Toward a Forum Philosophy for SI

From the beginning, the forums have been one of the most interesting and difficult things about SI. Their interesting yet troublesome character is due in part to elements of Internet culture inherent in them. But that character is no less due to the fact that we, as Bible-believing Christians, have truly unique motivations and restraints to consider in shaping forum life. So a clear forum philosophy is necessary as a basis for our forum policies.

This is the first of several articles that will appear over several weeks on the topic of forum philosophy. My goals for the series are several. For one, Dan Miller has worked hard and served well as Forum Director, but would rather return to a regular Moderator role. So we’ll need to fill the FD position sometime in the coming weeks. I’ll be laying some philosophical groundwork for the forums, partly with the goal of helping identify the right person to take that job. He and I will need to be much of the same mind on the major philosophical points.

Another goal of the series is to build unity in the forum community. I’m sure we’ll never develop a set of rules and procedures that 100 percent of SI forum members love. But a well-articulated philosophy might help a larger number embrace policies with more enthusiasm—or at least comply with more patience. And if we make a successful case for some important why’s and wherefore’s, forum behavior may grow more consistently edifying as well.

Third, this series aims to give attention to some of the wealth of biblical teaching regarding speech that edifies. I was listening to an audio version of the book of Proverbs recently during a road trip and was struck by how powerfully these verses apply to the forum situation. I haven’t actually counted them up yet, but Proverbs must contain a couple of dozen short sayings that would be great medicine if we could make them pop up at random in the forums in some highly visible way!

A fourth goal is to wrestle directly with some of the perennial forum policy questions. Is non-anonymity important? Should people with less experience and fewer credentials be permitted to speak on an equal footing with those who have more experience and better credentials? And to what degree should forum speech be handled as “free speech”? Should posters advocating error be permitted to interact at any length on their unique “insights”? Should there be some theologically astute group of doctrine referees who have the task of silencing the wayward, or are there better ways to allow dissent yet prevent the damage it sometimes causes? And in the areas of disrespect and plain old nastiness, as well as doctrinal error, how should violations be handled?

Finally, the fifth goal is consider why SI should offer forums at all. What value do they have in general, and what value do they have for biblical fundamentalists in particular? And within the framework of that value, what do we hope to accomplish in the forums at SI?

Why Have Forums?

Let’s consider the fifth goal first. It’s basic to whether the others are worth the trouble. It’s also probably the easiest. No doubt others could add to this list, but I offer five reasons forums are worth the trouble to provide and improve.

1. Sure Beats TV

There’s something to be said for the recreational value of the forums. Even when nothing of great import is happening, a discussion can be simply something fun to do when you need to goof off a bit. And when it comes to recreational options, there must be a thousand worse things to do than debate the neutrality of music for the umpteenth time!

2. Community

Since stepping up to the role of Publisher a few weeks ago, I’ve received a fair number of unsolicited comments about SI (all welcome!). Many who have shared have referred in one way or another to how SI has helped them stay connected to other fundamentalists while they serve in somewhat isolated settings. Some have joined the forums with the specific goal of making new friends or reconnecting with some older ones.

In the Pastors’ Forum, younger pastors post questions about ministry struggles, and other pastors lend their advice and support. In Home and Family and Christian Ed, parents and teachers look for insights from other parents and other teachers. The list goes on.

A month or so ago, when I was wrestling with whether to pursue the leadership of SI further, the question of whether the forums are worth the trouble they sometimes bring dogged me. But as I was wandering the forums at random, I came across this heart-warming exchange about Asperger’s Syndrome. It was clear to me then that there is real value in the community these forums provide and that keeping that community going is worth the effort required to manage the problems forums entail.

3. A Taste of the Old-Time Fundamentalism

In the early years, Fundamentalism was about coming together to expose error and defend the Scriptures. People from a variety of denominations and backgrounds crossed some lines in order to clarify and strengthen other lines. But the years that followed witnessed increasing fragmentation. Scripture-loving defenders of the faith had less and less interaction with those outside their own shrinking splinter groups. There have been exceptions to this along the way, but nothing like the interconnectedness of the early years.

Though they’re not the same, the SI forums have brought back some of that old-time togetherness. They have the potential to accomplish even more in that area. A wide variety of fundamentalists get together to interact at SI every day. Though the interaction isn’t always peaceful, it is interaction nonetheless. And it’s an important shrinking of the distance among fundamentalist splinter groups.

If continuing that forum interaction can result in a stronger and more unified Fundamentalism, the forums are worth the work necessary to make them function well.

4. The Sharpening Effect

Forum threads often decline into unhelpful emoting, irrelevant personal conflict (such as implications about motives followed by defenses of motives), and debating about whether others are debating properly. These discussions benefit no one. But I have often experienced the sharpening effect of a well-focused and even tempered debate in a forum. When it works as it should, there’s nothing like it. Even when it works less than optimally, I have benefited from the exchange.

The Proverb from which SharperIron derives its name (27:17) refers to a similar interaction between friends and points out the sharpening benefits. The sharpening effect occurs when a friend has the opportunity to use another friend as a sounding board (to switch metaphors) then to listen as his friend offers a different point of view, helping him see where his thinking is faulty or where he has misapprehended facts.

When we insulate ourselves from that kind of interaction, it’s only too easy to see a strength in our positions that isn’t really there. True, we can (and should) obtain this sharpening effect in face-to-face conversation with people who know us well. But a friend who shares a particular interest isn’t always readily available in physical space. Forums like those at SI provide easy access to another point of view on a wide range of subjects, even if you live in Timbuktu (I assume they have web access there now).

5. Information for Opinion Shapers

Lately, I’ve become increasingly aware of another value in forums like SI’s. When it comes to seeing what younger fundamentalists are thinking (and how they are thinking), the forums provide an opportunity unlike anything else. Because web venues are increasingly popular places for young adults to interact, and because forums tend to feature more open expression of ideas, anyone who aspires to leadership in Fundamentalism stands to gain a great deal by watching and listening.

Even the sometimes shocking expressions of doctrinal error that pop up in the forums can be enlightening in this regard. SI’s forums have made the often-alleged doctrinal weakness of Fundamentalism more than mere theory in my own eyes. Though we might wish doctrinal novelties never appeared there, the fact that they do alerts us to particular areas of doctrinal weakness we wouldn’t know about otherwise.

I believe the forums need a great deal of work to achieve their full potential. But I believe they are well worth the work.

Aaron Blumer, a native of lower Michigan, is a graduate of Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, MN). He, his wife, and their two children live in a small town in western Wisconsin, where he has pastored Grace Baptist Church (Boyceville, WI) since 2000. Prior to serving as a pastor, Aaron taught school in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and served in customer service and technical support for Unisys Corporation (Eagan, MN). He enjoys science fiction, music, and dabbling in software engineering.