As many of you are aware, I have a Facebook page. MVC also has a Facebook page. And from my friend list, I know that a great number of you have Facebook pages as well. I’ve found it to be a useful tool in keeping up with friends and family as well as sharing information about things that are going on in the church. However, along with the good is potential danger. I am becoming more and more aware of the inherent dangers of such a network. Dave Carder, who is a California pastor and psychologist has studied adultery prevention and recovery for more than 30 years. This is what he says about social networking in his book, Close Calls: What Adulterers Want You to Know About Protecting Your Marriage: "There's a new phenomenon—the idea that you can locate and recapture old romances, old flames, old boyfriends and girlfriends from adolescence…in (this) case, the infatuation is already stored in your brain. So if you get back in touch with a person like that—a person you dated, that you kissed, maybe a first-love experience—some 10, 15 years later … Well, the saying in my field is, 'Thirty days of regular contact with an old girlfriend/old boyfriend and you create an infatuation explosion. And in 30 more days, you will find a way to be with each other.' So it's 60 days from the start, because infatuation is a mood-altering experience. It's a huge drug of choice and will sweep you off your feet." Carder warns that, especially in times of unusual or sustained stress, a "surprise adultery" can occur where the affair is really an attempt to heal, distract or support yourself from the stressful situations. He encourages couples to watch for the danger signs and "risk factors—certain seasons of life, certain ages, certain life experiences, certain marital stages, personal histories you bring to the marriage—that can set you up for an affair. That doesn't mean you are going to do it, but like in the disease model, there are risk factors." *
I’m not saying that you should cancel your Facebook.com or Classmates.com or MySpace.com accounts, but be aware and on alert of the potential dangers. Satan is like a roaring lion. He is setting traps and doing anything he can do to trip up believers. Don’t fall prey to his attacks. Stand firm in the Lord and flee all appearances of evil. *The Washington Times 7/8/09
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