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faith, humor, insanitybytes22, internet culture, life, rants
There is something I must unburden myself over, this pet peeve of mine that has me twisting my hair into a little knot and fighting a twitch. This thing where some people seem to believe that if you click “like” on a post, you are fully endorsing everything that person has ever done, written, or believes, past, present, and future. God is watching too, and your very salvation depends on it.
He’s sitting above us with this giant score board going, yep, I think I’ll save that one, she clicks “like” on all the right things. Clearly she demonstrates her vast Christian superiority and is worthy of my redemption and protection. Unlike that other fool over there who clicks “like” on all the wrong things.
I am sorry to say, but I don’t think salvation works like that. There really is no such thing as “salvation by internet likes.” In fact, (gasp,) I’d call that really bad doctrine and flawed theology.
It is nearly as repulsive to me as that other bit of intertoobz Christianity where it says,“click like on this post and forward it to five friends and God will bless you.” Or the less pleasant version, “click like and share this post or God will drop a house on your flying monkeys.”
Don’t throw stones at me people, flying monkeys is just a reference to the Wizard of Oz which does have a couple of witches in it, but that does not necessarily indicate I have a fondness for witchcraft! The truth is, I’m rather disapproving of the ritualistic mouse clicking, as if you can somehow conjure up and manipulate the supernatural by performing all the right internet tasks in the proper order from behind the safety of your keyboard. Get that recipe right and God will love you. Fail and He will condemn you.
That’s just dumb. Rid your world of that rubbish.
I click “like” on many things. Sometimes I even interact with people who are shady at best. Gasp! I’ve even been known to sit down and chat with tax collectors, pharisees, prostitutes, and pornographers. (The tax collectors are still the worst through. I hate those people.)
God already knows all about it. He knows exactly what “she is like.” I talk to Him often.
haha, those Facebook chain letters that make you type “amen” if you agree always get me… but based on the amount of people who type “amen”… maybe I’m missing something. I have friends who do it, and I still talk to them, lol. Love a good Wizard of Oz reference as well!
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Amen! LOL, yes I still talk to those liking likers, too.
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I never let myself be prodded into typing “amen” or any of the rest of that stuff – but I’ve never won the Publishing House Sweepstakes either. Do you suppose I should try it? Naw, you would probably go for the same pot. You may have tallied up more “amen” and shares. By the way, I get a real kick out of people who buy ten or twenty lottery tickets just in case the Lord want to bless them. Poor God, I guess he can’t find just one in that batch, so it gives him a better chance to bless if he has ten or twenty! People are funny. 😀
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Ha! The not-so-dirty little secret about the like button is, it’s not there for us, as a convenient way to show our appreciation…it’s there because the programmers use our “likes” as a way to aggregate what’s not and what’s not. That information is then used to shape what gets “pushed’, in the media. I’m not explaining it well, but suffice it to say that there are people out there who are paid to analyze our how our “likes, are trending and that information is then used to try to manipulate us in one way or another.
You may have noticed that I seldom “like” posts and that I prefer to leave a comment. Comments don’t get aggregated.
I know manipulation by the media is practically inevitable in this age, but I’ll be darned if I help them with it!
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It’s a bit creepy isn’t it? All this manipulation and social engineering going on. They really do collect data from comments too. I was on facebook a while back speaking of needing a tropical vacation and suddenly this advertising popped up offering me exactly that.
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Well I guess it was just a matter of time before they started scraping the comments too…
It is very creepy.
Netflix knows what I like to watch on tv.
Facebook knows when I need a vacation.
WordPress suggests posts I might be interested in reading
How do all these faceless entities know me so darn well??
Oh that’s right…I TELL them every time I click on a link. Virtual Big Brother is always watching. They just don’t tell us up front. Which begs the question, what else aren’t we being told?
Today, it is virtually impossible to use the internet and NOT leave some kind of trace that will be analyzed by somebody, somewhere. Information is CURRENCY. They don’t just give it away for free, and there is always somebody who is willing to pay for it and then turn around use it for profit.
And because we love our internet so much, we essentially volunteer to give somebody information every time we log on! Even when we know what’s going on behind the scenes it’s not enough to keep us off the internet.
