(Ir)religiosity

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We need a Christian ethic of blogging

Comments

I agree with N.T. Wright:

“It really is high time we developed a Christian ethic of blogging. Bad temper is bad temper even in the apparent privacy of your own hard drive, and harsh and unjust words, when released into the wild, rampage around and do real damage. And as for the practice of saying mean an unjust things behind a pseudonym – well if I get a letter like that it goes straight in the bin. But the cyberspace equivalents of road rage don’t happen by accident. People who type vicious, angry, slanderous and inaccurate accusations do so because they feel their worldview to be under attack.” (ht)

I couldn’t agree more.  Blogging is at the same time both great and dangerous.  It brings out the best and the worst in us.  I am grateful for the many friends that I have made through this platform but I get really put out with the slander and hateful words that are put forth under the auspices of speaking the truth or defending the faith, or whatever else.  As Christians we have a great opportunity to have rich and robust conversation and to model what charitable dialogue and respectful disagreement might look like.  At our best we do that well, but sometimes we blow it.

I’m here because I want to do that well.  I blow it sometimes too, but I hope to create space for kind discussion and participate generous conversation with others.

The last sentence of the above quote is spot on I think.  People tend to really lash out when they perceive their particular worldview to be under attack (which is all the more interesting when you consider that Christianity does not offer a single worldview).  And the detached, abstract nature of commenting on blog without the dynamics of a face to face encounter are enough to make some people brave enough to type something they otherwise probably wouldn’t say directly to another’s face.

Maybe that’s a good way of approaching it — in the same way you would a face to face conversation.  Either way, I think there is always room for improvement.  We’ve got to be better at treating one another like children of God in our blogging and especially in our commenting.

Written by Blake Huggins

May 11th, 2009 at 7:30 am

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged with , , , , , , ,

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  • Mark
    Nailed it. But hypocrisy reigns. Just last week an incredibly hostile "Wesley blog" owner accused a church bishop of "peeing on his leg" then provided a link to this article! The irony!
  • How about we give the free market a try? If someone is writing a truley vile blog, I would think most Christians would avoid it. There is enough censorship out there.
  • Well, I sure wouldn't want to implement some sort of Big Brother-ish censor system. That would be more trouble that it is worth not to mention limiting. I agree that most of us would avoid a "truely vile blog," but it my experience that is not that problem. The problem is passionate readers writing a heated comment and posting it before they take time to think it over. I know I have done that before. So, if anything, I would like us to always be mindful of who and what we are representing every time we write something online.
  • Blake, I truly get what you are after here. But I would only suggest that a list of ethics can only be a pale reflection to the call to love. It's simpler too.
  • I see what you mean. I'm personally a little suspicious of traditional ethical system for precisely that reason. They tend to be disembodied, scientific systems and codifications that are thought up outside specific circumstances and contexts. I guess what I'm getting at with our blogging behavior is that remember who we are by taking seriously the call to love and to be a people of reconciliation and ask ourselves before we hastily click the submit button if we will truly be reflecting the image of God through our words. For what it's worth, you are one of the best examples of that that I know of in the blogosophere. Keep it up!
  • Thanks Blake.
  • Good stuff here, Blake.

    It's always easier to spew venom than to peacefully and prayerfully construct a publicly expressed viewpoint. All too often, we bloggers only consider OUR audience when writing...but we forget that when we click "publish", the entire world has access to our musings.

    I liken this tendency to that of driving in rush hour. It's always disconcerting to me when people with a Jesus fish or religious bumper sticker are swerving in-and-out of traffic, honking their horn, and flipping people off as they pass.

    When a person who is publicly Christian chooses to mistreat others in the blogosphere, they are setting a bad example (and playing right into the stereotypes that many people have about Christian hypocracy).

    Thanks for the thoughtful post!
  • You raise a good point. Can we even place limits on our audience when we blog? I don't think we can. That's something we should all keep in mind.
  • accidental seminarian
    I couldn't agree more. I am always shocked and horrified at the way some Christians speak to one another face-to-face. It only stands to reason that, when using a blog, the same individuals would behave in the same way. The consequence of such actions are rarely considered. However, when read in the cold light of day by anyone in opposition to religious / Christian world views (note the plural) it stokes the fire of their opposition and, dare I say oft times, their resentment and hostility!
  • Jim Marks
    Wouldn't a Christian Ethic of Blogging basically boil down to behaving as we're called to behave through our faith? That is to say love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?
  • Indeed. It is amazing to me how fast we abandon those for the sake of cheap rhetorical points at times.
  • Jim Marks
    And how quickly we abandon them in the name of correcting wrong teaching/thinking and/or providing "tough love" to a fellow believer who is getting onto the wrong track.



    HUBRIS.
  • Most of this comes down to the discernment of the writer and the commenter. I agree it is way too easy for people to slander others online and somehow we always need to keep in mind of how our words, with no voice to them, could come across.
  • I agree. The problem is when you're by yourself (which is when blogging and commenting happens) and sometimes in the heat of the moment it is easy to bypass that discernment.
  • Another factor that coincides with the disembodied nature of blogging, is that its a highly individualized practice. Perhaps blogging communities are a next step in the evolution of good blogging. Therein posts are submitted and reviewed by the group, refined, then posted.

    On the other hand, there will always be folks who use blogging to vent their anxieties and fears. But for those of us who claim a great command way of living, the expectation is higher.
  • I think more communities would be great. That who also help remedy some of the inherent narcissism in blogging and other forms of social media. I like your idea though. Sort of like an open-source, collaborative blogging consortium. That sounds cool. Thanks for stopping by!
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