Two Facebook posts I feel passionately about as we navigate Coronavirus

The hysteria has to stop. We have allowed an illness, about as serious as the flu, to dominate our lives. Shortages at stores, stock market falling, cancelling Masses. No! Be prudent, sure, maybe we quit shaking hands and all do better with personal hygiene but we should not take the Mass away from God’s people. And we should be praying, a lot, and fasting and offering acts of reparations to fight back against this illness and the resulting hysteria.
Be smart, be prudent, use common sense and be not afraid!




As a Deacon at Mass I almost always distribute the cup. On occasion I distribute the sacred host. Lately that has changed with the suspension of cups due to flu and corona virus fears. You have heard across the Catholic world that many places are asking the faithful to not receive on the tongue claiming that receiving on the hand is safer. To that I ask WHAT?
Yesterday I inadvertently touched the mouth or tongue of two communicants. Yesterday I touched some part of the hand every time the communicant offered hands for reception. 100%.
If communicants want to receive on the tongue I recommend that they be given an option and place to kneel. Communion on the tongue was meant to be received kneeling!
Finally, I am very cautious these days and make sure my hands are cleaned both before and after distributing communion. I trust all receiving are taking strong precautions with health and sanitary issues.
God bless us all and pray more, fast more, beg God’s help and mercy.

Nope, I do not go "dark" for Lent on social media

As Lent approaches every year I watch as friend after friend announces they are going dark for Lent on FB, Twitter, and more.  I shudder.  Now I must admit that if it is a must do for one's own spiritual journey in Lent, I can't argue.  I shudder though because the last thing we need is to withdraw from the public witness of our faith.  Again, I get the personal side of this, but many of you post enriching things that helps a brother Catholic along the way.  I shudder at the garbage, already on social media, as it dominates while many of us go on retreat.

No such going dark for me.  I love my updates; saints of the day, feast day, what's happening with the Pope and Church Universal, or the local Archdiocese, or all things related to the Deacon.  I will probably post homilies, mission updates and so much more.

So see y'all on FB, Twitter and this very blog as we look forward to all the wonderful blessings and special graces of Lent, 2020!

A change of direction

Tonight I've decided to pull back, for now, on blogging on this site.  I will instead rely on my FB page for abitadeacon and twitter feed to post what I want to post.  I will still fiddle with the blog only because as quickly as this weekend's assault began I know it could repair itself just as quickly.  But the fact that only 800 clicks registered this weekend compared to a normal weekend of 22-2500, well, it's deflating.

Just hang with me and if you don't follow me on FB I have a personal page under Mike Talbot and a specialty page under abitadeacon.  On Twitter I can be found@ abitadeacon.

Thanks and God Bless!

Humbly, can I implore us to knock it off? It must be said!

It's time to knock it off.  And what I am about to ask you to consider, I'm sure I am guilty of in some way, shape or form.  We have turned into a very nasty nation, cowardly and nasty.  Many hide behind the written word on places like Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs and other forms of social media to just be downright nasty.  As I say often, it's easy for us to spread a lot more heat than it is to spread light.  Specifically, we populate social media with our partisan take on things, believe it all to be true because it fits the world according to me, then we destroy those who disagree with us and we post and repost more and more articles and posts that prove me right(?).  And we do all of this behind the false bravado and even more false sense of anonymity of social media; by the way, you just ain't all that anonymous and you ain't that bold.

The level of uncalled for and even unseemly discourse is intense.  Now this is not the only generation with intense and nasty discourse but it just feels incredibly out of control.  Watch a full hour in the evening of Fox News, or MSNBC, or read a politically based blog, or read what your friends list puts on Facebook or, even more sadly, read a tweet from your President, or his staunchest haters, or what drips from the lips of a Maxine Waters, you get the point.  Hell, listen to the conversation at the family dinner table.  How about this, go attend an after mass or church service social event and see if the discussion is on Matthew 25, or the Beatitudes, or the examples of a Mother Teresa or Pope JPII(both incredible Saints by the way).  And yes, we have had some salty Saints too, like St. Jerome, but I hope you get my drift.

