I recently was involved in an e-mail debate with a good friend, Herb Rader who I had invited to join my blog. He e-mailed me to say he really like my blog, but when he clicked on the link which says "Next Blog" he got re-routed to a pornographic site. This doesn't always happen as it's a random link, but it does present an ethical issue - Is this something which could potentially expose participants to inappropriate material?
Herb gave me permission to open up our debate on blogger so that we can hear from all of you.
Here's my personal take:
I personally find nothing wrong with blogger. It is what I would call a 'virtual space' - similar to physical space. If anyone were to suggest that we gather all Christians together and put them into a colony in order to keep them safe, I would have to conclude the person was mad - let alone theologically misinformed. Any solid ecclessiology would reject this perspective. I would argue that when we move into the virtual space, a similar approach is needed.
I think that a person's blog is very much like property which is owned by a person. Another helpful metaphor might be the blank canvas. It is what we put in our houses/canvas/virtual space which is the critical issue.
However, there is one issue which concerns me with these social networking spaces - Many times people will look at Blogger/My Space/Xanga like a personal diary. Often blogs will be written in the privacy of one's room/office/home. Writing in a personal diary and writing on a blog ARE NOT the same thing! It could be likened to photocopying your personal diary and posting it on every billboard in the world! While we write in private spaces, the moment we publish our posts, these become part of the PUBLIC DOMAIN. That means, anyone can read them.
So why do people blog? Two reasons come to mind:
1. Agency - Blogs allow for a person to speak their mind. To say something in a world where it seems so difficult to be heard. This can often take the form of venting. All that blogs do is AMPLIFY the message being communicated - similar to a megaphone. It is an extension of our voice, and therefore allows for people to feel they have agency - the ability to be a PRODUCER/PUBLISHER in a world which demands we only consume.
Remember the word of Uncle Ben in Spiderman though - "With great power comes great responsibility." As we develop new literacy skills for navigating these new media spaces, people will begin to get what is appropriate and what is not. Always remember, if you post something, Somebody is going to read it. Sometimes this is a good thing. Other times... not so good!
2. Collaboration - In media studies, we would say that this communications technology 'implodes space and time.' What I mean is that people being able to connect over ideas speeds up and is not limited to where you live anymore. People who live hundreds of miles apart can be united in seconds. Therefore, they can connect, collaborate, debate etc. without having to leave the actual physical space where they reside. In otherwords, it fosters COMMUNITY.
When it comes to debating issues, it speeds up the possibility of bringing together a critical mass of people who want to do something together. Again, whether this is good or bad all depends upon the people and what they are intending to do. Remember, the medium amplifies and accelerates what already exists in people.
New media often bring about revolutions. Look at the printing press and the rise of protestantism (and the emergence of the modern nation-state - and the development of the individual). Change is inevitable, it is a question of how we respond to it which determines whether we sink or swim.
Blogging isn't going away. Just look at the last elections and you'll see this is true. However, I don't think that this should be reason for Christians to get into their bunkers! This is a changing culture, but this is also reality - and this world (virtual included) is where we are called to live out our callings.
Thoughts anyone on this subject? (Christian and non-Christian alike)
15 comments:
This is Mars Hill in the 21st century. Iron sharpens iron. Debate must be encouraged in order for faith to grow, in my opionion. The new way to do this is by blogging. Opinions from all over the world can be garnered.
You are right. We must be responsible for our content. We cannot, however, choose our neighbors.
I think that we should be infusing Christian ideas into this marketplace. Shouldn't we have corps next to crack houses? You want to be where people who are not Christian are. Otherwise, don't we just become an exclusive club instead of a people who can lovingly express our faith to others?
I guess my other thought is that we can have the Citadel Syndrome. We can put up our walls and venture out only into the comfortable and die a slow death by not having people interact with the Gospel.
The thing is, blogging is here to stay, at least for the short term. If this is the marketplace of the world, shouldn't Christians be there too?
We are just fooling ourselves if we think we can control this or should run from it. By the way, once we think it is controlled, there will be another form of media to take its place. It will be a new forum where ideas will be democratically, theologically and philosophically exchanged and another new place where Christians should be.
I think you have nailed this one on the head. God called us to live in the world not of the world, and for me that includes the virtual world. However, just as in the physical world we need to ensure that our blogs and our virtual spaces are pleasing in God’s eyes.
