Facebook shut me down!
As many of my blog readers know, I post each blog article on two facebook pages. One is under my name, Abbot Tryphon, where facebook allows only 5,000 friends. The second one is an organizational page for the monastery, titled “All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Christian Monastery”, where there is no facebook enforced limit on the number of friends I can approve, since the latter only requires marking “like”.
On Monday morning (welcome to Holy Week), I discovered I’d been locked out of both my facebook pages, with the people at facebook citing their “need” to have proof of my legal name. Since I have not been addressed by my legal name since I was tonsured a monk more than thirty years ago, using my legal name now would mean nothing to my readers. All Ancient Faith Radio readers of my blog, as well as listeners of my podcasts, and the name on my published book, titled, “The Morning Offering”, seem to mean nothing to the people of facebook.
I have submitted photos of my passport, along with my fire department chaplaincy ID, which identifies me as “Father Tryphon”, with the hope that the people at facebook will restore my right to communicate with my facebook friends, which numbers well over 16,000 people. Meanwhile, I can not post my blog articles, or my daily photos, nor can I receive messages from my facebook friends. Furthermore, all messages that have been communicated to facebook friends have mysteriously disappeared, as though I never existed.
Please pray for a quick and just resolve of this impasse with the people of facebook. As well, if you could copy this message, and post it on your own facebook page, we could at least let my facebook friends know that I am still among the living.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Abbot Tryphon and Hammi.
Tuesday April 7, 2015 / March 25, 2015
Passion Week: Great Tuesday.
Great Lent. Food with Oil
The Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.
New Hieromartyr Tikhon, patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1925).
Venerable Sabbas the New (1948).
“Annunciation” (16th c.) Icon of the Mother of God.
Martyrs Pelagia, Theodosia, and Dula of Nicomedia, who suffered under Valentinian.
Venerable Parthenius of the Kiev Caves (1855).
St. Senuphius the Wonderworker of Latomos (9th c.).
St. Nicander of Pskov (1581).
Scripture Readings
Hebrews 2:11-18
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
“I will put My trust in Him.”
And again:
“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Luke 1:24-38
24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him,[b] she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Matthew 24:36-26:2
No One Knows the Day or Hour
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The Parable of the Talents
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him,[g] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
26 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
Bless, Father!
I’ve re-posted your blog entry as requested. I’ll do the same kind of thing for Fr John Whiteford, who’s been affected in the same way.
I thought about changing my Facebook name to “Reader John” but decided that would be pompous, since readers don’t usually go by their titles outside of church.
Please be assured that I along with many others are praying for you.
In XC,
(Reader) John Brady
Fr. Bless,
I looked up the “Dali Lama” on Facebook
I don’t think that he was born with that name
You might try using that as an example when you have discussions with Facebook
Kali Anastaci,
Matt Holm, PGA
It is true – the Dalai Lama is listed on Facebook, but his ‘real name’ is Lhamo Dondrub. He is not ‘Dalai Lama’ – but ‘A Dalai Lama’.
This is a good angle to take when addressing this issue.
Prayers with you Father. The absurdity of situations like this baffle me. Prayers for you and the brothers.
Oh no! Good strength, physical and spiritual!
I see that Andrew, Abbott of the St Gregory’s Episcopal Benedictine abbey at Three Rivers, Michigan, has two FB pages – one personal and one professional (so to speak) – but they both use his “legal” name, Andrew Marr.
https://www.facebook.com/andrew.marr.904?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-Marr/359275597487643?fref=ts
So maybe there’s no way around it. But he didn’t change his name, Andrew, when taking vows, so it might be less onerous for him.
Perhaps you could name your page, “Firstname Lastname (Abbott Tryphon)”. Your name would still come up in searches.
I have shared your post! How dare they! They don’t yet know whom they are dealing with – but they will!!!!
Love the picture of you and Hammi – can’t wait to meet you both in May.
Pamela
hello hegumen tryphon: your experience with facebook is why i fired linkidin and never used facebook, et al. i wish you God’s peace during great and holy week as you prepare to celebrate pascha and your medical appointment later this month. have a great day. pace e bene!
Amen dear Warmheart soul Abbot Tryphon and Hammi. Be blessed +
Isn’t modern technology great! Will pray for you. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly and without much difficulties.
Dearest Abbot Tryphon,
May Holy Week bring you much joy. Just a suggestion, let the folks at Facebook add your “legal” name in parenthesis on both pages as a subtitle. It will satisfy their legalistic requirement and keep your pages open for those of us who love reading them.
Much love,
+Stephen
Post it on other social media as well, Twitter, Google+, whatever you use.