With the incredible access of social media, and non-stop news stations and cable and satellite and non-stop talk radio why can't we find the incredibly uplifting, life-affirming stories, examples of generosity and kindness and highlight all of them?  Why not?  Well, they say it won't sell; then shame on us.

Let me come very clean; I know in some times of pressure and stress I can be unpleasant.  I can be and have been hurtful and irresponsible and wild with words.  To me, this is always regrettable.  I know this has happened to me twice in the last 30 days.  I am so thankful for forgiveness from those I hurt and the forgiveness tangibly experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  But what I am talking about tonight is how we take these personal experiences and really run with it under the cover of something that did not even exist 15-20 years ago.  We cling to it and stoke it instead of letting the heat of the fire just go out.  Let it go out for God's sake.

In 2018 YTD, we have had 154 mass shootings as documented by businessinsider.com.  There have been over 7500 deaths in 2018 YTD from gunfire alone.  At the core of each and everyone of these events is hatred in the heart, perhaps, and I want to stress perhaps, from the toxic, over-the-top, fiery human temperature that, as said earlier, seeks not to shed light(offering solutions, forgiveness, kindness and understanding) but pouring gasoline on the heat(meant to hurt, wound, rip apart, destroy, crush).

God made man in His own image to have relationship with us; for us to live in peace, but he also gave us free will and did not stop the evil one from being in the picture.  Man had a choice, they failed and next thing you know, Cain is murdering Abel.  Sadly, evil has manifested itself ever since, yet still with the grace and help of God, we can master it.  We have to choose.  And all too often, we fail to choose wisely.  Jesus, when He came to walk among us, showed us time and time again how to act, to forgive, to love, to worship.  Yes, even Jesus lost his temper once, but we know that His anger was altogether righteous.  At the cross, Jesus demonstrated the depths of His Love, as He stretched out His arms between heaven and earth for the love of us.  Even the thief, known as Dismas, from his own cross, knew and then asked and received Jesus' incredible mercy; His forgiveness and love.  And each of us wants the reward of Dismas, to be with Jesus in Paradise.  Yet we have His plan, His example of how to live and love on this side of Heaven and it just ain't a lot of what is evidenced today.

I am going to quote again that powerful line from the TV show ER, several years old now from a dying dad to a teenage daughter; his last words of wisdom: be generous!  be generous with your time, with your love with your life.  Generosity of words and actions is what we are called to be and do in this time of incendiary discourse and political partisanship and all out fighting.

No one or anything can keep us from the love of God, Scripture tells us.  I pray that includes Facebook, and blogs, and social media, and our politics or a man, powerful by position he/she may be, or our own attitudes, selfishness and words.

Jesus made it simple: love one another.  Love God above all, love your neighbor as yourself, realize who our neighbor really is and flood the world, one life at a time if necessary, with kindness and love as we learn to be generous; yes, with our time, love and life.

I like to think of that song close to the end of Les Miserables: to love another person is to see the face of God!  I want to see the face of God and I pray we all do too!

So tonight can we collectively just knock it off?  In the end, it really ain't that important.

Maybe tonight we can pray with Matthew 25?  Give it a try.

Peace++

Bill Donohue addresses the question of Facebook hating Catholics

Bill Donohue: Does Facebook Hate Catholics?

By Bill Donohue | April 12, 2018 | 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckeberg testifies before Congress. (Screenshot)

When Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committee on April 10, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11, he was asked to comment on some of his company's decisions on Catholic submissions.

Sen. Ted Cruz informed Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg that his company "has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages," noting they were prevented from posting on Facebook because "their content and brand were, quote, 'unsafe to the community.'" None of the pages came even close to constituting hate speech.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers grilled Zuckerberg about an ad that was initially blocked by Facebook because it featured Jesus on the Cross. The ad was submitted by Franciscan University of Steubenville as a theology degree advertisement. Facebook deemed it to be "excessively violent" and "sensational." Crucifixions usually are.

The company later apologized. The congresswoman from Washington wasn't convinced. "Could you tell [us] what was so shocking, sensational or excessively violent about the ad to cause it to be initially censored?" "It sounds like we made a mistake there," Zuckerberg replied.

