Be careful what you post on Facebook, or you might go to hell. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but if you take everything about your religion as gospel (sorry, couldn’t resist that one), then the family in this next story may have had a black mark put against their name by the higher power.
A 17-year-old from Barnesville, Minnesota, has been denied the Eucharist rite of Communion, after his local Reverend saw a picture of him on Facebook that went against the politics of the church. Lennon Cihak had posted a picture of him holding a modified placard that supported marriage equality, instead of the sign’s original message, which defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman.
Reverend Gary LaMoine of the Assumption Church in Barnesville, Minn., spoke with Shana Cihak – Lennon’s mother – in private to inform her that neither her son nor the rest of the Cihak family would be allowed to take Communion as a result of the Facebook posting. The picture at the centre of this issue is no longer visible on Facebook due to privacy settings.
Speaking to a local paper, Cihak said: “You kind of know the Catholic beliefs, but I never thought they would deny somebody confirmation because you weren’t 100%… I guess that’s what shocks me.”
So, for people who believe that they must take part in certain ceremonial displays of faith in order to cross over to the respective afterlife of their particular religion, being banned from these ceremonies must be a troubling situation to be in.
The topic that the Reverend took issue with and the wider debate on religion is not something to be discussed on this blog, but it is worth remembering who you are sharing with when you post anything to social networks. They might not see things the same way as you.