Delete, Defriend, and Move On

Close

Consider this a Facebook-focused followup to the Chick-fil-A dust-up earlier this week. A friend wrote saying that she was struggling with certain very unkind things that were posted on her Facebook page. Someone actually put a note on her Facebook page saying that she could take her business elsewhere because he didn’t want to do business with bigots. Here is part of what she wrote to me:

I’ve gotten hate mail like you wouldn’t believe. It’s getting pretty bad. I stand on the Word of God and that won’t change. However, I’m very weak when it comes to attacks and have been under my quilt for two days ( except for going to Chick Fil A yesterday and posting pictures).. please keep me in your prayers.

Here is my answer back to her. Make of it what you will:

I checked your page and saw where the guy called you a homophobe and said you should take your business elsewhere. Here’s my recommendation. Delete that comment. No reason to leave it on your page where others can see it. Defriend that person also. Then block him from your page. No one who talks like that is truly your friend.

I’ve been tough on this lately, and I have over 4900 FB friends and hundreds of others who come to my page. I view my page as an extension of my home. If someone swears or uses ugly language or is offensive in any way, I delete their comment, defriend, and then block them so they can’t come back to my page. No questions asked, no right of appeal. Now even with all those thousands of people, I’ve done that less than ten times in three years. So it’s rare. But I police my own page. Why should I let anyone just post any sort of vile thing on my wall? I won’t let it happen. You shouldn’t either.

No need to stay under the quilt about this. The Chick-fil-A kerfuffle is just a minor skirmish in the war that rages all around us. We’re all going to have to get tougher in the days to come. If foolish people call us vile names, we don’t need to answer back. Delete them from your FB and move on. We don’t need to get angry, but we don’t need the aggravation either. Hope this helps. Praying that you’ll find peace and strength in the Lord. The more we stand up for what we believe, the tougher it gets. Be blessed and stay strong. Ray

So I now ask my readers . . . what do you think about my answer?