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Not mentioned in the hearings was an incident that took place between last Thanksgiving and Christmas. A Catholic vocational organization, Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations, had its ads unduly held up for a bogus reason. Facebook told the organization that its content potentially violated Facebook's policy on discrimination for housing ads. But the ad had absolutely nothing to do with housing. By the time the ad was permitted, it was too late to matter, the effect of which was to kill the fundraising effort.

A thorough search of the two-day testimony reveals that there were no examples of Jewish or Muslim groups having their ads blocked. Moreover, no examples of anti-Semitism were mentioned. There were two references to anti-Muslim posts.

An Internet search of Facebook complaints made by Jews and Muslims turned up a few instances of alleged bias against both groups. But instances where Jewish and Muslim pages were blocked, save for clear examples of hate speech, are virtually non-existent.

What gives? Why the singling out of Catholics for censorship?
When Sen. Cruz pressed Zuckerberg about blocking some two dozen Catholic pages, the Facebook co-founder replied that he tries to make sure "we don’t have any bias," but conceded that his company is "located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely left-leaning place."

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In other words, it appears Zuckerberg's attempt to screen out anti-Catholicism is being thwarted by his own employees because they harbor extremist left-wing views. This is quite a concession. It raises two questions: Why has he failed to check the bigotry, and why do left-wingers hate Catholicism?

 

One reason why Zuckerberg has failed in squashing anti-Catholic bigotry is the difficulty of policing his staff. He admits that he has upwards of 20,000 people working on content review. Cruz asked, "Do you know the political orientation of those 15,000 to 20,000 people engaging in content review?" "No senator," he replied.

Actually, he does: Zuckerberg admitted that his company is located in an "extremely left-leaning" community, and no one suspects he is importing his staff from Kansas.

Furthermore, Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. Jeff Duncan, and Rep. McMorris Rodgers all noted the anti-conservative bias at Facebook. The latter cited what FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said last November: he maintained that "edge providers routinely block or discriminate against content they don't like." No doubt the censors consider themselves to be beacons of tolerance.

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Now it is understandable why left-wingers might harbor an animus against conservatives—they are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. But why do they hate Catholics?

In fact, Facebook does not hate Catholics—it's just orthodox Catholics it loathes. To wit: there is no evidence that any of the Catholic pages blocked by Facebook are associated with dissident or liberal Catholic causes.

None of this is surprising. It all boils down to sex. The "extremely left-leaning" Facebook employees, just like "extremely left-leaning" persons everywhere, are in a rage over the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality. It is not Church teachings on the Trinity that exercises them—it's the conviction that marriage is properly understood as a union between a man and a woman.

Zuckerberg told Rep. McMorris Rodgers, "I wouldn't extrapolate from a few examples to assuming that the overall system is biased." But we are not talking about a few anecdotes or hard choices: a pattern of bigotry is evident, and the pages being censored are not Catholic assaults on others.

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Rep. Kevin John Cramer from North Dakota suggested to Zuckerberg that he should look to hire more people from places like Bismarck where people tend to have "common sense."

It's more common decency and fairness that is the problem. The fact is that those who are the captains of censorship in America work in places like the tech companies, higher education, the media, publishing, the arts, and Hollywood. What do they have in common? They are all examples of "extremely left-leaning" places that hate Catholic sexual ethics.

Zuckerberg has his work cut out for him. He can begin by hiring practicing orthodox Catholics in senior positions monitoring content review. He should also be ready to pay for relocation fees.

Bill Donohue is President and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. He was awarded his Ph.D. in sociology from New York University and is the author of seven books and many articles.

