This is not aimed at any of you for obvious reasons ............  just an
interesting news story.  Too bad so many of his flock are having problem [in
part] due to Facebook.  But this Reverend ORDERING 50 of his officials to
delete Facebook off their systems is a bit much.  This is what happens
though (and throughout history) when *one* person is in charge.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101117/ap_on_hi_te/us_pastor_facebook_edict

  <http://news.yahoo.com/>
 Rev. to NJ church leaders: Thou shalt not Facebook
By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Wayne Parry, Associated Press
2 hrs 48 mins ago


NEPTUNE, N.J. – Thou shalt not commit adultery. And thou also shalt not use
Facebook.

That's the edict from a New Jersey pastor who feels the two often go
together.

The Rev. Cedric Miller said 20 couples among the 1,100 members of his Living
Word Christian Fellowship Church have run into marital trouble over the last
six months after a spouse connected with an ex-flame over Facebook.

Because of the problems, he is ordering about 50 married church officials to
delete their accounts with the social networking site or resign from their
leadership positions. He had previously asked married congregants to share
their login information with their spouses and now plans to suggest that
they give up Facebook altogether.

"I've been in extended counseling with couples with marital problems because
of Facebook for the last year and a half," he said. "What happens is someone
from yesterday surfaces, it leads to conversations and there have been
physical meet-ups. The temptation is just too great."

Miller is married and has a Facebook account that he uses to keep in touch
with six children, but he will heed his own advice and cancel his account
this weekend.

On Sunday, he plans to "strongly suggest" that all married people to stop
using Facebook, lest they endanger their marriage.

"The advice will go to the entire church," he said. "They'll hear what I'm
asking of my church leadership. I won't mandate it for the entire
congregation, but I hope people will follow my advice."

Miller said he has spoken from the pulpit before about the dangers of
Facebook, asking married couples to give each other their passwords to the
site.

"Some did. Others got scared and deleted their accounts right away. And some
felt it was none of my business and continued on," he said.

Miller said he has gotten a mostly positive response so far among the
leaders subject to his edict, which was first reported by the Asbury Park
Press.

Pat Dawson, a minister at the church, uses her Facebook account to see
photos of her relatives. She is unmarried and therefore not required to
delete her account, but she agrees with Miller about the dangers such sites
can create.

"I know he feels very strongly about this," she said. "It can be a useful
tool, but it also can cause great problems in a relationship. If your spouse
won't give you his or her password, you've got a problem."

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81 percent of its members
have used or been faced with evidence plucked from Facebook, MySpace,
Twitter and other social networking sites in divorce cases over the last
five years.

About one in five adults uses Facebook for flirting, according to a 2008
report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. And a do-it-yourself
divorce site in the United Kingdom, Divorce-Online, reported late last year
that the word "Facebook" was appearing in about one in five of the petitions
it was handling.

Miller says there are legitimate uses for Facebook, which is why he started
an account a few years ago.

"People use it as an opportunity to invite others to social gatherings, to
share Scripture or talk about what went on at church," he said. "Those are
all positive, worthwhile things. But the downside is just too great."

Facebook did not immediately respond to a before-hours interview request
left at its California offices.
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