Do not take the bait!

Have you ever looked at a story or a link on the internet and were completely shocked and outraged, only to find out that the story is completely false, misleading, or find something that is out there simply to attack someone or something? Sometimes the headlines are just there to get your attention and make you click through things. The companies really want people to click on their stories because they get advertising revenue for each click.

We see these stories all the time, when someone posts something that a person in the Church did or every so often someone posts something to the line of “If the Catholic Church really cared about the poor, it would sell the Church property and give it to the poor.” A few years ago, there was a movement out there called “sell the Vatican and feed the world.” Just think about the value of the Vatican and its museum, thousands of priceless pieces of art. There are two of the greatest works that Michelangelo ever did, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (it could be cut up into its sections and sold off in pieces) and the Pieta. Just think how many billions of dollars these pieces could be sold for, even though it is not practical and then the pieces would end up in private collections away from the ability for the masses of people to be able to view them. Also, the buildings and the art have more value than the actual cost of them, they are symbols of the one Church and a place to gather as a one people of God.

But… I think that one of the more interesting things about this is that it comes not from the desire to help the poor, but from the mentality of “let someone else do it”. You sell what you have and give it away, not me. That is NOT what Jesus told his disciples, he told them to go and do it themselves (see the feeding of the 5,000). The fact is that an estimated 7 million people in the United States alone are fed by the Catholic Church and almost 5 million children in Africa are educated by the Catholic Church. There is a counter movement which states “sell the porn industry (which has $12 billion+ in revenues) and feed the world.”

When we see a story or a link online that seems shocking, especially if it is about “Catholics” it is because it is shocking, and when you click on that link or share it, it ticks the advertising counter so that the website will receive more advertising revenue. It is something called click-bait, which baits you to click the link which shows that someone has gone to the website and the ad companies then pay the website and, they get even more, if you click the link for an ad! If you see something online that seems odd, or elicits an emotional reaction, it is because it does and they want you to follow the story so that they can get paid. So, resist the temptation and do not take the bait!

God bless,
Fr. Ken