Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Objectionable Comments on Christian Chat Rooms

What do you do when a member of a Christian online dating service begins making objectionable comments to other members in the chat rooms?

The administrators of most services would immediately ban that person.

For example, here is the warning issued at ChristianDatingForFree.com:

Obscenity, Inappropriate Language or Insults WILL NOT BE TOLERATED HERE. If you are found to be in violation of these terms, your profile will be deleted and you will be banned from the site.

Real Christian Singles says:

We try very hard to keep this website free of spammers, scammers and ungodly people, but occasionally they creep in. As a concerned member, you can help us keep this a friendly, fun and encouraging place by reporting offending activity. If you receive a message that you think violates RCS standards, please send us the username of the account that sent the message along with the text of their message at our contact page.

But what do you do if the offender is a pastor?

Operators of the Swedish Christian online dating service 7EHimlen ("Seventh Heaven" - no longer online) were so upset over a local pastor’s comments to several women members that they reported him to his superiors.

Now they have been accused by the authorities of breaking Sweden’s data privacy laws.

According to a report (no longer online):

The pastor, who is retired, claimed he was drunk when he posted the lewd comments on the 7EHimlen…website, and has since apologized.

…”You look like a bearded lady,” the pastor said about one woman with whom he was chatting on the site, according to the Smålandsposten newspaper.

“You look really drab and dreary. You probably have to pay for sex,” the elderly pastor reportedly wrote to another woman.

Now the pastor faces the prospect of losing his position. At the same time, he plans to proceed with a damages claim against the website.

One of the owners of the website commented: “Maybe I’ve broken the law, but from a moral standpoint, it feels justified.”

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