By Ed Murray
The lights were always low; the music was some of the best. Those high school dances in the all boys’ denominational high school I attended in the late 50’s were “the greatest”. They were held in the combination gym/auditorium where numerous faculty members were visible at a distance - above and behind the sloping seats or along the fringe of the fray on the dance floor.
Even back then, there was more than a little cuddlin’, huggin’, and fallin’ in love mixed in with the funky-chicken on that dance floor every Friday night. But the faculty presence kept things, shall we say, within a “safe zone.”
But we’re discussing sexual predators on the Internet, so, “what’s the point?” you may well ask.
Over the past year or two, more and more stories have appeared in the news revealing the presence of known, even officially registered, sexual predators stalking children and young people on the Internet. Their principal activity seems to be staking out a piece of territory on social networks like MySpace, Facebook and others. Their presence there is no laughing matter. It is, in fact, occasionally and tragically, deadly.
Of course such scurrilous behavior is all part of a larger phenomenon of predatory behavior that is rampant online. Raise your hand if you’ve never received an e-mail from a Nigerian prince who needs your help (and money) right away or one from some bank that looks a little like one of the “big five,” but that can’t seem to write a decent English sentence. How many predatory scams abound out there online? Literally, millions.
It’s a precarious place, the Internet. All kinds of nefarious people and schemes abound there: terrorists, pornographers, thieves, drug dealers, swindlers, illegal and predatory gambling, etc. But among them all, the sexual predators are perceived as the most menacing, particularly with the thought of them stalking social networks and Web sites popular with kids.
With those happy thoughts in mind, let’s go back to that dance. That now nearly ancient model provides us with some clues regarding what people of faith can do about sexual predators online. The first action is for community moral leaders, (particularly those connected with churches, synagogues, and mosques) to pick up the reigns of leadership. They must, in a word, become “present” to the situation – just like those faculty members we saw back at that Friday night dance. And it doesn’t have to be an all-condemning kind of presence and certainly not a self-righteous kind. But they have to “be there,” online.
How does leadership in the faith community begin to venture in this direction?
First, faith leaders must talk across denominational lines. Internet predation is a problem common to all responsible people and one that knows no denominational lines. Faith communities would do well to develop a common voice that speaks to all the issues of predation and perversion on-line. The community-at-large should know that faith leaders see these things and that they are willing to challenge them – all of them, not just those labeled “sexual.”
Next, whether at a local, regional or national denominational level, these folks need to develop alternative presences online for young people. Of course, these should be the kind of Web sites that are not overly fastidious. Again, think about those Friday night dances where the “reigns” were discernibly, but wisely, held a bit less tightly than they would be in math or religion class on Monday morning. All kids will not flock to such Web sites (at least not immediately), but leaders will learn much from this experience and young people will learn that they can, within reasonable bounds, be themselves in these environments – explore their questions and wondering, hear the voices of their peers and older voices that are not out to scam or harm them.
Another strategy is for faith communities to begin to populate (even aggressively) such online communities as MySpace, Second Life, and Facebook - to raise their voices in whatever way they choose. Faith leaders shouldn’t shy away from the clever and creative – or even the downright wacky. In essence, faith communities need to see the Internet as mission territory. There are folks out there in cyberspace (some only present in the pose of their “virtual personalities”) who need to know that caring people of faith are present there as well there to listen and guide in a wise and open way.
“Presence” is the watchword. Faith leaders have gotta be there!
It’s not likely or realistic to say that the bad stuff and people are going to go away on the Web. Beyond the legal system, the only meaningful response, as a practical matter, is for leaders of faith to commit themselves and their communities to becoming powerful presences online. By doing this, young people searching the vast digital landscape of Internet might find believers out there who are willing to help or even just accompany them on that search.
Edward J. Murray is President and CEO of Faith & Values Media, the nation’s largest coalition of Abrahamic faith groups dedicated to media production, distribution and promotion, including Youth Roots.com, a site for youth ministers/leaders and their young members offered through its subsidiary, Lightworks New Media.
