How about instead of pointlessly posting articles and sharing our raging beliefs on controversial topics (because let's face it, how many people who disagree with you on a topic like Bruce Jenner, have you actually gotten to agree with you over Facebook?...most attempts tend to cause the opposite), let's let Facebook be what it should be, a social network.
Facebook should not be a battlefield for us to wage war with our "friends" on every controversial topic that comes up.
Facebook shouldn't be a soapbox for you to stand on and share advice on how you think people should be living 5 times a day.
It should be a place for friends and family to stay in touch with each other's lives.
If you wanna convert people, get off Facebook and go out into the world and talk to people face to face, heart to heart. And once you actually have fruitful discussions with people, come back to Facebook and share your awesome stories!!!
If you wanna preach...become a priest! There's always a need for more priests!
If you wanna tell people what to do all day long, become a teacher....I'm just kidding...DONT!!! Please don't ever become a teacher if you're doing it so you can raise people with your own ideals and create a little army. No...good teachers are people who give their lives to helping kids grow up to be strong independent well educated adults.
If you wanna coach people on their life, become a life coach! Damn I'm good at this!!! I could go on for days!!!
But if you wanna be my friend, BY ALL MEANS BE MY FRIEND AND STOP WAGING A MORALITY WAR AGAINT ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK. That's how you lose friends!
By all this I do not mean to say don't share good things on Facebook, or don't stand up for what you believe in. And I'm certainly not saying don't be yourself or hide your true self from Facebook. I'm saying please just remember what Facebook is, it's not a courtyard in Spain where you can start having friendly discussions with nice old men and women on topics you completely disagree on.
You can still share things dear to your heart, and you can still evangelize. On Facebook there tend to be 2 types of "evangelizing". 1) Sharing what you believe to prove others that they are wrong and you are right. 2) Sharing something encouraging, something loving that might bring clarity, truth, joy, hope, or peace to people in a way that they need. Something that will encourage people to grow, to find truth and wholeness. I've had incredible conversations with people of other faiths, and we completely disagreed on everything, but we discussed many conflicting topics, explained our beliefs, and came to understand each other more. And we're great friends to this day! Just because someone is not willing to convert and believe what you believe, doesn't meant you shouldn't be willing to love them. And dear Facebook, love is not a feeling, it's not butterflies in your stomach. For example, laying down your life for someone else is the greatest act of love...I'm pretty certain there are no butterflies involved in that act. Love is a responsibility to do what is best for another before yourself. For us Catholics, love is doing all we can to help get people to heaven...its living as Christ lived.
If you saw a middle school kid on the street about to get hit by a bus, would you jump to push them out of the way? I bet you would, and you would do it without asking them about their faith, or their sexual orientation, or what they think about Bruce Jenner. You would do it because there's something deep inside of you that, in that moment, realized that love is greater than all those controversies. So if you can picture yourself actually jumping to save that kid and probably losing your life in the process...then why can't you picture simply being friends with them? Just food for thought.
Let's bring love back to Facebook, and far more importantly, let's keep bringing love to our friends and families.
In conclusion:
You should always stand up for what you believe in. Just don't jump up and down screaming obnoxiously about all your beliefs just so people actually notice that you're "standing" up for what you believe....and if you can't help yourself...don't get on Facebook.
