Privacy Issues

I saw something on Facebook the other day that shocked me.

I have seen an awful lot on Facebook. I have seen photos that verge on pornographic. Ok, they don't just verge on it. They are. I have seen people endorse movies and TV shows that I can't believe they can watch in good conscience. I have seen language that would blister paint. I have seen warnings for false computer viruses, poisoned food, and vaccines that cause your fingers and toes to rot off, ads for dogs who have been lost since 1991, and miracle foods that promise to allow me to live forever. I am cynical and suspicious. I don't believe much. And I'm not shocked by much.

But I was shocked.

I saw pictures by a professional photographer who had been hired to capture images of a child's birth. Oh, they were tastefully done, I suppose. Black and white, so no one had to be disturbed by the reality of blood and amniotic fluid and afterbirth. Photoshopped, I'm sure, to make it look like Mom had just been out for an afternoon stroll, rather than having just pushed out a baby. (Did she put on make-up before this photo op?) But I was shocked. And saddened.

Is nothing sacred anymore? Is nothing private?

I know what you ate for supper. I've seen your 600 wedding photos, your "after sex" photos, your ultrasound photos, your pregnancy belly photos. Now I'm seeing you with your bare legs spread open, giving birth, with what looks like the entire extended family looking on.

I get it. It's a precious moment. It's a miracle. It's wonderful. I might even understand why you would want to capture the moment on film (although the idea of hiring a professional photographer to do so is a little weird to me). I kind of might get why you'd want to have such photos. For yourself.

But you just completely cheapened it by sharing it with the entire world (well over 500 million people, to be exact.) You took something precious and miraculous and private, and you made it public. You invited us all in.

I wonder, would you willingly give birth in front of a stadium full of strangers?  Even if you set your photo settings to just your friends, you invited around 150 people to watch you give birth. Would you ever do that in real life? Because you just did. I wonder, how will your child feel about this when he or she is old enough to realise what you did? And I wonder, What if something had gone terribly wrong? It happens, you know. In a matter of seconds, a moment of joy is turned to horrible tragedy, even in our modern Western world. It didn't happen this time. But it could have. It happens more than you'd think. And there would have been a professional photographer there to capture every tragic moment.

We whine and complain and post endless stupid posts about how to protect our privacy from Facebook (which, if the posts are to be believed, can read my mind). Have we not shown "them" over and again that we really don't care about our privacy? Why, then, are we surprised and indignant when "they" believe us? I can just hear Mark Zuckerburg: "Look, they post for the world to see their 600 wedding photos, their after-sex pictures, pictures of their (practically) naked bodies, pictures of their completely exposed pregnancy bellies, pictures of their in utero children, and pictures of themselves giving birth. Trust me, guys, they don't care if we track every single thing they look at on the Internet. Why would they? It's nothing compared to what they've volunteered to show us."

I just shake my head. Why do we do this? Are we so sickeningly narcissistic that we really think the whole world needs to share in our most sacred, most precious, most private moments? Are we really that selfish, that self-centred? It makes me sad. You know what? If you want all those pictures, great. No problem. I might even understand that - sort of. But keep them for yourself.

It says in Luke 1:24, "Zechariah's wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” She stayed in seclusion for 5 months. Because she was ashamed of her pregnancy? No, she knew this was a gift from God, a miracle, a sign of his favour. She stayed secluded for five months because she was NO LONGER ashamed. God had taken away her disgrace. She stayed secluded for five months to savour that truth. Some things are just too precious to share.

And later, of Mary, Luke tells us, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." She didn't post them to Facebook. She didn't put them on Instagram. She didn't even talk about them. She treasured them up and pondered them in her heart. Oh, I know. Different times. Different era. But both Mary and Elizabeth could have done the first-century equivalent of posting their news to Facebook. They didn't. They kept their treasures private. Some things are just too precious to share with the world.

I can't stop what people post on Facebook. But I pray, yes, I pray that God gives me wisdom to think and rethink every single thing I post.

Because I really do care about my privacy.

And some things are just too precious to share with the world.