Is Facebook a Cult, pt. 2

The original question came to me from someone who had read an article on the subject at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_facebook_a_cult.php. Marshall Kirkpatrick compares Facebook to an article by Robert J. Lifton on the dynamics of a cult. These dynamics include:

1. Milieu Control -- physical isolation and control over the environment inducing personal change.
2. Mystical Manipulation -- a messianic personality and magical connections using planned spontaneity.
3. The Demand for Purity -- no dissent is allowed.
4. Sacred Science -- simplifying the world with a set of dogmatic principles and a claim to a science that embodies all truth.

Kirkpatrick gives examples in each category of Facebook's supposed guilt. He also makes this observation: "Facebook management is acting like a group of cult leaders intent on changing the rest of us into more social, less private people than we might like to be."

I think the article is overstated, undersupported and overkill. Facebook is undoubtedly a social phenomena but not in the same category as a cult, at all. Facebook is a tool and is whatever we make of it. It can be used for good and can be used for bad. The issue is in the heart of the user, not the purported diabolical design of management.

If you are really worried about the cult-like conditions, you can refuse to participate. I've also heard that aluminum foil on your head works too! :-)

Facebook

Question: Is Facebook a cult?

Response: This post will be in at least 2, maybe 3 posts. I want to share some materials that others have written along with my comments. Theologian R.C. Spoul has weighed in on the issue of the believer and Facebook by examining it through the 10 Commandments. Here are the main points from his article, "Should Christians be on Facebook?"

1. Has it become a god to us?
2. Has it become a graven image? Have you confused its reality with real reality?
3. Have you taken the Lord’s name in vain? That is, have you, in weaker moments, put a bad face publicly on your Christian witness?
4. Is Facebook giving me the peace of the Lord, or agitating me?
5. Am I honoring those in authority over me?
6. Is this technology honoring to life? The cyberworld can be a barren wasteland ... because it isn’t real, because it is Gnostic.
7. Are you loving your spouse on Facebook? Is the rush of nostalgia from finding long lost friends encouraging you to be dissatisfied?
8. Are you stealing from your employer by not giving a full days work because you are moonlighting at Farmville, or as a Mafia Don?
9. Are you lying? That is, is the you you present on Facebook the real you?
10. Is Facebook encouraging contentment or resentment? Are you coveting your neighbor’s friend count? And are you content with the real life you are shutting out while hunched over your keyboard?

Everything we do, whether work, church, recreation or relationships should be examined under the light of God's Word. Facebook included!

Thanks, Pastor Dan VerWoert, for sharing this article with me!

(Next week: But, is it a cult??!)

Civil Disobedience

Question: At what point is civil disobedience justified for a believer? (This is a follow up question from the previous discussion. It was pointed out to me that in the founding of our nation, pulpits in America often preached about casting off British tyranny. When is that kind of preaching and activity appropriate, today?)

Response: Great question and thought provoking comments! Be sure to read the comments section!

First, I want to note that it is never right to do the wrong thing, whether in the name of God or in the name of government. A Christian must live by Christian principles in every context. Any act of civil disobedience must be subjected to the scrutiny of Scripture. Blowing up abortion clinics, shooting abortionists, and such like are as evil as the act of abortion. Government is given the authority by God to punish evil doers and provide for safety and security. This does include acts of war. He has not given that authority to individuals to execute at their own discretion.

Passive civil disobedience, or a refusal to submit to law is justifiable when the law requires that I commit a sinful act. It is one thing for a government to allow something to happen and an entirely different matter when it requires it. Certain kinds of pornography are legal in America. I am not required to purchase or peruse it. If we are ever required to sin, then we must "obey God rather than man."

What about active civil disobedience such as overthrowing a government or waging warfare against an enemy, especially if the state becomes the enemy of the church? Again, the execution of warfare is given to governments, not to vigilantes. The church is not a political machine and should never be used like one. There can be a fine line between standing against evil and engaging in evil. We need to be careful how we stand against the darkness.