other examples but this week one Christian shared a post that said to 'Ban The Burka'! As a Christian I respect all faiths and their traditions and some Muslim ladies have a modesty tradition of wearing this type of clothing which come from an interpretation of the Quran which is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God.
    The kind of posts, and there have been a number, I have described at best demonstrate poor judgement and a lack of compassion for our fellow man & at their worst are racist. Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Christianity provides NO harbourage for racism.

Social media can be a great thing if used in the right way, it can be a wonderful platform for fun, enjoyment and good. Let us keep it that way and not use it as a platform for cyber bullying, destroying peoples lives and stirring up racism and hatred.

God bless you.

Pastor Adrian.

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