Facebook, God and Politics
I joined Facebook back in 2009 for two reasons. As somewhat of a computer geek, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. And my wife, Muri, had been hearing things about our daughter, Amy, from her already-member friends. I was tasked with seeing how it worked so I could show her. Later on I would also add a page for Older Eyes, my alter ego and author of my blog, hoping to increase its readership. In six years, I have accumulated 105 friends, which makes my alter ego feel inferior … he has only 38 likes. If you’d like to help him out, hop over to Older Eyes page, here, and like it. Most of my FB friends are family and real friends from here in Socal. There are a handful of people I’ve met blogging and a few friends from my high school days that I’ve reconnected with. Then there are some who I don’t know or how we ended up friends … a few even accepted friend requests from me that I don’t recall sending. I suppose that’s fine.
All of my blog posts post to Facebook and these days I get more readers there than on WordPress. Other than blog posts, I post pictures of my grandkids (of course) as well as other photographs I’ve taken that I particularly
like, sunsets and birds, mostly. I occasionally post opinions or news articles I find interesting and things I find humorous. I like to see what family and friends are up to and there’s nothing like regularly seeing pictures of my grandkids, particularly now that they live in Utah and I don’t see them as often. The FB friends I enjoy most do likewise, entertaining me without challenging me to do anything. If Facebook isn’t fun, why would I do it?
Lately, though it seems to have changed … an awful lot of Facebook seems to be about God and Politics. I am a spiritual person who respects the right of anyone to follow their choice of religion but I am tired of reading others advertisements for their God, sometimes Generic, often Jesus. I am especially tired of being asked to Like or Type Amen if I believe, too. It shouldn’t surprise me that people feel they should proseltyze for their particular brand of religion on Facebook … after all, they do it everywhere else … bumper stickers, signs at football games, T-shirts and movie theaters, for example. What is the point? Does anyone get converted on Facebook??? Really??? If someone types Amen, does it make the poster feel better or do they earn brownie points with God? Does it occur to anyone that not all of their FB friends are of the same spiritual persuasion … or does that just not matter? And then there’s politics. I am fairly apolitical these days but the vehemence with which Facebookers attack some candidates while blindly endorsing others scares the hell out of me. In a nation built on compromise, we have forgotten how to do it. I believe it is why we have candidates at such extremes of the political spectrum.
I don’t come to Facebook to be convinced, educated or annoyed. I come to pass the time, if not mindlessly, then at least without thinking too much. I’d prefer a smile to a tear and a laugh to a smile. I’m finding fewer of both these days … and more annoying posts. In the early days of Facebook, I couldn’t
Unfriend somebody without letting them know I didn’t want to hear from them anymore. That must have been too cruel for these politically correct times because now I can simply Unfollow them … which means I don’t see their posts but we’re still friends. They never know. Freakin’ brilliant. So all you God-posters and Politics-posters, Unfollowing you for my own sanity. You’ll never know and I’ll be a happier Facebooker.
Tags: blogging, curmudgeonly rants, Facebook, feeling older, grandchildren, humor, politics, religion
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Older Eyes 
February 2, 2016 at 5:25 am
Is it OK to “like” this post?
February 2, 2016 at 2:53 pm
I, too, set up a Facebook account because family members were involved and I wanted to find out what all the hoopla was about. I occasionally get on but find all the advertising, political opinions, and proselytizing a bit annoying. I do enjoy reading and following what my family is up to. I rarely write status updates.
I think there are many positive aspects to this type of social media but as with most forms of digital communication, there are inherent negatives as well. Over-use, over-sharing, misunderstandings, and perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of how vulnerable users are to having their information shared with people that they don’t want to to share with.
February 4, 2016 at 2:47 pm
I have found that I learned so much more than I ever wanted to know about people’s politics, religion, sexuality, even where they were at any given moment. I now resign myself to skimming, as I really don’t want to deal with all the “drama” given off… I still like to communicate with friends, but find it easier to take in SMALL doses.
Cat
February 6, 2016 at 2:32 pm
Amen to that! Lol