Facebook and Zuckerberg exposed as undeniably anti-Catholic

Facebook CEO apologizes for ‘mistake’ of blocking Catholic content

• In Catholic News Agency, Church in the US
• Courtney Grogan
  Apr 12, 2018
  CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. (Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP.)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions from lawmakers about his company’s censorship of Catholic content during his two-day congressional hearing following the revelation that millions of Facebook users’ personal data had been compromised.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions from lawmakers about his company’s censorship of Catholic content during his two-day congressional hearing following the revelation that millions of Facebook users’ personal data had been compromised.
Zuckerberg apologized and said that the company “made a mistake” in blocking a Catholic theology degree advertisement by Franciscan University of Steubenville, when asked about it by Washington state Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers on the second day of questioning.
The ad, which featured a crucifix, was rejected by Facebook over Easter on the grounds that its content was “excessively violent” and “sensational.” Facebook later apologized, saying that the ad had been blocked erroneously and did not violate terms of service.
Zuckerberg on Wednesday emphasized the large number of ads that are reviewed daily by the Facebook team, saying, “I wouldn’t extrapolate from a few examples to assume that the overall system is biased.”
The tech CEO also expressed regret that he did not “take a broad enough view of our responsibility” to prevent tools from being used for harm, particularly with regard to “fake news, for foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.”
RELATED: Barron tells Google religion’s the ultimate search engine
Senator Ted Cruz (R.-Texas) confronted Zuckerberg about alleged bias and censorship of political and religious content on the technology platform, saying Facebook “has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages” as well as conservative content “after determining their content and brand were, quote, ‘unsafe to the community.’”
In July 2017, CNA reported that Facebook blocked 25 Catholic pages in English and Portuguese. Facebook later apologized, saying the error was due to a malfunction rather than malicious intent. Earlier this year, another Catholic group said it was experiencing critical delays in approval of its fundraising content in support of vocations during the Christmas season.
Cruz continued to grill Zuckerberg over whether any Planned Parenthood or MoveOn.org ads had been removed. The Facebook CEO said that he was not aware of this ever occurring.
Pressed about bias, Zuckerberg said that “Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely left-leaning place,” but that he is committed to “making sure that we do not have any bias.”
Many lawmakers questioned Zuckerberg about his company’s policies for monitoring the ads and debates on its platform.
When asked to “define hate speech” by Senator Ben Sasse, Zuckerberg responded, “I think that this is a really hard question,” but reiterated his resolve to block efforts that spread hatred or violence.

Sasse continued, “There are some really passionately held views about the abortion issue on this panel today. Can you imagine a world where you might decide that pro-lifers are prohibited from speaking about their abortion views on your content - on your platform?”
“I certainly would not want that to be the case,” responded Zuckerberg, who went on to say that a technological shift toward using artificial intelligence to “proactively look at content,” will lead to “massive questions for society about what obligations we want to require companies to fulfill.”

The Facebook CEO was called to testify before Congress in the wake of scandals involving privacy violations and foreign interference in the 2016 elections.
Zuckerberg apologized repeatedly for the scandal involving the data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica, in which personal information from 87 million accounts was “improperly shared.”
Addressing these privacy concerns, Senator Dick Durbin asked Zuckerberg if he would be comfortable sharing the name of the hotel where he was staying.
When the CEO responded that he would not, Durbin replied, “I think that may be what this is all about: your right to privacy, the limits of your right to privacy and how much you give away in modern America in the name of, quote, ‘connecting people around the world.

Embarrissing but on the fight

Today's performance on this blog only adds to my recent frustration as it turns out to be one of the lowest visitor days in over 7 years.  This pattern is now almost a month old.  I'm clueless, unless collectively a bunch of you decided you don't like the content, feel, look or something about this old blog.

For now I'm going to just sit tight but I am examining other options including but not limited to moving the darn thing to another domain.  I begin that process today as it concerns Facebook.  The hearings in D.C. have pointed out just how controlling Zucky boy and team are including Senator Ted Cruz's alarming revelation of how much bias Facebook has against the Catholic Church.  I know that personally I am not allowed to identify as Deacon Mike.  Many clergy, especially Catholic Priests, were ordered by Facebook to drop Father.

Today I signed up on MeWe and there was no problem identifying as Deacon Mike.  I've done very little over there so far, admittedly not a lot of my friends are on it yet.  I have some high hopes for this as they pledge no bias against Catholics!  We will see.

So the blogging social media scene is certainly frustrating tonight, but I can live with it, for now!

Deacon Greg Kandra offers this Kyrie of Facebook; nice!

