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September 2026

September 11, 2026

How the Meta Settlement Will Change Social Media

Facing $1.7 trillion in lawsuits, Meta has agreed to a settlement, giving the states $17...

June 2026

June 12, 2026

“Lead a Quiet Life”

Patheos blogger Jeff McClain explores what a "quiet life" means in 1 Thessalonians 4:11. That...

October 2025

October 13, 2025

Monday Miscellany, 10/13/25

Trump brings peace to the Middle East. Social Media has jumped the shark. And our...

May 2023

May 05, 2023

DISCUSSION: The End of Social Media?

Virtually everybody is complaining about social media. Are you still on social media or have...

January 2022

January 14, 2022

Virtual Vocation

Some internet "influencers" on TikTok or YouTube earn more money than the heads of America's...

July 2021

July 16, 2021

The War Against Satire

Satire has a long pedigree as a conservative literary form. But social media sites are...

January 2021

January 15, 2021

Deplatforming

An agency of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was cancelled by Facebook, collateral damage in...

July 2020

July 17, 2020

Progressives Canceling Each Other

Now liberals and progressives are also being canceled--censored, derided, fired--by their fellow liberals and progressives....

June 2019

June 14, 2019

The LCMS Doctrinal Study of Social Media

The Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is...

March 2019

March 29, 2019

Europe’s Plan to Destroy the Internet

The European Union has passed a new copyright law that has the potential to fundamentally...

February 2019

February 15, 2019

Social Media and Justification

Again, Rev. A. Trevor Sutton, the co-author with me of Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology...

July 2018

July 16, 2018

Facebook and Religion

Trevor Sutton, a pastor and the co-author with me of Authentic Christianity, has been studying...

June 2018

June 22, 2018

Social Pressure or Mob Rule?

Social media outrage has caused powerful executives to lose their jobs, brought down politicians, coerced...

April 2018

April 13, 2018

How Social Media Is Designed Around Sin

Trevor Sutton, my co-author of Authentic Christianity, has written a fascinating article entitled Social Media...

April 12, 2018

How You Are Being Psychologically Profiled by Your “Likes”

Facebook is getting hit hard in the fallout over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which...

March 2018

March 09, 2018

The News that Spreads Most Is False, Negative, and Surprising

A major study of how information spreads online has found that information that is false...

May 2017

May 18, 2017

Blog update & our FaceBook page

BeliefNet, having purchased Patheos, is planning a new look and new features for its family of...

February 2017

February 28, 2017

An online, social media Lenten observance

Tomorrow is the beginning of Lent, a time for reflection and devotion. Christ Lutheran Church...

January 2016

January 25, 2016

I am now on Facebook!

There is this thing called Facebook, and the way it works is. . . .OK,...

November 2014

November 25, 2014

Supreme Court takes up Facebook threats

Does this message from an estranged husband to his wife after she filed a restraining...

August 2014

August 04, 2014

Stupid person tricks

One of the latest YouTube "challenges" is to rub alcohol on yourself, set yourself on...

March 2014

March 27, 2014

Wiping out your social media debts

Thanks to Anthony Sacramone for alerting me to this Portlandia bit, Declare Social-Media Bankruptcy |...

July 2013

July 31, 2013

How the Democrats used FaceBook

The Washington Post is publishing excerpts from its reporter Dan Balz's book on the last...

July 25, 2013

Saving a Down child from abortion

Here is a rather inspiring story about the use of social media and lots of...

July 19, 2013

Indulgences via Twitter

Pope Francis will be offering a plenary indulgence--that is, a full release from Purgatory for...

August 2012

August 10, 2012

“Liking” as free speech

Well, the consensus as to my query about whether you would like a "like" feature...

December 2011

December 28, 2011

“How Luther went viral”

The Economist tells how Luther, in effect, used social media: Although they were written in...

June 2011

June 20, 2011

End of the professional/personal divide

An article on how the Navy has been sacking commanding officers for personal misconduct ends...