"In our online debates, we not only fail to cultivate charity and humility, we come to think of them as vices: forms of weakness that compromise our advocacy."
I’ll have to admit that I didn’t read the whole article, but the quote that was given here…who actually believes that it is okay to act in an unChristlike manner on forums? I don’t think people here at SI think that.
I think that SI is pretty good at trying to remind people to act like Christians…even in our disagreements.
But I had to laugh at the cartoon. Oh sooo true.
Just close the window and go to bed!
I think that SI is pretty good at trying to remind people to act like Christians…even in our disagreements.
But I had to laugh at the cartoon. Oh sooo true.
Just close the window and go to bed!
Of course, what he says about online interaction is mostly true, but it’s also true of print communications of the polemic sort. Always has been. The difference is that on the web, interaction is sped up and that can fuel waves of undisciplined emotion that are more intense than might have happened in the print world.
Becky, thanks for the vote of confidence.
We’re certainly trying to encourage more light than heat here (to borrow someone’s signature line)
…. it must be an Anglican problem. 0:)
Becky, thanks for the vote of confidence.
We’re certainly trying to encourage more light than heat here (to borrow someone’s signature line)
…. it must be an Anglican problem. 0:)
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Becky asked:
who actually believes that it is okay to act in an unChristlike manner on forums?I would answer those who act in said manner, at least at that particular moment. I would submit that even the author of the article wasn’t arguing that mindset was well-reasoned out, but that his terminology was indicative of actual behavior (like the cartoon, too). When we step back from the keyboard and get perspective, the problems can sometimes become more apparent. At the immediate level, though, it is very often the case that our demeanors are less disciplined than they ought to be, or the influence of the discussion seems more crucial than it actually is.
Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN
I have thought a lot about why people get so hostile online, and I have come to believe it is primarily because we live in a society with a hypertrophied sense of justice and an atrophied sense of humility and charity, to put the matter in terms of the classic virtues.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Human nature- we certainly love the first part, as we often picture ourselves as the more spiritual one, bending down to help the less fortunate. But I realize I often neglect the whole “spirit of meekness” and “consider thyself” part. After all, how often do we truly believe in our heart of hearts, regardless of what we say, that we ourselves will be tempted in the same manner, as well as potentially fail in the same way as someone else?
I think America’s favorite emotion is indignation.
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