Monday, April 6, 2009

Facebook -- Overcoming the Evils That Occur

As most of you know, I am a heavy-duty Facebook user. I have been active for about a year and half. It has brought much joy to my life as it has helped me strengthen my contact/communication with those who are in the Body of Christ and with friends I grew up with in my boyhood town in southern Illinois. I have friends from seemingly all age brackets. Only recently I have started partaking in some of the fun activities such as "quizzes" and "fun notes", resulting in lots of witty feedback, all in fun!

In fact, I was one of the earlier active participants within my age group from my hometown. I was deemed instrumental in reuniting some long-lost friends. A small group of them were so ecstatic that they have begun planning a Facebook reunion in my hometown this coming June. Since I am the one who allegedly started the Facebook craze, I have been roped into coming. I could not resist the urge to come! I knew I couldn't afford it, but I did find a good deal on a travel package, too good to pass up, so I am planning on going after all!

Facebook could almost easily become an addiction so I have had to take great efforts to keep a balance in my life. Fortunately, it is helpful that I am unable to access Facebook at work due to some network "firewalls", and that is a good thing! (Am too busy at work anyway!) So pretty much, the evening is the only time for Facebook. All in all, I have found the rewards to be worth my time.

However, a couple weeks ago, there was a sickening incident that occurred. I had just gotten home from work and was barely signed in when I was beseiged with some IMs' from those I would never expect to receive. I was warned about some graphic image that I was tagged with.

As I scrolled down the home page, it was even more horrific than I could imagine. Gratefully, I was able to receive assistance from other godly users on how to remove it and report it. In that duration, I was sickened and grossed out nauciously as I persistently labored at these tasks while coaching other affected users in doing the same. I initially was apalled at the person from whose account
I was tagged, allegedly a new Facebook confirmed friend who I had requested months ago (she was a friend I knew from Grace Community and had lost touch). While she is a fellow believer, she was known also for pulling an occasional prank. After I successfully dealt with the removal of the image and tagging, and with the apologies to my fellow users, I then found out that this friend had nothing to do with this (I feel awful and foolish for doubting her in the first place!!) A student of hers had hacked her account and performed the sick acts. I am told she was equally upset (probably more so), and disabled her account. I can only imagine the pain she is feeling in dealing with the situation at her school. Please pray for her!

Understandably, this upset several users connected with me. Some closed their accounts, while others removed me as a friend. I myself was upset to know that my FB account could be exposed to an image like that. I was grateful to learn from others that they knew I was above reproach and would have nothing to do with initiating this incident.

I wondered what action I should take on my Facebook account whether to continue. But it has become such a valuable tool in my life, I chose to retain it after weighing the pros and cons. Some of my friends chose not to continue it, and though I miss them terribly, I fully support their decision accordingly. One of my dear and well-respected friends, yet another school teacher, stated that as an educator and a church deaconess, she could not risk any potential repercussions of any brief association with images of that kind, so that was obviously understandable. I am grateful of having another means of contact with this godly woman as I value her friendship greatly.

I realize that I need to be mindful of these concerns as well. As a middle-aged single man, I know what skepticism I am faced with and the associated stereotypes. And that is why I am swift to remove anything that may cause anyone to stumble and to replace with truths that live up to the principles of Ephesians 4:29 and Phil 4:8.

Something I was reminded from this is that God reigns over all and is the Great Conqueror; greater than any of our sins. Through Him I am able to do all things through Christ that strengthens me. And the impurities of this wicked world will cause you to stumble only if you let it. I feel I did everything possible to rid of that gross image and maintain the pure integrity of my Facebook account. I will continue to strive to use this as an instrument to encourage one another, and to make myself available for sharing any prayer requests and concerns. Just some thoughts!

Grace and Peace,
Paul -- Ephesians 3:20

6 comments:

Shelly said...

Hi Paul,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this incident. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will use it for His glory. You are a godly man who is above reproach and God has been honored with your response. Each of us needed to respond in what God put on each one of our hearts. I need to email you because I am just now fitting some of the pieces together of this incident. I closed out so quickly that I did not know how you were involved. I will try to email tomorrow night.

I too am grateful for how FB allowed me to get back in contact with some very dear people to my heart, you being one of them. Thanks for checking out my blog. It is a fun way for me to share some random thoughts with my friends that are all over the world.

Because of the blood that was shed for us,

Your sister and friend,

Shelly

Micheleg said...

Paul,

I never had a doubt about you when I saw that image. Anyone who knows you certainly will understand. I loved your response to the issue. Very eloquent and you did the right thing by pointing to Scripture.

I will remain with FB at least for now. I don't understand why there aren't filters in place for such garbage. We do not have children in the house and I keep my laptop password protected so that when the grandkids are here, there is no chance of them stumbling across anything they should not. Besides, they are monitored closely if/when they even use the internet.

Anyway, rest assured that even though some have blocked you, (and for respectable reasons, it seems) you can still hold your head high knowing that you are innocent.

Thank you for following up on this.

Michele

Micheleg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bevlewis2 said...

Thank you for posting that...I never doubted you for one minute and I also turned in that horrid person....I'm very sorry it happened to you. In HIS love Bev

SignorinaD said...