Kind Servant of our Father, I am horrified by such clear ignorance and discrediting of your credentials. CHRISTians are under attack in the very nation created for religious freedom. Please do not accept this illegal action. No body including a religious one is to be discriminated against here. With every breath I take, I want to stand for Christ. I assure you, millions across all denominations stand with thee. A Quaker am I.
I think it means satan is afraid of how much good you are doing spiritually!
I will keep you in my prayers.
Fr. Tryphon,
You may find information in the following link to be helpful:
https://depts.washington.edu/qcenter/wordpress/trans/legal-name-change-in-wa-state/
Especially the part about “common law name change” and “affidavit of name change.”
Mother of God protect you ..
I hope I can help ..Mother of God save us +++
Dear Abbot,
Well the same thing happened to me. And as we speak Hieromonk Joshua of ROCOR’s Saint Cornelius Hermitage is locked out of all his facebook sites. So I have to assume its anti-Christian.
Fr. Michael
Strange indeed — So sorry to hear that Father Tryphon. Facebook’s zeal for legality seems in this scenario misplaced. I pray they come to understand your *real* name.
Are they just asking to see proof of your legal name or are they also demanding you change your Facebook alias to your legal name as well?
They are making individuals use only their legal names, unless you happen to be a drag queen. Then you can use your stage name!
This can’t help after an account is blocked, but there is a bit of a workaround under the topic ‘other names’ to include your ‘professional name’, that priests can use to at least get ‘Father’ onto their profile page:
What other names are allowed on Facebook?
Facebook requires everyone to provide their authentic names so you always know who you’re connecting with.
If you’d like your account to show another name you’re known by, you can add that name to your account. For example, you could add:
Your nickname
Your title or professional name
Your maiden name
Please remember that other names must follow the Facebook Community Standards, and they can’t contain:
Symbols, numbers, unusual capitalization, repeating characters or punctuation
Characters from multiple languages
Offensive or suggestive words of any kind
Learn how to add another name. do I add another name (ex: nickname, maiden name) to my profile?
If you’d like to list a name on your account that’s different from the name on your ID (ex: maiden name, nickname, professional name), you can add another name. To display another name:
Go to your profile and tap Update Info
Scroll down and tap Add a nickname, a birth name… below Other Names
Select the type of other name from the dropdown next to Name Type
Enter your other name
Check Show at top of profile to have your other name listed on your profile and tap Save
Learn more about our other name policies.
Note: If you don’t check the box to have your other name listed at the top of your profile, it will still be visible in the About section of your profile and in search results.
I know some priests have used this successfully. The instructions seem to be for mobile phone use (tap); if you use a computer, poke around till you find ‘details about you’
The Lord Is God.
I miss you and Father Paul dearly. Great pic with Hammy. I will pray for a quick resolution and at least it’s not Starbucks trying to say they own the word “Christmas” and stop you from selling your Christmas blend coffee.
Dear Father, I have posted this on facebook and tweeted to @michellemalkin, who helps many who have be censored by the fascist Left. Blessed Holy Week and Pascha to you!
We did a story on something similar: http://www.aleteia.org/en/society/article/call-no-man-your-father-especially-on-facebook-5829850556268544. Ironically, it was almost impossible to get a “live” person at Facebook to respond to a journalistic query. I wonder if there ARE any live people there.
A blessed Holy Week to you!
Abbot Tryphon,
Please bless!
I have a friend who’s dog is on facebook. I wonder if they’ve done the same to them. Oddly, when trying to go to the petition link you sent, gmail erased the message with the message, ‘This conversation no longer exists’. Is the petition finished?
Love in Christ,
Julia
A bunch of us have written to Facebook via the “Report a Problem” section they have in their Help section. I also noted that a friend of mine began calling himself “Imam” when this whole nonsense started six or eight weeks ago (he isn’t an imam), just to see if he would get shut down, and so far, he’s still posting. All of us who have written to Facebook have noted the discriminatory nature of their action, so it is to be hoped that they will reverse this idiotic policy of theirs. If not – is Orthodox Circles still viable? We may have to move over there.
I have been following this with other clergy. I find it infuriating that Facebook arrogantly values its policies over the natural claims of clergy of all faiths to go by their title. And I wonder what it would take to change this. It is hard for me to believe that Facebook will quickly and apologetically change its policy when it affected transgender people, but that it turns a deaf ear to the complaints of Christians.
On the other hand, maybe that’s not that unusual. Facebook is promoting a certain kind of community, and doesn’t seem entirely comfortable with believing, practicing Christians. Guess we’ll have to live with that.
