Above I posted a link regarding the Pope's opinion on social networking. Today, as more and more people sign up for things such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. this article is extremely relevant. When cell phones and e-mail became popular, people claimed that human interaction has developed a lack of intimacy, and people have resorted to quick methods of communication such as text messaging. Now, things such as Facebook, have broadened this rift. People spend ridiculous amounts of time on these websites, and as a result, they spend less time on everyday hobbies. For Catholics, this could be going to church or doing charity work, one of the staple activities of Catholicism. However, there are several evangelist Christian groups on Facebook. The Pope argues that these groups and efforts do not makeup for social interaction.
In addition, the Catholic Church teaches that it is important to represent Christ through one's body because one's body is a temple for God, and that humans are created to represent God. Through Facebook, people create an online representation of oneself, and therefore as Christians, it is vital for one to represent God in their "activity", information and profile.
What are your thoughts about Social Networking and human interaction? How does this play into the Catholic Church's beliefs and teachings?
I'm afraid I cannot comment as to the Catholic Church's beliefs or teachings since I am not familiar with those, but I can say something as to how the Pope qualifies the use of social networking sites.
ReplyDeleteWhile it can be argued whether or not the Church should have the authority, or whether people should pay its decrees any heed, when concerning personal matters such as this that do not necessarily deal with one's faith, I think that the Pope made a very astute point. He said that if a social networking site is to be used, one should be wary of, "enclosing oneself in a sort of parallel existence." People often get online and live a complete different life than what they would live if all the social interactions being had were in-person. Inhibitions and other forms of social constraint are lost when there is a sense of anonymity in a situation.
At the root of the this discussion, I think the sense that people could be corrupted through their own lose of inhibition and constraint is what the Church is concerned with. Does that make sense?
I could not agree more with the previous post, especially in regards to the corruption and constraint. Moreover, social networking can many times be a vehicle to directly contradict the Catholic Church's belief to represent Christ through one's body. Additionally, several branches of Christianity believe that one should reflect Christ not only in their words, but also in his or her actions. Ample times, I have seen Facebook profiles that include multiple quotes from Scripture, yet many of the pictures that are posted on these profiles are the furthest from a good representation of Christ and Christianity. I do not judge those for their pictures or posts whatsoever, I just find the pictures vs. quotes to greatly contradict each other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous posts. I think the Pope was attempting to address a very big and controversial problem with social networking in a very simple way. He basically stated that he didn't want people to lose themselves in social networking and forget about real human interaction. A statement as simple as that addresses the much bigger problem of the amount of time people spend on these social networking sites, the lives people create for themselves through the internet, and the issues with privacy. I do not necessarily believe that these sites are necessarily going against any Christian beliefs but the way people choose to use them does frequently.
ReplyDeleteMichelle makes a very good point. I don't think that social networks directly contradict Christian standards or beliefs; however, many people do choose to add Christian references to their pages while their pictures tell different stories about their lifestyles. I don't think that this is Facebook's fault in any way though. The users choose what information and material to have in their profiles. If they contradict their religious beliefs with their lifestyles, I think that is their own personal issue with God, not with Facebook.
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