Kyrie of Facebook

                    

Deacon Greg Kandra | Jun 20, 2017            

                    

For those times I have added to the pain and anger in social media…Lord have mercy.
For those times I have sowed division instead of unity…Christ have mercy.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

For those times I have added wounds to the Body of Christ…Lord have mercy.
For those times I have fueled despair instead of offering hope…Christ have mercy.
For those times when I have lacked charity or mercy, kindness and humility…for what I have done to others and for what I have failed to do for others…Lord have mercy

Keeping the faith and believing in hope as November 8th draws near

On November 8th, unless something completely unexpected happens, we will be seeing the elevation to the Presidency of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.  It's that simple; one or the other will be President.  As we go to bed, as a nation, and awake that next Wednesday morning, about half of us will be ok with the result and half of us will be upset.  When it comes to politics, our divided nation will remain divided.  The tumultuous past few months have given us every reason to believe that our next President will be a wildly unpopular human being.

I have expressed freely here, on MY blog and over at MY Facebook page my concerns about the election.  For the first time in my life, I am not excited about voting, but I WILL vote, am not excited about the two major candidates, but understand the issues and consequences, and am generally disgusted with the whole process.  With all that being said, this election once again proves to me, and I'm sure many others, that we take our politics more seriously than other important things, much more important things, like our faith in God, our hope in God, our trust in God and the importance of our faith in shaping and informing who we are.

Perhaps I am guilty of giving off this perception because even though I am a Catholic Deacon with a blog and Facebook page, I guess I'm only allowed to opine on things of high theological value, with every post being a mini Bible study or Catechism lesson.  I find that when one posts on Facebook or writes a blog post, many folks are ready to pounce, to demonstrate a lack of charity in their responses.

Now I've been guilty of this too especially in earlier comments about sports figures and coaches and I learned a valuable lesson from MY experience.  But recent posts, where I have shared my observations about the current election, have generated some of the worst responses.  Sadly, those willing to demonstrate this kind of uncharitable banter include brothers in the clergy, active members of the church, life-long friends. 

For my part, as a Catholic Deacon, I do understand that many of my observations lack the faith, hope and trust that obviously many believe should be part of everything I post about.  If I opine about a tough day at work, shame on me; if I don't like the way the Saints or LSU are performing, shame on me, if I don't like the weather, shame on me and now, my election posts must fit a certain criteria.

Since recent political posts have generated the most critical responses, let me be clear; when the election is over and one of these candidates becomes President, I know beyond any doubt Who reigns on the Throne and who is still in charge.  I know, despite this election, that God will not, because He cannot, withdraw His love for us.  Despite this election my faith will continue to be unwavering, my hope even more hopeful and my trust in God unshakeable.  What I have not done here or on Facebook is encourage us to pray more, fast more, be even more charitable, and be a person of great faith in ALL our words and deeds.  I wish I would post more that which clearly demonstrates strong faith.  I will confess, the nuances of a political campaign intrigue me and my penchant for sports commentary feeds an unfulfilled dream of being a sports commentator once upon a time.

In case you still don't get it, after this lengthy post, let me summarize; no one needs to be concerned about MY faith, MY relationship with God and the ministry entrusted to ME as a Deacon in His Catholic Church; even as November 8th gets closer and closer!

And my posts will continue to be MY posts and MY opinions. 

Thanks for your readership and understanding as I bid you peace!

If I knew the Pope was meeting the Facebook founder I would have asked him to let me be called Deacon again!

Pope Meets Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

Discussed How Communication Technologies Can Alleviate Poverty, Help Deliver Message of Hope, Even to Most Disadvantaged

August 29, 2016Deborah Castellano LubovPope and Holy See

Photo: L'Osservatore Romano

Pope Francis has received the founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, in the Vatican.
Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, confirmed this 20-minute encounter in a statement released this morning, noting the young entrepreneur was accompanied by his wife, Priscilla Chan, for the meeting which took place in the Pope’s residence of Casa Santa Marta.
Facebook is a social network that began by allowing Harvard undergraduates to share messages and photos. Since 2007, it has expanded into four languages, and now has more than 1.71 billion users and translations in 70 languages.
According to the statement, the Pope and Zuckerberg discussed “how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter” and how to “help deliver a message of hope, especially to those people who are most disadvantaged.”

