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I don’t really intend to pick on the OP. But in my experience here, these types of ideas usually come from folks that don’t belong to a local congregation.
It sounds like you agree that a purpose of a forum nickname is to be "safe". I agree.It's very rare that people use their real name these days on a forum. That still does not change the reality that most people realize that a "username" is not the real person's name in most cases. Your name sounds like a username and most probably would not suspect it was a real name. So your safe. I have talked on internet forums since 2004. Not once did I ever see anyone confused as to a person's username being a real name and that folks were lying. VPN is different because one is actually saying they are in a different real location when they are not in that real location. They are not going to assume that everyone is using a VPN and they are going to think you are in that real location when you are not. If the VPN simply said "hidden location" or "encrypted location," etc. then it would not be an issue. It is no way the same thing as a username on the forum. As many who try to connect the dots between these two things, they are simply not the same at all.
It sounds like you agree that a purpose of a forum nickname is to be "safe". I agree.
Absent sinful intent, that is typically the same purpose of a VPN. It's why my employer uses one.
Who cares what state or city I'm currently browsing in? Advertisers? Troublemakers? I owe them nothing. My friends, my church, my family, and the people I do business with already know where I am. And the state can know if it wishes to.
I think this is an issue of conscience and that yours is delicate on this issue. And that's OK, because it means that honesty is very important to you. But not all of us share the same conscience. As long as my intent isn't sinful my conscience doesn't bother me at all.
You seem to be equating your router’s IP address with the kind of information you are legally or for other reasons required to provide for some things, like your address or other personal details. Whatever IP address your connection routes through is meaningless. If it were as you say then you’d need to get a static IP address as a dynamic one wouldn’t necessarily be providing consistent info to whoever you are concerned might be trying to track you. It’s same as thinking you are lying if you say your car is German when some of the engine parts were made in S Korea. It has no relevant meaning.
Tech is used to exploit your internet activity and tech is used to mask your internet activity so it can't be exploited, which one do you like better? Both (in America) are legal so both are allowed.Should a Christian use a VPN or is that sort of like lying?
VPN is a virtual Private Network that attempts to tell others that you are in another location other than the one that you are at.
If you are still unsure of what a VPN is, here is a trailer promotion for a VPN company (Promoted on a Christian website).
Basically if you live in Denver Colorado, and you wanted to use a VPN (while you surf the internet), you would choose another city to show other people online that you actually were surfing the internet from a different city or location like say: Tampa, Florida.
I think this is a misinterpretation of VPN technology in order to put the blame on Christians and make them feel guilty of sinning via technological advances. Are you Catholic?
Tech is used to exploit your internet activity and tech is used to mask your internet activity so it can't be exploited, which one do you like better? Both (in America) are legal so both are allowed.
VPNs just create a middle man to do your dealings then that middle man hands it over to you, that middle man's job is to protect you so I see no ethical issue with it in concept.
You said:I recall Samuel entering the gates to anoint David but rather than telling what he was really up to he brought a heifer along and said he was there to sacrafice the heifer, and he masked the truth using this heifer under the authority of God. In some ways a VPN can be like Samuel's Heifer. This of course depends what activity you're trying to hide but privacy is allowed and we are allowed to seek privacy.
You said:Consider countries censor things related to Christian content where a VPN frees this up. Using a VPN in this case would probably be against the law but are they justified in doing so they can read the Bible? Are you justified to protect your identiy from those trying to exploit it? How about the ones trying to steal your credit card? This very message was sent using a VPN connection so if it's a lie, you're now in participation of that lie by reading this post... go a ahead and report me to the authorities and see how much they care.
There are a lot of good options, but I am particularly pleased, personally, with both Webroot and Sophos.Thank you for your input.
What is the best anti virus software for a Mac instead of Avast?
Is there a VPN out there that merely announces the location as being called: "Hidden" to hackers instead of naming a false location?
There are a lot of good options, but I am particularly pleased, personally, with both Webroot and Sophos.
You said:I think you will be able to tell from the VPN's advertising; if they make a big deal about evading Netflix restrictions, for example, there is probably going to be something that makes you uncomfortable. However, most reputable VPN services should give you the ability to select what country you connect to. Nord VPN allows this, for example, so you could always connect to a VPN server in the US, and then you would not be falsely advertising your location. You might explore Nord VPN, Proton VPN, Express VPN, and Surf Shark for some well-respected, excellently performing services. You will have to experiment in terms of your comfort level with what they provide.
But, I urge you not to be over-sensitive about this. IP address and location is a fairly unreliable and indeterminate thing. Even if I'm not using a VPN, all retail stores (Home Depot, Best Buy, etc.) think I'm connecting from Sioux City, Iowa, and I live in Idaho.
The reason that happens is entirely outside of my control (it relates to my ISP).
You said:So long as you're not attempting to deceive, but trying to secure yourself, I would say that this is not an issue you need to be overly concerned about. However, "to he who doubts, to him it is sin" (Rom 14:23), so you do need to assess your own conscience.
Lying is still lying in my book, my friend. What men do not see, God sees.
This is not the same thing. If the car is German but parts were made elsewhere, it is saying that the designer of the car is a German designed car. If the car had parts from another country it is not lying because the design is still German. The creator behind the car is still German and the company is German owned, etc.; This is not the case if you tell others online that you are in a different location with a VPN so as to access content within another country that would have otherwise been restricted to you. It would be lying about your location. So no. Not the same thing.
You really think God has any interest in whether or not you use a VPN? Seems rather pharisaical. That kind of ‘yeast’ can colour the way you think about a great many things.
You really think God has any interest in whether or not you use a VPN? Seems rather pharisaical. That kind of ‘yeast’ can colour the way you think about a great many things.
In what way? Please explain better in more detail in what you mean.
I believe God is interested in all things we do. God has the very hairs of our head numbered and He numbers even our steps.
And if you say ‘I am connected to the internet’ you are not lying by connecting using a VPN. Your location is a total irrelevance, you are not telling anyone you are somewhere else, because there is no-one to tell. It’s a nonsense question, it has no relevance to anything. Was a Pharisee working on the sabbath if his shoes had tacks holding the sole on? If someone hauled an ox our of a ditch on the sabbath was he sinning against God? Come on. There are more important things to be concerned with.
God is very clearly not a legalist. That is very clear throughout the NT. Interest in the sense of care or personal interest is a different notion to obsession over points of law.
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