Christians give up addictive Facebook for Lent
Kelly Heyboer/Religion News Service
Issue date: 3/15/09 Section: Divine Intervention
Most days you can find college sophomore Adan Farrah on his laptop checking in with his classmates, looking at photos and updating his personal page on Facebook. For the 19 year old and many of his friends, the social networking site is something close to an obsession.
"I'm on there a total of three hours a day ... four hours on weekends," said Farrah, a native of Monroe, N.J., and now a student at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
But on Ash Wednesday, Farrah decided to quit Facebook cold turkey. No more status updates. No more commenting on photos posted by classmates. No more connecting with high school friends.
In a new twist on an old religious tradition, a growing number of Christian technophiles are swearing off Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other technology for Lent. Thousands of Facebook users have joined "Giving up Facebook for Lent" groups on the site, replacing the photos on their profiles with boxes announcing they will be gone for the next six weeks.
Religious leaders and scholars across the country are encouraging the faithful to unplug from Facebook, MySpace and other sites in a virtual Lenten fast.
"Oftentimes, we are just spending too much time on these things. We're out of balance," said the Rev. John Grimm, an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
"Giving up something we enjoy and like is to make restitution -- to give penance for our sins."
Lent began Feb. 25 and ends on Easter. Though traditions vary from church to church, most churches encourage parishioners to either give something up or take something on for the Lenten season, echoing the period Jesus spent in the desert fasting and enduring temptations of Satan.
Yes, going on a Facebook fast counts as a Lenten sacrifice in God's eyes, Grimm said.
Grimm, who recently joined Facebook at the behest of his students, says he does not plan to give it up for Lent. Instead, he is cutting down on the time he spends surfing the Web for entertainment and sports news. The idea is to replace the time we spend doing something we enjoy with charitable acts, prayer, spiritual reading or something else that brings us closer to God, he said.
"I'm on there a total of three hours a day ... four hours on weekends," said Farrah, a native of Monroe, N.J., and now a student at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
But on Ash Wednesday, Farrah decided to quit Facebook cold turkey. No more status updates. No more commenting on photos posted by classmates. No more connecting with high school friends.
In a new twist on an old religious tradition, a growing number of Christian technophiles are swearing off Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other technology for Lent. Thousands of Facebook users have joined "Giving up Facebook for Lent" groups on the site, replacing the photos on their profiles with boxes announcing they will be gone for the next six weeks.
Religious leaders and scholars across the country are encouraging the faithful to unplug from Facebook, MySpace and other sites in a virtual Lenten fast.
"Oftentimes, we are just spending too much time on these things. We're out of balance," said the Rev. John Grimm, an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
"Giving up something we enjoy and like is to make restitution -- to give penance for our sins."
Lent began Feb. 25 and ends on Easter. Though traditions vary from church to church, most churches encourage parishioners to either give something up or take something on for the Lenten season, echoing the period Jesus spent in the desert fasting and enduring temptations of Satan.
Yes, going on a Facebook fast counts as a Lenten sacrifice in God's eyes, Grimm said.
Grimm, who recently joined Facebook at the behest of his students, says he does not plan to give it up for Lent. Instead, he is cutting down on the time he spends surfing the Web for entertainment and sports news. The idea is to replace the time we spend doing something we enjoy with charitable acts, prayer, spiritual reading or something else that brings us closer to God, he said.
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