Talking politics and Facebook

To me, this seems to be getting worse.  Facebook becomes a cesspool every election cycle.  We all are so partisan and quite frankly, we convince no one to change their minds just as we won't change ours either.  People can be so insulting; spewing hate and anger.

Even posts can get misunderstood; I found this out today.

In any event, here is an article that just about confirms posting politics on Facebook is bad news; don't do it!

Yeah, I know you will!

Read on:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/08/04/the-most-compelling-reason-to-never-talk-politics-on-facebook/

Hello Friday night, I've been waiting for you

Ah Friday night, nothing particularly amazing about you this week, just good to see you.  For me Friday night does not mean the end of the work week, or the beginning of a care-free do whatever you want when you want kind of weekend.  For me, this Friday night does not bring an exciting date or fun-filled evening.  Yet you are very satisfactorily welcomed.

I just came inside from cutting grass.  Many of you who have read this blog over the years know that this is a task I generally despise.  Tonight I was stunned by both the beauty and pleasant feel air of late August.  Usually, an evening cutting grass in late August is met by 95 degrees and 95% humidity.  Not tonight; pleasant temps and lower humidity joined hands with a nice north breeze.  I'm not sure if I have ever been able to say that about an August evening cutting grass.

Friday evening appeals to me tonight because it still signals a kind of end to a chaotic and interesting week that was.  You probably recall that my week began in the hospital as my wife Wendy had a cardiac scare Sunday morning.  All is well today, thanks be to God, and she was discharged Monday evening at 7 PM once doctors had read all the tests and declared them normal.  Thanks to my wife's moxie, I was actually able to work all day Monday as she underwent tests, all of which she has been through before.  After work, I attended our church parish school of religion(PSR), in her stead to cover open house for her 1st grade class.  After that was over, it was discharge time.  It was good to have her back home.

After another robust day at work Tuesday, I hurried home to participate in an important conference call for our Permanent Diaconate office.  All I can say here is that the call concerns a project that will help us in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to clearly communicate the mission, the call and the identity of the Permanent Deacon.

By Wednesday it was work all day, prison ministry by night.  Everyone who has ever visited this blog absolutely knows I love, love, love my ministry at Rayburn Correctional Center.  On this night my main mission was to assist our Priest in Mass and then meeting with some of the men facing release in the not too distant future.  On my way home, I noticed I was logged out of Facebook and being prompted to not only sign in, but to confirm my identity.  Yes, after a great day, I was stripped of my Facebook identity, told I could never use Deacon in my profile or page unless my first name is Deacon.  I've already discussed what I think about this but in case you missed it I think it stinks!

I had the pleasure of attending the 4th degree K of C meeting last night where I now serve as their Chaplain.  All these Knights are inspirational in their love for the Church and the desire to serve the people of God in works of charity.  And tonight, it was cut the grass.

In light of the Facebook kerfuffle, this is as good a time as any to remind my readers that the Permanent Deacon is all about who he is, not just what he does!  And you can see, he can do plenty.

I guess this is a good time to mention that all of this transpired as the Deacon began a really important lifestyle change, aka, a diet.  Details will come later, but I can tell you this is serious! Wendy and I are tired of being big, sick and slow so we will see.  For now, just pray for us!

How about the days to come?  Tomorrow is a big event in the life of my family; the engagement party for Elizabeth & Mark!!  Dieting may be challenge.  I am looking forward to seeing this big night in the engagement journey of my #1 daughter and her fiancée.  Sunday I will have my 3rd Baptism at St. Jane's since my return.  This will occur after the 11 PM Mass.  I love Baptisms!

So thanks for coming around Friday night; thanks for being that perfect evening for some peace & quiet and reflection!!

Please sign the petition

After having my identity as Deacon removed yesterday by Facebook, I ask you to please consider signing this petition.  I appreciate your consideration.  It may not do any good but since this action seems almost exclusively aimed at Catholic clergy & religious, they need to know that people of good will stand together.

Thank you & God Bless.

