FACEBOOK AND SOCIAL-MEDIA ETIQUETTE
Below is a message that I recently sent to one of my FB friends;
I don’t allow personal insults or personal attacks on my FB Page. I have no desire to control other people, their opinions or their behavior but I do have some control of my personal FB page.
The Bible prohibits “bearing false witness” against another person, and “gossip” is a sin listed in the same group of other heinous sins such as murder! This is the Biblical basis of our libel and slander laws in Western civilization.
However, in the USA we now have ridiculous libel laws, which make it virtually impossible for a “public figure” to successfully sue for libel or slander. Americans rarely see the President or any public figure bringing a libel or slander suit against anyone, so they forget that libel and slander are wrong, a breach of the rules of journalism, bad-manners, and behavior not fitting of civilized society. To see how bad things are start counting how many personal insults of the President occur during watching CNN for five minutes at any time of day or night!
I was also taught by my parents that it was rude, bad-manners, and low-class to insult anyone personally, even a public figure. In parliament in the UK people say things like “the honourable member for Essex, is mistaken”, or “the honourable member got his/her facts wrong”, but they do not call each other “liars”! When a Republican in Congress called President Obama a “liar” this caused a national outrage and it was condemned on a bi-partisan basis and the person apologized.
Child psychology 101 is that as a parent you should attack a child’s behavior but not the child as a person. You NEVER call a child a “liar” or a “thief” but you say it is wrong to tell a lie or to take something that is not yours without the owner’s permission. You can also say “that is a racist statement” but not call a person a “racist”.
In previous times calling a person a liar or crook would often lead to a duel even if the statement was about a public figure. A famous duel was fought between prominent American politicians Aaron Burr, the sitting Vice President of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of the Treasury, at Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804.
Please limit your future criticisms of the President to matters of policy as it relates to his job as President. Personal insults, especially gossip about his private life, belong in the National Enquirer, but not one My FB page.