PS: Love the cat! At least you’ve got good company during your time in exile.
I pray that this issue is resolved very quickly! I look forward to your daily inspirational readings. Bless you❤
Not only did I repost this article, I sent a message to FB itself on your behalf! Hope your access is restored soon.
There has to be a lawyer out there willing to help. Our Bishop Michael – also a monk for 30 years – went through the same thing and refuses to bend knee to Facebook’s rule. He reminded us that “a monk should never use his last (family) name. This reflects the Orthodox understanding of monasticism, in which the monastic dies to his former self and abandons all that identified him in the world”. Our Prayers are with you Father.
praying
That is so sad, Father!
Hi Father. I have reached out to you directly via email. I am hoping to help assist you with this issue you are experiencing.
God bless!
Dear Father and fellow Orthodox Christians,
I see this as a wonderful opportunity to remove ourselves from an ‘entity’ that obviously holds completely different values. Do we need to beg and spend precious time trying to persuade people, who have very obviously thought long and hard about what they are doing and why they are doing this ? Do we need to keep casting our pearls . . . . ? Is it time to start exercising a little more spiritual discernment as to where we invest ourselves ? Maybe some computer savvy people out there can start some kind of alternative for us, maybe we should all spread the word and follow our dear Fathers’ and Mothers’ blogs, writings etc elsewhere . .
May we all be blessed throughout Holy Week as we journey towards Holy Pascha.
I agree with your sentiment, however, facebook is THE major way people around the world communicate with one another. I have over 16,000 facebook “friends”, most of whom are Orthodox. I do not want to bow the knee to the powers that be, and disconnect with all these wonderful souls.
As stated by someone in another comment, the solution lies in having your birth name as the account name and display a nickname on your profile page. I believe that this is a commonly used workaround. It would have been nice if Facebook pointed this out to you instead of taking down your account. I can understand why they want people to register with their real names. That is for accountability reasons. However, the way that they go about this is not the best way to treat ones clients.
But for some reason drag queens are not told to use this work around. They are allowed to use stage names without any connection to their legal names.
When I first noticed Abbot Tryphon not on my news feed, or friends’ list, I nearly panicked. I draw from his words as if from a well spring of pure water and need his spiritual teachings. I had no idea what had happened except he disappeared. Now I know why and I consider this discrimination. I have a family member who uses Yosemite River Rat and he is up and posting… legal name? I surely don’t think so!
Father bless, I unfortunately had this very same thing happen when I used “Juliana [Last Name]” with Facebook. Someone local knew I wasn’t using my legal name (bickered with me about it in a PM) and I’m guessing that he reported me. I lost everything (not that it was much, but photos and all). I tried to explain through their contact links for this issue that Juliana was my baptized name and that it’s what people call me, all for naught. I even faxed my DL as they requested to try and get that account reinstated with my legal name, but that didn’t happen either. I do hope you have better success than I did (Lord have mercy). If you do get reinstated with your legal name, you can put “Abbott Tryphon” in as your “nickname” and it will appear as Juliana does on my profile page (under my legal name).
What is Facebook claiming It’s policies are broken and why did they shut you down?
Abbot Tryphon IS your legal name, father. Fb needs to understand just that. We are supporting the Change.org on the matter.
Greetings, Abbot
After using “Abbot Tryphon” as your name for 30+ years, I believe that enables you to use this as your legal name by common law in Washington. You may want to double check the specifics, but most states continue to recognize a person’s right at common law to change names through use and passage of time, without resort to judicial procedure.
More info can be found here: http://sites.lawhelp.org/documents/1488013400EN.pdf?stateabbrev=/WA/
Best of luck!
You see what turmoil Satan has throw us into. From a year ago when the USEOCAPITAL letters meant somehowt hat one ws shouting to this powerful control. Let us make ou own Facebook -PROSOPIKON- surely we have brains enough to do this, Drive the Zuckerbergs into the universities from when they came!
DESTROY THE ZUCKERBERG ARROGANCE! We don’t need lawyers. We need our our PROSOPIKON. Your16000, my 500 and the rest. WHO knows how to do this?
Master Bless,
I have called FB’s corporate line and left a voice message outlining the problem and asking them to open a dialogue with Orthodox clergy about this. I spoke humbly as a layperson who is being affected by their poor decisions here. I did mention in my message that it would be a shame for this to have to hit the press and become a public conversation. To that end if there is not a resolution or contact from them soon, I may take it upon myself to reach out to members of the press in my city (and perhaps at a larger level) to bring some light onto this situation.
Media attention may indeed lead to the only resolve of this dispute.
