A Few Quick Thoughts

Let’s call this post a completely unscheduled and unplanned editorial. Most of you have probably noticed a bit of a controversy brewing among fundamentalists on the question of Calvinism and related matters.

SI is inevitably involved in the conflict. What I’m really hoping, though, is that SI can be in the conflict in a helpful way. Fundamentalism has frequently lost sight of important questions in the midst of the fog of war that arises from the personal conflicts (and organizational-politics conflicts) of those involved.

So, please remember a couple of things. One, we don’t endorse everything that appears in blogroll posts, much less Filings links. Two, we’re going to be working hard over the next week or so to better focus on the issues that matter most.
(I’m actually out of town on a conference-and-family trip and won’t be able to work on things directly until I return. The CCGG conference yesterday was very good, by the way.)

Ultimately, to the degree we focus on personalities, we’re not accomplishing much. When people articulate important ideas, we need to deal with the ideas—and that involves naming names to some extent. But the focus needs to remain on the ideas if we’re going to avoid the kind of unprofitable mud slugging that has so often plagued the fundamentalist movement in the past.

Whatever side of it you’re on, the ideas are too important to bury in a haze of personal conflict.