(RNS) Is creepy behavior on the rise, or do we just know more about it?

In recent days, Facebook fumbled another privacy intrusion by giving its 700 million subscribers access to facial identification tools normally reserved for TV crime shows. That sent people rushing to change their privacy settings.

New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was outed as a serial stalker who trolled his Twitter followers for girls willing to talk dirty with him online.

When presidential aspirant Sarah Palin flubbed American history, her fans tried to redact a Wikipedia article to fit Palin’s erroneous version of Paul Revere’s famous ride.

Presidential aspirant Newt Gingrich was found to have a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany & Co., and an appetite for costly vacations. Candidate Mitt Romney disavowed his own identity to appease right-wingers.

While apparently not illegal, such creepiness nonetheless makes the skin crawl. I immediately tightened my privacy settings on Facebook and culled a dozen apparent stalkers from my list of “friends.” I read, with fresh interest, several articles about how narcissistic personality disorder is rampant among our politicians.

I think most people go through periods of prurience, especially as teenagers, when sexuality is both fascinating and confusing. Yet the creepiness currently on display seems different. It’s an attitude that I can do anything I want as long as no one is looking.

By this logic, morality isn’t about choices, it’s about (avoiding) getting caught. The lid being raised on the financial industry shows a bizarre belief that customers are suckers and their money is fair game for duplicity.

Politicians seem to think the same about constituents and their votes. They spend so much time raising money that they begin to see democracy’s lubricant as their private stash. Want a tanning bed in the governor’s mansion? Want to rent expensive hookers? No problem.

In the quest for power, facts are obstacles to be overcome, not guideposts to policy. Reality has no advocate and accuracy is for chumps. Send out the mud-slingers, use media to drown out truth, rewrite history, distort, distract, disgrace.

No wonder Congressman Weiner felt no compunction about turning admirers into sext partners. Under the cover of darkness, who cares?

On the one hand, none of this is new. The ancient Greek figure of Narcissus, who died while obsessively admiring his image in a pool, set in motion a genre of literature, as well as a troubling reality of psychiatry.

On the other hand, we have more and more tools for indulging creepiness. Social media create an anonymity and an immediacy that we haven’t had before. They invite lurking and provide safe cover for saying words we would never dare say in person. They enable the mean to harass with instant impact.

Recent disclosures of creepiness suggest a further loosening of self-restraint and a growing willingness to see everything — people, money, influence — as objects to be pursued by any means, as if appetite and opportunity had laid waste to personal morality and community standards.

One answer is for religion to teach morality, not just to plan festivals. I mean personal morality, not just the moral depravity of culture-war demons.

Educators could put aside standardized tests and teach standards of behavior.

Parents could worry less about their children’s career-track achievements and more about their character.

Voters could oust the scoundrels, even when we agree with their politics.

Creepiness won’t stop at talking dirty online. Left unchecked, it will undermine our society.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus” and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter (at)tomehrich.)