Religious life and priesthood is about giving up little things to have what is more important. When I entered, I gave up my membership in a Canadian political party, I gave up the beautiful city of Calgary and I gave up following sports, to live closer in the love of God. My dad tells me if the Calgary Stampeders win the championship, but any more than that would take me away from my mission. Every moment I have is really God’s.
For me the question of Facebook or no Facebook comes down to priorities, to putting religious life first.
I have had several people show me their Facebook accounts – when I was back home, my sister showed me all our childhood friends’ spouses or, more commonly, live-ins on Facebook. I know a few priests or active lay people who try to evangelize via Facebook.
Facebook isn’t evil, but I haven’t the time to keep active. I created an account on Catholic Answers Forums (MPSchneiderLC if anyone cares to check it out) but I really only found time to look at it every so often, and as I was writing this, I checked and it said I posted 13 times and nothing caught my eye to respond to immediately.
When I make my priorities, it goes something like this: prayer, community life, food / sleep / exercise, studies, specific duties (mainly maintaining our library here in the seminary), ghostwriting for Mission Network, posting here, and then whatever else I can fit in. Facebook would go in the final category which already has almost no time and several items in it.
On Facebook you need to be posting at least once or twice a day to tell everyone you’re alive. Sure, there are other uses like a mom who uses it simply to look at the photo albums her daughters tell here they’ve made on their page, but that isn’t really Facebooking.
If we had to compare Facebook with a place in our physical world, I think it would be most like is a town square or a sports bar, a place where you can go, generally hang out with your family or friends but run into a few other people at the same time.
Back in the 80s my dad ran two exercise clubs (volleyball, squash, and aerobics) with attached sports bars. As a kid I remember that they had a projection TV and hundreds of channels back in the 80s. They always had food with five times the grease my health conscious mom would ever serve at home. (They had a decent environment as one of my fondest memories is buying several hundred goldfish with my dad and putting them in the cooled-down hot tub for kids to catch as part of a family fun day.) It is fine for lay people to hang out at places like this but it would seem a little odd if a priest spent hours there without a really good reason.
That’s just it! My goal as a Legionary is to form and launch apostles at the service of the Church and I can’t see how Facebook can help me do that now. Facebook is just one more means of communication, it is not an end. (Maybe studying computer engineering helps me see how it’s just 1s and 0s.) If as a priest, I have to communicate with a bunch of people under 30, it may be the best way to make sure they get the message, but until then, what’s the big excitement.
Just a note, I know it is a personal choice, but it is helpful to be aware that many legionary brothers and priests are using facebook well to form and launch apostles. Thanks for the thoughts.
I disapprove of your decision not to have a facebook page, but I will defend to the death your right not to have one.
Don’t get me wrong that I am against technology and the huge benefits in communication that such things open up. When I was working on a road team in the US, we were one of the first teams (of 2) to get a second laptop and to get a second cell phone. Facebook was just starting to become common in the circles I was working as I was leaving. I suspect if I stayed one more year, I likely would have started an account.
I tried to avoid expressing it as a black and white question facebook: yes or no? I think that is too simplistic.
I realize it can be a great means and I support all those legionaries – primarily on apostolate and not in formation – who find it as an effective means for what they are doing. But we always have to remember anything like that is always a means, and in the near future I can’t see myself effectively using this means.
I realize that many of us, as individual legionaries in formation, run into the same problem I do which I think needed some explanation. I could make one but it would be a bad reflection of me because I would update it so infrequently. Plus, unless a whole slew of people reading this site wanted to be my “friend” or “fan,” I don’t see a large group with whom I could communicate better via facebook.
I think you are right Brother Matthew. We must be careful not to become slaves of the technology ans,a lthough it’s tougher, I think we have to take the time to decide which means of communications are the most appropriate to oour respective missions. That being said, if Facebook is here ot stay, it will always be time for you open an account.
I would agree also with your decision Br. Mathew. Certainly when you list it out in order of priority it really does end up right at the bottom. I also like your comparison with a real location. Well done.
“Facebook isn’t evil”
I would beg to differ. First, I am a technology consultant so, I understand the argument of it’s value but, value does not equate to “good”. In fact, that argument is called Metcalf’s Law: for each additional node on a network the value of that network grows exponentially.
Gossip is evil. Vanity is evil. I would contend that is the primary purpose of Facebook. As my favorite Dominican nun says, “you can let your kids play on the interstate, and justify it because they are “having so much fun” but, that does not make it right”.
Perhaps it is because I am getting older. Perhaps I am finally getting the wisdom I was promised at Confirmation but, to me, technology seems to be a trap to draw us away from God, and other people.
The first progressive was Eve. Look how that turned out.
I think regarding evil, we have to look at evil in itself and evil uses of things. For instance, a pornography site is evil, a video game where the goal is robbing cars is evil, crack cocaine is evil simply because there is no possible good use for such things. Other things are not evil but can be used for evil: Someone could use a knife to cut thanksgiving turkey or to mug a stranger, I can use my computer to write articles for Catholic websites or send viruses to everyone.
I think we would both agree that Facebook can be evil in the second manner, and this was the manner I was saying it is not evil. The debate is regarding the first manner.
I am sure there is tons of gossipping on Facebook and I won’t consider myself knowledgeable enough to say if it is the “primary” use or what percentage it would be. What Facebook itself does is not gossip (or even directly encourage it) but connect people; it is the people themselves who chose to gossip. You can note a distinct difference here with Grand Theft Auto where the game itself is robbing cars – and more in later editions.
I have heard some tell me that for connecting young adult groups (parish youth groups or similar) it often serves as the best means to organize activities. Several alumni who did not continue from our minor seminary use it to stay in touch as they are spread across the country. My sisters use it to share their photos. These uses, if not abusive, clearly seem good.
Now, the question of giving it value by adding a node according to Metcalfe’s Law (I had to check the Wikipedia article I link myself) . You may note that the value is the actual connections not the theoretical connections, so if my actual connections are with other good Catholics, I am increasign the value of the “Cathlic Zone” of facebook (for lack of a better term) by a much greater percentage than I am increasing the overall value. (This judgement is not absolute but relative; the whole question of participation in evil would need a whole article not a paragraph.)
I hope that helps; if not let’s continue the conversation.