The SOCIAL NETWORK. (!!!)

I’ve been thinking for quite some time about this subject and wanted to wait until I wasn’t angry to write about it.  I figured if I wrote this when I was angry, then it would be pretty inflammatory and that isn’t usually how I roll.  Plus, I wouldn’t want anyone to think it is in response to any one particular post.  Maybe you'll consider this inflammatory, anyhow.  Who knows.  It's a blog, so I guess ruffling feathers goes with the territory...

Here’s the thing…  I have strong political opinions just like many of you, but because I value people and relationships so highly, I try to keep most of my opinions to myself and invest in people’s lives and add value where I can.  I’m not always successful, but I do try.  I’m a devoted Christian and political conservative, but I have many friends who are of other faiths and political leanings and we just agree to disagree.  We’re grownups, right?  “So, what’s the problem,” you ask?  The problem is Facebook…

Facebook is supposed to be a social network, right? (That’s what the founders call it.)  It’s a virtual hang out.  An online coffee bar without the coffee.  A place to have a laugh, catch up with your friends, make them laugh, etc.  In my opinion, what it shouldn’t be is an in-your-face political campaigning stump, or sales platform.  I’m not sure why some people are so determined to use it as that kind of forum.  Honestly, I don’t have a problem with people posting video links or quotes from their favorite candidate, etc. here and there.  That’s no big deal to me.  I’m fine with people being excited about their candidate (even if they aren’t my candidate) or their faith (even if it’s not my faith), and I don’t have to watch their videos if I don’t want to.  What I have a problem with is people posting offensive or flaming graphics, comments, etc. promoting their take on the issues.  After all, I wouldn’t carry a graphic pro-life poster into Starbucks…

So many posts that I see appear to assume that I’m going to respond with a resounding “Yeah! Absolutely!  I agree!”, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.  I can let a lot of things roll off my back, but when it comes to the hard issues, like abortion, for example, I draw the line.  So what do you do about it?  Unfriend the person?  Throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak?  I’m certainly not going to comment negatively and start a political comment war (and publicly destroy our friendship in the process).  I, too, have very strong opinions about the hard issues, and when I get on Facebook to check in on my friends’ lives or to have a laugh, it offends me to instead see someone’s post condescendingly promoting their controversial opinion.  Perhaps people just don’t think about it.  It’s easy to forget the spectrum of people you have on your friend list.  Or, perhaps people just don’t care.  I hope that isn’t the case.

So, to all of my friends on Facebook with whom I disagree:  

I definitely care about you and want to continue to be your friend, but please understand that if you are one of these people, I probably have already unsubscribed from your status updates and will, consequently, be out of the loop on what’s going on in your life.  I’m sorry if this upsets you, but please stop and think about the fact that not everyone on your friend list necessarily feels the way you feel about the hard issues.  I know that many of the people on my friends list feel differently than I do, and that's okay with me.

For the record, I believe in God, I believe that Christ died to cover my sins (yours, too, by the way), I believe in my right to carry a gun, I believe in conservative government, and I believe that just because a woman doesn’t want to bear a child doesn’t give her the right to take that child’s life.  These are some of MY beliefs, and there are many more things that I believe, but if I want to discuss these more controversial topics, then I do so in my blog or in private conversations.  I would ask you, as my friends, to do the same.  

I hope we can continue to “agree to disagree” and stay friends, because I truly value you (otherwise you wouldn’t be on my friend list to start with).  I won’t, however, spend my life stressed out and angry because I’ve been blindsided by something that offends me when I thought I was in a seemingly safe relaxing place like Facebook.   I’m sorry, but life is too short to be continually offended when I can avoid it with a click of the mouse…