As I sit here writing this article, I am torn between having some fun with it and with trying to make a real argument about the relationship of facebook and God. Guess which one wins out? You got it- fun. I just can’t seem to go down the serious path at this point, especially when I asked for a prompt and I got one that is a challenge. So, here we go.

The all-powerful facebook is a lot like God. I can’t believe I just said that, but it’s out there now. Yep, you heard me, this all knowing and all-powerful presence has a lot of the same qualities that cause us to have a conscience about the relationships we nurture and our overall behavior in life. Think about it.

What ever happened to those “friends for life” since graduation day? Without facebook, the whole idea behind school reunions would surely dwindle to a thing of the past. I’ll tell you what, for my 20th high school reunion- I was at a loss. There were so many people I didn’t remember and I couldn’t for the life of me find my old yearbook to use as a refresher. I sure could have used some visuals of my classmates prior to! Sure we had a good turnout, but I can just imagine who would have shown up if facebook was a little more mature back then. Nowadays, if you can find one graduate you can probably find almost the whole class- if you want to. Not that I want to, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is kind of nice to be able to reconnect with some of them. So as years go on, I anticipate a growth in reunion participation overall and old friends connecting.

And how about the good old family conscience? Facebook sure has a cornerstone on that market too. Just consider how many funerals have you gone to only to say something like; “we ought to get together more often. The only time we see each other is at funerals.” Then life happens and more years pass by. On top of that, there are those times in your life when families are young, financial hardships have a grip on you, and business is overwhelming. With nothing all that positive to say, you withdraw into your life and hope that no one really misses you or even notices you are gone. This defense mechanism of hiding so we don’t have to explain ourselves is well, a bit harder with facebook. Once one of the brothers or sisters get online, then the nieces and nephews and of course the parents who are computer literate…your circle of family has just grown exponentially whether you like it or not. Your anonymity has officially disappeared. The good news is that your family support system is now stronger than ever and they are there to pick you up when you are down. The bad news is that they can easily find you no matter what is happening in your life.

Last but not least, there are the images to be shared. You can post photos of yourself and your family, of your friends and colleagues. This is a nice way to make that instant connection with others without having to do anything in person. Sometimes that is good and sometimes it is bad, and sometimes it is a little of both. It is good when you live far away from one another and want to see the growth of a child. The bad news is knowing that others can post images of you or tag images of you on their site and you are quickly reminded of the things you have done in life. Obviously there will be appropriate and fairly inappropriate ones. In either case, there is the omnipotent facebook that has been put into cyberspace to remind us of our sins and of our triumphs. Facebook really is a lot like God in that respect.

I’ll tell you what, if you think God will punish you for the things you have done, just think what will happen when your almighty facebook “friends” decide to show off images of you at that last party. You think about that! Now, get to praying that you don’t find out something about your kids that you would rather not know. (That’s what I am afraid of).

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