Summary

Catfishing Word on the week 26th October 2024.
This week the noble art of fishing took on a new and darker meaning. Just as the fisherman casts the lure into the water to see if he can tempt the unwary fish, social media has become the pool where the naive can get caught.
The lure in the case, which came to Court for sentencing this week, was a former Ulster University student, Alexander McCartney. Posing as a young girl, McCartney contacted young girls on social media platforms snapchat, Instagram and other sites.
He then befriended the vulnerable i.e. those who were exploring their sexuality with other girls, before revealing himself and blackmailing them to send more explicit photographs of themselves for his own gratification.
McCartney showed no compassion when the victims pleaded that the pictures not be shown to their parents. He used his power over his victims to further the abuse. This has led to one death by suicide in the USA. The victim’s father, a former US Army veteran, also committed suicide 18 months later.
The global location of his victims comes with the universal usage of these internet platforms. Beginning in 2013 and continuing till 2019 it is reckoned McCartney had up to 3,500 victims from countries all around the globe.
The anonymity of the internet makes it easy to acquire a fake identity. What can start as an innocent ‘game’ can descend to a type of pornography which the fake identity can control. Parents need to have good communication with their young smartphone users to know what is going on.
McCartney’s use of the internet, the Judge said, ‘on an industrial scale to inflict terrible and catastrophic damage on young girls’. But in our sex-sodden Western world of today, with its absence of boundaries limiting access to such material the Judge may find that even his imposition of a 20-year prison sentence will not deter others.
The only lasting deterrent is conversion to Christ. When a person recognises the mess they are in is their own fault and turn to Jesus who died for them they are changed permanently (2 Corinthians 5 verses 17/8).
Our problem is made worse when we think we can fix it (or deny it) on our own. By nature, we blame the other and ascribe a righteousness to ourselves which, God has said, is like dressing ourselves up in filthy rags (Isaiah 64 verse 6).
A better way is to acknowledge we have gone astray and the way back is by Jesus who died bearing our sin for us (Isaiah 53 verse 6). Trust Jesus.