There are more than enough sites on the internet that encourage people to follow paths destructive to their own lives. So I think it can be a great witness to others to have a site that celebrates the positive and not the negative. The old saying: “why should the devil have all the good music” would seem to apply. “Why should the devil own all the internet?”
That being said, I think Steve’s warning about posting rants, vents, and anything else that might be more fitted in a personal diary is important. People unfortunately judge others without knowing them, just by a few words or actions. Ensure that whatever you post is pleasing to God and uplifting to others.
Peter
www.lublink.ca
Thanks Larry for your perceptive comments.
This is exactly a reflection of our reality. Trying to stop this new media is like the Ice Age advert where the squirrel (or whatever that creature is!) tries to stop the Ice Age from thawing out - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
Marshall McLuhan in "Understanding Media," used Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "A Descent Into the Maelstrom" to illustrate this. Poe tells of a sailor who was caught in a whirlpool who saved himself by studying the action of a whirlpool and by co-operating with it.
My hope is that we can cultivate a sound theological and practical position on this topic.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comments. I hope that this discussion can help to bring together both the extreme technophobic folk and the extreme technophilic folk. I just think we need to become "wise as serpents and as innocent as doves" on this issue.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your post. Know that you are certainly welcome to pitch in and add your comments on any of the postings!
Blogs are a tool which require a human to steer them. I'm glad to see that you are using this medium to connect with like-minded people.
Hi Rose,
Welcome to my Blog. I'm really glad you decided to sign up. Please let me know if there are any other youthworkers (or others) you think would enjoy being a part of our growing community.
I think this debate stems back to issues of fear in evangelicalism. When something strikes fear in us, we generally have one of two responses:
1. A retreatist/isolationist approach. This is like cowboys who put their wagons in a circle... This is clearly a defensive posture (which happens to make us LOOK defensive - which in turn, puts up walls with people we should be in dialogue with)!
2. An offensive/attack approach. This approach turns evangelicals into conquistadors! The problem with this approach, is that it (obviously) makes us LOOK offensive - which in-turn blows holes between us and the people we should be in dialogue with...
So what do we do? I personally believe there's a third alternative (and I can see by your response that you also think this way):
3. A 'critical' engagement approach: This does not mean critical as in criticizing, but critical as in CONSCIOUSLY THINKING. Thinking and Engaging/Acting means that we are making use of media, but not being naive. One media scholar named Maire Messenger Davies calls this 'critical connoisseurship.' This can only take place through developing media literacy skills. These skills working in tandum with biblical literacy skills helps us to sharpen our knowledge of what Billy Graham calls 'the Word' and 'the World' - and allows for a healthy 'media ethic' to be cultivated amongst evangelical youthworkers.
Such skills help guard us from both the dangers of technophobia and technophilia.
I've rambled for long enough, but I hope we will see more comments from other folk who have their two cents to offer on this issue.
Steve
The thing that has hit me personally in this media has been the ease with which the Enemy can move. Where in days gone by, a person had to physically walk into a public store to partake in pornography, the web has made it much more accessible and "private."
As adults in this newly emerging medium, we have not grown up with it being a part of our lives. Therefore, we are going to have to work a little harder to understand it and how to stay holy within its context.
We must be cautious not to be so zealous in our pursuit of knowledge, that we become blind to our own vulnerability.
We must also be discerning in who we encourage to move in to the neighborhood. What might be a fertile mission field to one, could easily become the way that leads to destruction for another.
Obviously, I am not opposed to Christians being here (or I wouldn't be), but we would be wise to recognize the very real, very relevant dangers.
Hi Jim,
Thanks so much for joining our community. We hope this is the beginning of many future conversations.
Point taken, indeed!
I would agree that what I am presenting is the missiological argument, but on a far more personal level, there are incredible dangers... and how to navigate these is of incredible importance!
Because this medium is both radically public AND private at the same time, it presents a whole new set of challenges - and vulnerability to pornographic material IS a real threat... and because this seems to be such a private medium, it is even MORE deadly. It would be foolish to argue otherwise... Again, the medium accelerates and amplifies our experiences - both positive AND negative, which means that there needs to be greater safeguards taken for protection. I would argue though that the best solution for PROTECTION is not always ISOLATION. At times this IS so, but not always.
This not only applies to the most obvious issue of pornographic material, but also to the other great temptations we all face - lying, gossip, slander etc. etc. These more socially-accepted sins are a cancer which are incredibly dangerous and seem to be a normal part of everyday virtual life.
