Apparently, My Catholic Blog Was Banned From Facebook and Instagram
Hey guys, as some of you may know, the powers that be banned my Catholic blog from Facebook and Instagram.
As you also may know, almost all of my activity was banned from Instagram unless I removed the link to this blog.
So the other day, I had to ask myself, do I dig in and continue to fight — or do I give up?
And believe me, I’m a fighter by nature. Just ask my inner circle — they could tell you some stories — and Joan of Arc is my patron Saint for Heaven’s sake.
Do I think it’s unfair that I was given no explanation for why my blog doesn’t meet community standards? Yes! Do I think I’ll ever get an explanation? No. I’m not holding my breath.
Am I also annoyed that they banned my “Catholic is not a four letter word” hashtag (#catholicisnotafourletterword) after people started using it over on Instagram? Yep!
Was it frustrating to discover that moms of plenty of other religions and anti-religions still could link to their blogs, but I couldn’t? Yes!
Don’t get me wrong, I support all moms of all faiths or no faith being able to share their blogs — I just wish I was given the same opportunity as they were.
Or at the very least, I just wish that the powers that be over at Facebook and Instagram would give me a simple answer as to WHY?!
Why was my Catholic blog banned — when so many other men and women of various faiths or no faiths are still allowed to link to their sites?
I’ve been advised by many that I likely will never know. Which, honestly, is pretty dang frustrating! Was it all just a big mistake or a case of religious persecution?
I likely won’t get that answer, but the fact that they also banned my #catholicisnotafourletterword hashtag makes me think it was no mistake.
I would love to know what exactly is considered “dangerous” about my Catholic content for the Facebook and Instagram community — but I’m also pretty sure I won’t ever get that answer.
But I didn’t establish my Modern Catholic Mom social media accounts to fight. (That’s kind of what my personal Facebook account and big family gatherings are for! Ha, Ha!)
No, I established those accounts because I am trying to share the good, the true and the beautiful over there — and I wasn’t going to being allowed to do that (especially on Instagram) until I removed the link to this blog.
So I had a choice to make.
Do I continue to report the problem on my end (I did it many times), ask others to continue to do the same (many had already reported it from their accounts) and try my very best to continue to contact Facebook and Instagram and ask for a reversal of their decision — or do I give up the fight?
Instead of just digging in and fighting (which was honestly my first inclination) I decided to pray.
Fancy that, asking God what He wanted me to do about this. Ha, ha.
People who know me, know this girl isn’t afraid to spar with people from time to time — which can be a very good thing — but sometimes it can also be a distraction from doing the thing God wants me to do in the moment.
So, I kneeled down before a crucifix we have from the Holy Land, and I asked God what I should do.
Should I continue to fight or should I “give up” and remove the link to this blog so I could get back to sharing the beautiful things of our faith?
I decided to let it go so I could continue to share the good, the true and the beautiful things of our faith, the best I could — because it is beautiful, indeed!
I let it go — not because fighting for what we believe in is wrong — on the contrary, we should fight for what we believe to be right.
But God was showing me a different way to fight. He was showing me the real battle that was going on here — and it was a battle for souls.
I had done all I could to protest this — it was time to put my eyes on the souls that God was putting on my heart….including the persons(s) who made the decision to ban my blog.
I took down my link to this blog and I decided my first post back needed to include these words….
“And to the person(s) that banned my blog, I just have one thing to say… I love you, I forgive you, and I’ve decided to pray and fast for you because Jesus loves you, too! And I hope we meet in Heaven one day and get to tell you in real life that you were worth it! I think you are and I know God does, too!”
And that, my friends, is how we win. We win with love, not hate. We win with forgiveness, not grudges. We win with prayer and fasting and faith. And that is all .🙌🏻💛🙏🏼👊🏼
Let’s keep going and keep fighting in ways the world will never understand! Love always wins!
P.S. I can not end this post without a very big “Thank you” to everybody who joined in over on Facebook and Instagram, shared it with your friends, messaged me privately, and were so amazing and so encouraging these last few days! I love you guys! You really carried me through! Thanks for being so awesome….to be continued…
10 Comments
Megan
Hey sis…I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I more expect that than anything else. I’m sorry though. Your blog would be a light to the world, especially in the minefield of Facebook and Instagram. Though I understand your approach..I still say bring this to the attention of one of the Catholic leagues or groups that have lawyers fighting this type of discrimination. I find Catholics to be quiet “warriors “ by nature…unlike our Christian brothers and those other louder groups out there letting the world know about the many unjustices against Catholics and Christian groups. I don’t believe they will stop at you, and I don’t believe you were the first. I believe the old saying that the best way to allow evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. Please know I believe your prayer is not a nothing, but is everything and very powerful. But, I do think a little public protest is good for those people out there who would never hear about this but would, and should, be outraged. Remember people, if they censor Catholics they’re coming for you next.
