Facebook disappoints Christians by refusing to introduce a cross reaction

Facebook's reactions have long been a source of disappointment for users. When they were first introduced people were upset by the lack of a Dislike option. There was also dissatisfaction with the fact that Facebook merely logs reactions as an interaction rather than taking into account the meaning behind them.

In addition to the main reactions, Facebook has introduced special, temporary additions over the months -- flowers for Mother's Day, a mask for Halloween, and a rainbow flag for Pride month to "celebrate love and diversity." Conservative Christians, however, have been told that a cross reaction is not in the pipeline.

The plea for a Christian cross reaction was made by user Hikmat Hanna who posted the image at the top of this story. It was spotted by former television and radio evangelist Joshua Feuerstein who has, to quote his About page, "turned to social media with his personal story of redemption and the hope of how Jesus Christ can heal a hurting heart." He shared the image further to his 2.2 million followers, and this whipped up something of a storm among people who felt unhappy that Facebook recognized Pride, but not their religion.

Feuerstein and his followers will be unhappy with Facebook's response to their pleas. The social network told the Huffington Post:

This reaction is not actually available on Facebook, and is not something we're working on.

Responses to Feuerstein's sharing of the post on his Facebook page drew strong reactions from both main viewpoints -- and plenty of others to boot -- but Facebook is unlikely to change its mind. And for good reason. The Pride reaction (and Pride month) was introduced to promote equal rights, raise awareness and reduce stigma. Other reactions have been introduced as "a bit of fun" from time to time, or to commemorate a holiday. None of these situations applies to the Christian cross and there is, of course, the consideration that if the cross was introduced as a reaction, reactions for a plethora of other religions would also have to be added -- and that would just become massively unwieldy!

Not to mention the fact that Christians are hardly a persecuted group like those represented by the Pride rainbow...