However, this reinforces even more clearly WHY youthworkers need to be engaged in this medium (as you also recognize). It represents a frontline where we certainly need to be - which is ALSO why we need to have our backs covered!
The word "crisis" in Chinese means DANGER, but it also means OPPORTUNITY. When many of us think about the internet, we think of the amplification and acceleration of danger, but often miss that this also increases the possibility for opportunity.
I think it's all about motive and intentionality - If this is just about entertainment and self-gratification, then trouble is inevitable. However, if this is about mission and helping others, the danger still exists (and we most certainly DO need to take caution), but it will be a terrain we CHOOSE to intentionally navigate.
Thanks for emphasizing a vital point that cannot be taken for-granted in this debate, Jim
Steve
Hmmmm... (I just realised I start off a written comment with 'Hmmmm...' when I'm about to write a 'thinking while writing this' kinda comment)
Something that immediately occurred to me when I read but when he clicked on the link which says "Next Blog" he got re-routed to a pornographic site. was: Yes, but someone on a pornographic site could do the same, and end up on ours...
I don't know what people THINK when that happens and they land on StreetWar, for example. Do they skim a bit and think, "Oh, man, those christians are WHACKED!" and keep surfing? Reminds me of Paul's comments to the Corinthians:
But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"
1 Corinthians 14:24-25
Ouch. Not sure any of my blogs measure up to THAT. Do you think sometimes we're a bit closer to this one?:
So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
1 Corinthians 14:23
OK, not speaking in tongues, exactly - but I think sometimes Christianese and Salvationese seem like whole different languages...
Anyway, not sure whether I've contributed, or added to the chaos :-)
Hi Evangeline,
Welcome to my blog! If you'd like to become a member of this ongoing discussion, send me an e-mail and I'll send you an official invite.
GREAT point on the fact that we're in the blogger listing means that someone could stumble across one of our blogs - which is exactly the reason why we need to be aware of everything we write - avoiding speaking in 'Christianise' etc. Again, it's about INTENTIONALITY!!!
I don't want a blog which is an exclusive club for Christians, but rather I want a blog which is what missiologist Lesslie Newbigin called an "OPEN SECRET" - one which is accessible and breaks down the stereotypical, essentialized perception of evangelicals which we have unfortunately (if not unintentionally) constructed.
Thanks for the posting!
Steve
I wrote a comment that seemed to disappear into cyberspace when I tried to publish it - perhaps for the best.
I'll try to be even more brief by just listing a few phrases to reflect things that should be considered when thinking about the value of blog technology:
Time
Content - Quality / Quantity
Self vs Christ
I think terse communication is also an important (and infrequently upheld) blogging virtue.
Thanks for the posting 'Salvationist too.'
Just to clarify - Anyone who is new to my blog goes through my moderation filter first - This means that I need to review it first to make sure it's relevant. (Note: I won't hold back a comment becuase it differs from mine). If you'd like to be an ongoing participant/contributor, I can send you an invite.
Regarding the brevity of blogs, I see your point. I have a friend who is writing their thesis on e-communication. When writing an e-mail or sending and IM, brevity is the goal, because the point is quick, instant communication.
I think that social networking spaces provide the counterpoint to this - it provides a space where folk can flesh out their thoughts and feel they have a voice.
It's part of the democratization of media - Everyone has the right to say what they want, for as long (or short) as they want, on whatever topic they choose.
I think that it is important that everyone RESPECT each other's social spaces and how they prefer to have things, but this doesn't mean that everyone should always be brief or that everyone needs to write theses...
For my blog, I want it to be dialogical, so I encourage people to state what's on my mind. My thumb and finger won't be too tired with moving the scroll icon!
We're also all influenced by different cultural philosophies/ personalities. Many of us are more pragmatic/bottom-line folk; others are more esoteric/episodic... i.e. need to 'ramble' - and that's OK (at least, for me).
That's the joy of diversity!
I hope you will be willing to continue to offer your comments on my blog in the future - even though others might write longer postings!
Steve
I agree that blogging is a great tool for Christians to witness and debate. I have covered up the "next blog" button on my blog with a "One.org" banner. It's a great cause and takes away that random possibility.
Just my ramblings.
In His Grip,
Dave
That's a great idea Dave. Can you share how you changed the program code to do this?
Also, if you'd like to be an ongoing participant in this blog, send me an e-mail and I'll send you an official invite.
All the best,
Steve
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