I love you and I’m proud of you. Megan
Moira
Thank you Megan! Yes, I do believe standing up against injustice is so important to protecting the rights of people of faith. I appreciate what you’re saying and there is much wisdom in it. Hmm….I’ll pray some more on the “speaking up” aspect, but will continue on the prayer and fasting for the person(s) who blocked me. Then I’ll have the assurance of acting out of love (which prayer and fasting gives to a soul) and not vengeance. It’s a fine line — but I agree we need to fight against the active suppression of people of faith! God grant us all wisdom and courage!
Catherine
Hi Moira – I love your blog and used to follow you on Instagram (when I had an account – since closed for some of the reasons you are struggling with). I am always interested to read what you have to say and inspired by you and your family. As a stay at home mom of 5 and previous career woman (USMC and federal law enforcement) I love reading about the topics you tackle in such a graceful and grateful way. I am not in any way questioning the answer God has given you regarding how to handle this, so I hope this comes off as supportive and not critical. I guess my question about it is; how will any of this change on Instagram if we keep “supporting” Instagram and Facebook with our accounts? That was the reason I eventually left. I made a list of all the Catholic accounts on Instagram I loved to follow and am now doing it in a somewhat less “easy” way – through looking up their blogs individually on line. Please don’t read this as a criticism of the direction you have decided (following, I am sure, serious prayer and discernment). I recognize that with your level of followers the amount of good you can do on Facebook and Instagram would be worth tolerating some levels of discrimination on those platforms. I just don’t know how to create change in these tech monoplies unless an alternative platform is created and utilized by those that feel they are being treated unfairly. Did you ever get an answer regarding why you were censored? I know you can reach alot of people on this platform that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise and understand how difficult the intricacies of these decisions can be. I guess I just continue to see a downward spiral for those posting Catholic content and promoting a traditional value system which is very disheartening.
Moira
Hello Catherine,
Well, thank you for this very thoughtful question. No, I never got an answer and have been told by everybody to not hold my breath on ever getting an answer. Basically, the reason I have not given up the account is because I feel like there is an entire generation of kids and even adults being formed by these social media outlets — and if I can even reach a small portion of those people with the truth of the Catholic faith, I guess I feel that it’s worth it to stay and share the gospel in whatever way I can. Yes, FB and Insta are unfair and unjust to Catholics or people of faith, but we just have to keep plugging away and reach one person at a time, love one person at a time. I totally respect your choice, but as for me, I feel God wants me to stay for now. God bless you and thank you for visiting and sharing!
Catherine
Thanks for the reply Moira! I am sure you are reaching many people on those platforms. I wish you increased success in that and it seems to me God gave you the talents to be successful in reaching people in this way. Thank you for being a voice of Truth on these platforms which seem to be targeting and trying to silence your efforts and those of others who have a different point of view than the currently accepted wokeness. You have my sincere admiration!
Moira
I completely respect your choice, too. I am sure God will lead you to other spaces! God bless!
Julai
Hello Moira,
I am so happy to stumble into your blog. I am searching for” catholic mom bloggers” and yours is one of the results.
I am sorry about your issues with instagram and facebook but I love how you approached it.
I find this line very beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for this!
And that, my friends, is how we win. We win with love, not hate. We win with forgiveness, not grudges. We win with prayer and fasting and faith. And that is all .
Moira
Hello Julai!
So happy you are here and thank you for those kind words! God bless you!
Moira
Vanessa
I too was banned for no reason other than I was following only catholic Instagramers….such a kick in the chicklets. Nothing surprises me anymore in this upside down world we seem to live in at the moment. Now I just visit catholic blogs and enjoy all the lovely reading so that will have to suffice. Less stress for sure and my world seems calmer than crazy social media 🙂
Moira
Hello Vanessa,
Well, I guess “tyrants gonna be tyrants”…or something like that. 🙂 I can see how giving up social media altogether would be very good for the soul. Way to take that step….even if perhaps forced upon you, yikes! So glad you are here!