I do not believe that this is actually discrimination. First the confirmation of legal name is probably to ensure security and safety on Facebook, particularly with people with such a wide reach. Second, the name on Facebook is not intended to have titles of any kind. If you go to “Settings” on the top right, edit next to your name on that page, “Add other names” next to “Other Names” in the expanded portion, “+Add a nickname, birth name” on that page, select “Name With Title” next to “Name Type”, enter the name and select “Show at Top of Profile”. This allows you to have a name other then your legal name on your profile and one that has a title.
The fact that thus happened during Holy Week is no small thing. So far I have only heard of Christian sites being shut down. Does anyone know if this us so? This happening the same week as the tragic murders of the Christian college students should be a wake up call for all of us. If they don’t fix this I’m done with Facebook. My policy is to never do business with any business that has unfair policies. Period.
Dear Father,
In 2010 I had set up a Facebook page for the ficional character, Frankenstien. it was a final project for a grade in my literature college class. The page was as if Frankenstein was real and lived in FL. I had the caracter post comments and picture on his life from the story. The character even has Facebook friends. I never deactivated the account, so it still exists today. Please check it out and feel to use it as an exaple in your Facebook case. It is under Frank Stein.
P.S. I love reading your morning offerings as soon as I wake.
In love and light, Kathleen
Dear Abbot Tryphon,
I’m an Orthodox Christian and Facebook employee and want to see if there’s anything I can push forward. How can I contact you please?
With best regards,
Gabriel
Gabriel, you may contact me through my email address: frtryphon@vashonmonks.com
Hello,
I am sorry that Facebook’s new name policy has affected you, its really a terribly silly and inconsiderate policy. I would like to suggest that in between now and when they (hopefully) remove the policy, you add an additional name. You do this by going under the “About” on your page, then “Details about you” and then clicking “add additional name.” After this you should check the box that says “display on profile” and this should display your “Abbot” title beside your name. I don’t think Facebook has anything against you using the name Tryphon so it should work for now.
Father, bless:
After reading your account of being banned from Facebook, I posted a link to this blog before I permanently deleted my account. My son permanently deleted his account too as a result of your situation. I was an admin to two other pages so I set up a blank dummy account and made my new account the admin before deleting my old account. (If someone else was made an admin of your monastery’s page before your account was closed, they could still keep it open. Both of my group and organizational pages have back up admins.)
My son and I have been frustrated with Facebook’s ever changing privacy policies and their lack of notification. They want more and more of our private information and we have already been frustrated and have closed our accounts but later opened new ones out of peer pressure as that is where not only our friends but our families communicate. However, your situation was the final straw. I posted a link to this blog posting to my group page, letting them know I do not want friend requests as I only have the dummy account to admin my pages and I cannot, in good conscience, use Facebook anymore. I feel this is an attack on certain members of the clergy. Besides, why couldn’t you have the first name of “Abbot”? You mean there are no men on the planet with Abbot as a first name? Really? And for them to take down your monastery’s account because you are the admin is poor business as you were not given enough notice to make someone else an admin in order to keep the account open.
I agree with Carol, I do not see the wisdom in pushing to be a part of an organization whose agenda is not compatible with Christianity. I understand all the Orthodox who use Facebook as a way to connect and the peer pressure to use Facebook as most people don’t fool with any other social network (this is why I grudgingly deleted my MySpace account and moved to Facebook). I have also seen Facebook as a mission field as many of my friends on there are agnostic, atheistic, and some are homosexual. I used my personal page as a platform to share the Gospel and God’s faithfulness in my life. It has been stressful as I began to find myself having to audit everything I posted out of wanting to avoid unnecessary confrontations. I don’t feel that I truly have the freedom to express my thoughts on Facebook so even thinking I have my page as my own platform isn’t truly based in reality.
I understand your wanting to fight this but I have to say, I am relieved that I am no longer a part of Facebook (other than to continue my duties). If people truly care about me, they will contact me through a safer venue such as email or phone.
This video has haunted me since I first saw it. We are communicating less even though we have the avenue to network with more people through Facebook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu-_V02if_k
I have 2 FB pages – what the ????? is going on here – get a grip FB – you allow trash on many pages – this is too silly for even you!
Fr. Tryphon,
I am a Lutheran Christian stumbling toward Orthodoxy–and I have run into opposition posting links to Orthodox sites on FB. I am alerting other Christians to this issue–and praying for you.
Timothy Furnish
me, too!
Yes Bishop My Husband is Anglican Catholic Church Ordained Minister with A visiting so we beg that we join in The your Ministry in Jesus Name by The Lord’s Mercies
No problem but its health to be published