*shudder* See how insidious it is? Nobody has to trample all over our privacy rights to get access to our information. All they have to do is give us “bread and circuses” and we willingly hand over our information to them.
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I hear you. Sometimes I like to mess with them, do something unexpected and throw their profiling off base.
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I am a chronic liker. There…..I confess. I am sure my liking has led many on that long black train, too.
Sometimes, it’s just a “hey how ya doing? I dropped by and just saying hi!”
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LOL! I used to write my name on walls. Sometimes I’d even say something like, “God loves you.” What do they call that, “evandalism” or something? 🙂
My point being, I am reformed now! I just say hello by clicking “like.” Much less damaging to property.
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Evandalism. *snort*
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I mostly click when I like something, but not clicking doesn’t mean I don’t like it. On the other hand, sometimes I click to say, I read what your response to what I wrote. They need more options. 😉
Becky
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Me, too! That button is my way of saying, “I am here, I stopped in”.
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Exactly. If I read I most likely hit like. Sometimes if I just flat out can’t get on board with something I won’t. I have one blogging friend who gets a bit overly profane at times and sometimes I don’t like those lol.
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I almost hesitated clicking the like button for fear of being a hypocrite. LOL
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LOL!
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Still hurting, eh? Did Spaniard apologise or attempt to engage you in a friendly Christian discussion like the Bible instruction book suggests?
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Alas, I’m afraid not. Men apparently have some issues around reading the instructions or asking for directions. Go figure.
But actually the two people currently carrying on about the shamefulness of my “likes,” are women.
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Hi violet,
For what it’s worth, and in the interest of fairness, you also have contributed to the maligning of the host here, by putting forth something that you found distasteful, to point out someone else’s work which you find equally distasteful. (God in general, and ib’s defense of scripture in particular) The ensuing comment thread was proof enough.
Strange confederacy by you to say the least. You have to confess your own hypocrisy in trying to keep fires a flame to somehow find fault with God’s word. There is no fault with either God or His word. None. Never. No way. Now how.
You would have better luck chastising a rainbow, and that ain’t happenin any time soon.
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Thanks, Colorstorm, always much appreciated. God’s word is flawless, I’ll second that! Alas,if you find something wrong with it, the error is not going to be on His end. Harsh but true.
Something I was thinking as I was reading your comment, in faith when we bump into someone’s offense and hostility don’t we tend to go, bummer, the guy seems to be suffering? Maybe I’ll pray he finds peace? Well, we’re all human so sometimes we yell at them too, or give them a swift kick, but for the most part we perceive them as just one more reason why we all need a Savior.
Flip over to the atheist side of things and instead we have, “See, I told you there was no God! This is evidence the world is horrible place, mercy does not exist, and all men are evil! Yep, we’re all just meaningless bits of biological goo that sprung forth from nothingness!” Or something along those lines.
Call me crazy but I’ll take mercy and grace for 500, Alex Trebek. Heck, let’s just go for the daily double 🙂
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I was intrigued that someone could be so angry about Insanity’s quite good (relatively) post. And let’s face it, the reaction wasn’t following the Christian instruction book. But I can’t deny I was looking at it from several angles simultaneously.
And no fault with your Bible if you like beating up slaves, physically abusing children and killing gay people. 🙂
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Try to stay focused V.
Since the Old Testament law was not written to you, do pray tell, and point out if you can, WHERE in Christianity, through the revelation of the grace of God, as explained in the New Testament, is anybody, EVER, commanded to:
1. beat a slave
2. abuse children
3. kill a gay person.
My point stands without contradiction. There are no defects in God’s word.
You brought the charge. Now prove it. (Careful with such a sharp object as God’s word)
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So the Old Testament isn’t your god’s law? Or your god’s law is subject to whim and change?
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Stop it Violet. He is God, not a ‘god,’ one of many.
He has no competitors, and let me say for the hundreth time, collectively all the false gods cannot tie their shoes or count to three.
You brought the charge against believers, and I’m here to tell you that Christians get their orders from the New Testament.
But if you want further insight into WHY the law was given, I suggest you read the works of that effulgent scholar Saul of Tarsus, then Paul the apostle, who can answer every question you can dream of.