Here is the petition:  https://www.change.org/p/facebook-to-rescind-a-law-that-prohibits-priest-deacons-sisters-reverends-preachers-and-religious-from-displaying-their-lawful-and-rightful-title?recruiter=151338630&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-reason_msg&utm_content=ci_fb_share_title_text%3Ano_dm_s&fb_ref=Default

Facebook has stripped my identity as Deacon Mike Talbot

After weeks of watching Catholic Priest after Catholic Priest complain about Facebook's purge against the identity of Father or Reverend, tonight they began the purge against Deacons.  Actually, they have been at it for some time but they got me and several of my friends tonight. 

Facebook stresses that this is to eliminate across the board honorifics and titles and is a security measure to ensure proper identity.  Well let's take a look at how consistent this is applied.  By far, the greatest purge by Facebook over the past few months has been aimed squarely at Catholics.  Additionally, Islamic Imam's are exempt from this policy.   And get this, drag queens, yes drag queens or any other member of LGBT communities that wants to go by any name or any title is A-OK by Facebook.

You know I discovered this tonight while being a Deacon.  And I'm always being a Deacon.  Tonight I was at Rayburn Prison, ministering to 50 inmates, last night, an important planning session for the Office of the Permanent Diaconate, Monday night at the parish school of religion(PSR, also known as CCD).  Sunday it was Mass and the unexpected hospitalization of my wife.  And yes I went to work today, and I cut the grass over the weekend, and all of this while being a Deacon.  I am what I am; I am a Permanent Deacon.

Facebook can do what they want; it's their product.  Based on their reasoning behind their policy, what are they afraid of when it comes to Priests, Deacons, Catholic clergy and religious?

Take your best shot Facebook; I am Deacon Mike Talbot!  And you can't change that no way, no how!

Fighting back against Facebook's blatant discrimination against Catholic Clergy & Religious

To Rescind a law that prohibits Priest,Deacons,Sisters, Reverends Preachers and religious from displaying their lawful and rightful title.

Steve Miller United States

Facebook has prohibited some religious from displaying their names and their title (I.E. Father, Sister, etc). We respectfully ask for Facebook to rescind this rule and allow all Priests, Brothers,Nuns and preachers the right to display their titles & names as they are entitled to do in public. We would like to see this done without any need to be "grandfathered" in or.for them to be beholden to any edicts imposed by Facebook concerning titles.

These men and women have worked long and hard to earn their titles, and they should be allowed to be identified by their appropriate nomenclature.

Not only blogging problems this Monday but Facebook issues as well

Facebook pulls Compass story due to ‘abusive content’

By Sam Lucero | The Compass
August 17, 2015

GREEN BAY – A story about a Byzantine monk’s decision to legally change his name in order to use his religious title on Facebook — posted on The Compass website Aug. 14 and shared on its Facebook page that same day — was blocked by Facebook due to “abusive” content.

Facebook has blocked a story link from The Compass website about a Byzantine monk’s battle with Facebook about his religious title.

On Monday morning, Aug. 17, The Compass contacted Facebook seeking an explanation.
The incident began after The Compass interviewed Fr. Moses Wright, known to friends on Facebook as Hierodeacon Moses, about changing his name in order to comply with Facebook regulations on authentic identities. On Aug. 12, Facebook changed his profile name from Hierodeacon Moses to his given name, Michael Wright. The next day, Fr. Moses, who lives at Holy Resurrection Monastery in St. Nazianz, drove to the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc to begin the process of legally changing his name.
The following day, The Compass posted his story and shared it on Facebook – as did Fr. Moses.
Within hours, authorities at Facebook removed the story from The Compass Facebook page and Fr. Wright’s personal page. In addition, it blocked the link from being reposted. Anyone seeking to post the story on Facebook received one of two messages:

• “Warning: This Message Contains Blocked Content: Your message couldn’t be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive.”
• “You can’t post this because it has a blocked link. The content you’re trying to share includes a link that our security systems detected to be unsafe. Please remove this link to continue.”

After discovering the story had been removed from his page, Fr. Moses posted on his page: “Censored Facebook? For real? Good grief!”

A second message that appears when trying to post a Compass story about Fr. Moses Wright to Facebook.