Dear Paul,

I hope you are doing well. I logged on to Shelly's blog last night to catch her updates, and I found the link to your blog on her site. If I had your email address, I would have included you in my mass emailing of my response to the Facebook incident. Here is my letter, albeit a bit late.

If you need to contact me, you can simply ask Shelly for my information.

"She spoke to me of Heaven
And an Angelic Host
She spoke of God
And the Holy Ghost
She spoke of Christ's teaching
Of man's brotherhood
Yet when she had to sit beside a Negro once
She stood."
Elizabeth Hart – “Hypocrite”

Dear Family and Friends,

Several of you discovered today on Facebook a horrible, offensive series of pornographic and racist images that were supposedly posted by me. Let me first of all assure you that I did no such thing. Apparently, one (or more) of my freshman student(s) found my name on the social network site, hacked into my profile, and sent the images under my name. I truly apologize – and I am just as shocked, disgusted and humiliated as you are. I feel awful that you were the recipients of a hateful post that was meant for me.

Frankly, I am not surprised. While I teach a group of decent students, I also have a core of kids who bombard me daily with cruel, vulgar personal remarks, outright verbal and physical defiance, screams and cries about having ADHD as an excuse not to complete homework, stamping their feet and throwing tantrums over having to take a make-up test in another room, stealing my supplies, and shouting sexual and scatological catcalls. As a class, we have been reading the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, a powerful book which features racism in the 1930s as one of its central themes. There have been many great moments to lead my students into discussions about racism, prejudice, use of the “N” word, small-town values, tolerance, courage and perspective – yet I have had to spend so much time disciplining my students for their outrageous behavior that many of the needed discussions have been shelved. This may explain the types of images that Facebook members have received.

My school, alas, has no discipline policy for such student violations, except for after school detention on Fridays. We are expected to handle these violations by holding “Community Circles” in class to “discuss” why the kids are acting out, and come to a consensus on “acceptable” classroom behavior. These kids have tested me every which way since I began my position in November. We teachers feel powerless because there are no serious consequences – and the kids know it. Yet we are required to totally engage every one of our kids to learn – and if even one or two are not engaged, then we are given poor evaluations. To say the least, the school has major issues to deal with.

Why today, you may ask? Today is Cesar Chavez Day. For my school, the kids have the day off while the teachers are required to perform a “Day of Service” (pretty much a School Beautification Day). It is a day for the Latino community to honor Chavez’s achievements. Notice any irony? Since the kids were at home today, someone had plenty of time to figure out how to “hijack” my profile.

I have not been able to log on to Facebook at all today in order to verify the images. But those of you who received my letter on Facebook in December may remember that I was extremely reluctant to even be part of the network. This incident is one of the reasons. Social networking can be extremely enjoyable, and can be a powerful educational and business tool in the right hands. However, as a teacher I have always been leery about using such a public tool for personal communication. I am not necessarily a fan, anyway, of seeing my name in print, be it in a prayer bulletin or a phone bill. In an age where a person’s identity can be stolen so easily, I am uncomfortable with having too much of my life being accessible to people whom I don’t know.

For those of you who quickly figured out that someone else obviously stole my profile to post those images, thank you so much for your sensitivity in your email to me. I was so discouraged, though, to find notes in my email accusing me of “going to the dark side” and questioning my faith in the Lord. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you could go back to look at my time on Facebook, you will find that not only have I NOT added anyone as friends to my network, and tyhat I DO NOT have my photo on my profile, but I have posted only two or three messages since I reluctantly joined the network. My activity on Facebook doesn’t fit this random posting. And if I did (post regularly), I sincerely hope my longtime friends would know me well enough to know that I would never post smut. (That should not have been questioned by anyone in the first place.)

While there are several unanswered questions about this incident, there are also some powerful lessons here. Thankfully, even in the midst of such a mess, the Lord knew that this would happen. Despite a teenager’s desire to show his/her revenge (or whatever it can be called), it is another opportunity to run to the Lord who is in control of ALL things – He is still the God of justice and righteousness, and no sin will ever destroy His plans or His will. It’s another opportunity to pray for my hardened students and faculty. It’s an opportunity to call out to the Lord and trust Him in all circumstances major and minor. Perhaps it’s also a prime opportunity to pray about a switch in careers – the sooner, the better.

I know that I may have missed quite a few friends, family members and acquaintances who are on Facebook (but whose email address I don’t have). If you happen to know of anyone who received today’s post but need to receive this letter, please feel free to forward this. If you have any questions, please EMAIL me. You can always call me on my cell, too, but I rarely use it. Or, feel free to find me on Sunday to discuss it. Once I am able to get back onto Facebook, I plan to cancel my profile/membership. I am not opposed to creating a new profile in the future, but at this point I think plastering my face across a billboard on the 405 freeway will cause less of a ruckus.

Sincerely in Christ,
Jerre

Cherie said...

Hi Paul,

I have a cousin here in Ohio who works in the school system; she is part of the union, and had been a teacher for many years. Just recently I asked her if she had a Facebook account and she told me that if you work in the school system (at least in Ohio) it could cost you your job. I thought it sounded silly at the time, but after reading your post I understand. I never thought of something like this happening.

I was not involved, but if I had been, I would not have doubted your integrity. I'm glad you kept your account open. Facebook has become such a wonderful way to keep in touch and get re-connected with old friends.

Thank you my friend.

Cherie