Galatians, Romans, Hebrews for starters. By the way, his epistles are proof that there is a God in heaven.
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Ah okay, so God, your god, changed its mind about what was ‘good’ and ‘bad’ between the Old and New Testament. Do you personally order women to keep silent in churches or do you leave that to your pastor?
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If you were in my office and on the couch, I would simply ask you: ‘what’s eating gilbert grape?’
I would want to know the root of your matter V. You ask a thousand irrelevant questions, and ignore ten thousand pertinent answers already given, which in turn explain perfectly the thousand questions.
In the beginning, God…………..
Start there, and remember all was very good.
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Violet, I missed what instigated this exchange, but you’ve brought up questions about the Bible which I see frequently. It is important, if someone actually wants to understand Christians, to know that the Law written in the Old Testament was given specifically to the Jewish nation which was to operate with God as its head. Thus, they had religious laws that their civil government was to enforce.
You can find fault with those as you please, but they do not translate to what a Christian is supposed to do today—not the way most atheists say (“you don’t really believe your bible because you don’t do what it says; or else you don’t read it and don’t know you’re supposed to stone adulteresses.”)
You also brought up the statement in the New Testament about women and our role in the church. Because you read IB’s blog, at least on some occasions, I think you should know that there are lots of us women who are comfortable with the role that doesn’t put us up front delivering sermons. It doesn’t make us second class or less spiritual or undeserving of God’s love. It doesn’t deny us opportunity to serve God and work for His kingdom. It’s just different. There’s no shame in doing something that’s different from what someone else does.
The real issue is, are you willing to do what God tells you? Some people say, Nope. Not willing. He asks too much. I get that. In fact, He asks everything. My life is His. I’ve been bought with a price. I aspire to do whatever He tells me to do. And I’m not worried that He’ll ask me to run onto the freeway and play Hide-n-See or something foolish and dangerous, because He loves me and He is good. I can trust Him.
So the woman role business is, to me, noise. It masks the real issue—do you trust God?
Becky
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Even Christians are fun to talk to sometimes 🙂 Communication is so key isn’t it? It would be so nice if everyone would try to understand each other better.
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I’m thinking, perhaps if we could just learn how to paint some pictures on a cave wall…..
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Heaven forbid that you copy and paste instead of sharing, or that you share instead of copying and pasting. And what if you send the meme to nine friends instead of ten? Seriously, even when I like whatever those things say, I refuse to pass them along because of that line at the bottom!
Becky
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IB just to blow up your inbox i just liked every comment on here even my own an violets
😆
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I am blowing up her inbox today, too, but mostly because of playing catch-up. Though, I like your style! 😀 😀
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😆
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Lol … Another … ‘nail on the head’ post insanitybytes that so expresses my exact thoughts and gives me a giggle Thank you …
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You’re welcome 🙂
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“Don’t throw stones at me people, flying monkeys is just a reference to the Wizard of Oz which does have a couple of witches in it, but that does not necessarily indicate I have a fondness for witchcraft!”
Ha! A friend of mine had someone tell him not to go to the new “Beauty and the Beast” movie because it promotes bestiality. The funny and sad thing is, that person was serious. What a strange world we live in.
Great post. I “liked” it! 🙂
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This brings to mind the concept of fasting, especially as it’s Lent. One thing Jesus laid down is that fasting, while important, isn’t a way to go to heaven. You don’t achieve paradise/union with God via something as ritualistic and ultimately meaningless as what you eat (as long as it’s not human flesh, I mean), the same way liking X amount of posts or forwarding X amount of emails is ultimately meaningless with regards to the final disposition of your immortal soul.
Just thinking out loud here..:
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Well said. Fasting is a great analogy.
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As you can see, I am playing some major catch-up with you today hence the serial commenting. Thank you for venting your pet-peeve! I have actually been scolded for hitting that “like” button because it belonged to a tax collector or some other such company. Apparently, to some, it is blasphemous and quite scandalous to do so. I also caught wind that it is controversial for some to give a “like” to someone who already gets plenty of “likes”. The internet is a very strange and fickle place.
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Yeah I really dislike the “if you really love god send this to 6 friends” etc just ridiculous. God is not condemning people for not sending an internet meme!
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