Since then, Fr. Moses has received hundreds of messages of support on his Facebook page. The story was picked up by Catholic News Live, a “crowd-sourced news gathering website for Catholics” that uses RSS feeds to generate its content. Other people have since posted the story from Catholic News Live on Facebook.
On Aug. 17, The Compass submitted a notice to Facebook seeking a clarification for its blocking of the Fr. Moses story. “I am writing to ask for a response to your blocking a link from a story about a Byzantine priest who is legally changing his name in order to get back his religious name on Facebook,” The Compass wrote. “There is nothing in the post that is ‘unsafe’ as stated in your message.”
The Compass is still waiting for a response.

Facebook dishing out some disrespect to Catholic Priests

Call No Man Your "Father," Especially on Facebook

Priests threatened with loss of accounts when using their religious title on social media site

 

John Burger

Aleteia

author

 

 

 

January 29, 2015

WIKIMEDIA Commons

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Father Peter West has been a priest for almost 25 years, but this week he became simply “Peter West” again.

At least on Facebook.

Father West, if we may call him that, said he went to log on to the social media site Tuesday and was blocked because his user name included the title “Father.”

In truth, Facebook has long had a policy restricting members from using professional titles. “Facebook is a community where people use their authentic identities,” its policy explains. “We require people to provide the name they use in real life; that way, you always know who you're connecting with. This helps keep our community safe.”

The policy goes on to ask users to refrain from adding to their names “titles of any kind (ex: professional, religious)” as well as a host of other items.

“The name you use should be your authentic identity; as your friends call you in real life,” it says.

Many Catholic priests get around the restriction by combining “Father” or “Fr.” with their first name, or using a hyphen between the two, or in the case of religious priests, simply using the initials of their order at the end.

“I know a priest who’s Italian and uses ‘Don,’” a common title in Italy for “Father,” said Father West, who is vice president for missions at Human Life International.

But a recent wave of priests experiencing corrective measures from Facebook has led to supporters creating this week a Facebook community page, "Tell FB: Allow Catholic Priests to keep the title ‘Father’ in their FB name.” It has more than 2500 likes so far.

“The Facebook policy seems unevenly enforced,” said Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, in an interview—conducted through Facebook.  “I got around it by combining my title with my name: ‘ArchbishopPaul Coakley.’  It seems as if it's an unreasonable restriction on the kind of discourse social media ought to foster.  I want people to know who they are communicating with when communicating with me.  One of the things that drew me to Facebook is the opportunities it can afford for evangelization.”

“It’s bizarre. This is the first time it’s happened to me,” said Father James Chern, who experienced trouble using “Father” on Tuesday. As director of the Office for Vocations in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and a university chaplain, he finds Facebook very useful for communicating with young people. “I was on earlier this morning and I got a message saying my name ‘doesn’t meet our policies or standards.’ I thought I’d gotten a virus. When I logged on again, same thing. They said ‘We’re not allowing any professional or religious title.’ So I tried putting ‘Father’ in the first name slot, ‘Jim’ in the middle and ‘Chern’ in the last. It came back and told me ‘You’re violating the policy. In one minute you’ll have an opportunity to change your name. If you keep putting in the same name, we will deactivate your account.’

"I was like, ‘Wow! I got a virtual time out, and I have a minute to sit and ponder my existence.’ So I went with Jim Chern, and one of my friends made that profile pic.”

The profile picture is a drawing of a young priest with the initial “Fr.” In the corner.

Father West and Father Chern report seeing other religious titles on Facebook, such as “Rabbi” or “Chaplain.” This reporter found a few imams.

Father Stephen Imbarrato, who also has had trouble using “Father,” points out another anomoly.

“People bring up the contradiction that Facebook came up with all the different genders by which users can classify themselves,” said Father Imbarrato, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Albuquerque. “They were very accommodating there, so why not here?”

Why is it important to be able to use “Father?”

“It’s my heavenly vocation. I did not choose to be Father; God choose for me to be Father, plain and simple,” Father Imbarrato said. “Even my family members don’t call me Stephen. This is not some professional title, it’s a vocation in life.”

In response to multiple requests for an interview, Facebook simply sent an email to this reporter: “Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re constantly trying to improve Facebook, so it's important that we hear from the people who use it. Unfortunately, we can’t respond to your emails individually, but we are paying attention to them. We appreciate you taking the time to write to us.”


John Burger is news editor for Aleteia's English edition.