Using Science and Faith Groups on Facebook

In searching for opportunities to discuss Faith in the context of our highly secular culture, I’ve wondered if Christians could not be doing much better in online social media to present an attractive Christian faith.

From time to time I’ve identified interactions between Christians and their critics that I thought were some better than the negativity that I often find there.  Is there potential for “speaking truth in love” in such settings.  And what about the potential for our call to be “salt and light”?

I’d be pleased if some of our group would consider the positive potential for honouring God and Others in online discussions.  What are some guidelines to this form of “witness” that might be most honouring to God?

Here is a first example.

The comment and response is in the Facebook group named Epistemology

Contributor:

I’m a godless, materialist, secularist and I favour logical and empirical investigation as the source of public knowledge, and I sympathize with the frustration some people have had with some of the more boneheaded religious posts on here. But the (sometimes extreme) ignorance, philistinism and glibness some atheist contributors have when it comes to the topic is deeply wearing. I don’t mean mockery, or sharp words. Sometimes they’re called for, or irresistible or they’ve got the added force of being right, or at least informed. But the confidence of some contributors in their wholly wrong, or too stupid to be wrong opinions is as annoying as hell.

Response:

As a Christian, I share your concern on what you describe as “boneheaded religious” posts. There is much in the Christian gospels to support the idea of “reasonable faith.” So while many people don’t adequately understand this, and few teachers in some church groups fail to teach this adequately, there is still a strong tradition within Christianity of practicing faith fully with reason. It’s the basis of theology, of hermeneutics, much of the development of western philosophy, and the foundations for development of science itself as a methodology. Boneheaded comments understandably drive people away from possibilities of a rational faith. I have sympathy with your comment but suggests you don’t dismiss the roots of our western culture without deeper reflection.

 

What are your thoughts?

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