I mentioned here that I was taking a break. I didn’t know how long it would be. To be honest, when I decided to take the break I wondered if it might be forever. I have been processing a lot of stuff the past several months and continue to process stuff. And I don’t think this post officially signals the end of that break, but maybe a “I need to process this stuff so I’m going to do it and then keep processing some more.”
So here are the ramblings of one processing Sallie. If you are looking for a clear thoughtout essay, proceed with extreme caution.
Like most things, the internet can be a great tool or it can be the tool of the devil. There are lots of things in our world that are not inherently evil, but the Enemy certainly likes to latch on to whatever he can for his purposes. I’ve been online almost nine and a half years so I’ve watched email and the WWW evolve and change. When I got online, I didn’t know hardly anyone else in my circle of friends/family/coworkers/acquaintances who was online. Seeing a web address on a commercial was a novelty.
Slowly the web has changed from being a source primarily for research/information to a huge source of opportunities for friendships/discussions/debate/backstabbing/promotion of every weird and heretical idea under the sun. Yes, if you noticed the steady decline of that last collection, it was not a mistake.
It seems that everybody on the web has a cause. Or an axe to grind. Or, in some cases, an axe to swing. Widely.
As I’ve watched the web evolve, I’ve noticed something interesting the past year or so, especially since blogs have taken off and it seems like everybody and their brother, sister, grandmother and second cousin four times removed has one. It is a change I think is for the good.
Earlier on in the web, it seems that most Christian websites were what I would call very/extremely conservative. They promoted pet views on secondary issues (KJV only, headcoverings, views on Titus 2/Proverbs 31, dresses only, the second coming of Christ, etc.) and if you didn’t agree with them on their view of their issue, well, you were just a heretic.
I remember posting on one Christian women’s discussion board and spoke up in defense of a woman on there (who was a pastor). I did not agree with her position as a pastor, but I thought it was downright wrong the way she was being treated. She had been very polite in the conversation, but the women who were opposed to women pastors were just downright nasty. There is no other way to describe it. When I wrote a nice post about treating her with respect and having a respectful conversation, it was promptly deleted by one of the moderators. I didn’t even write in support of her being a pastor. Just in support of supposedly Christian women treating other people with respect.
I know.
I just expect way too much.
That was last fall and I took a serious break from Christian online stuff for a while. I was so disgusted by what I saw happening on discussion boards and the like that it was overriding any positive I might have been getting out of it.
When I discovered blogging I thought that it had some real potential, especially if I had my own blog where I could decide myself if I needed to be deleted or not. 😛
I knew my blog wouldn’t be about mommyhood since I’m not a mommy. And even though I can be tempted to have pet issues like everybody else, I knew I did not want it to be about a pet issue. I wanted it to be a positive, Christ-centered, beautiful place of refreshment, free from controversy and people hammering one another over pet issues.
Then this week I realized that my blog was about my pet issue.
My pet issue is people who judge everybody by their pet issue. (Read it again if it didn’t make sense.)
Since about two months after I met my husband, we have been pretty much constantly hammered by people in our lives with pet issues. I don’t mean bothered and I don’t mean irritated. I mean hammered. I really wish I could write about the details, but I can’t. It would be divulging more information about other people in our lives than I feel is appropriate.
But, yes, I am sick to death of people who manipulate, judge, blast, etc. others because of their pet issue. It doesn’t matter if the issue is headcoverings, KJV only, patriarchy, dresses only, stay at home wives/mothers, women in leadership in the church, speaking in tongues, racial reconciliation or the like (and, yes, we have dealt with ALL of those with immediate family or friends and most of them have resulted in people severing their relationship with us because we would not do it “their” way).
So I am profoundly glad to see people pushing back in a sense. I am glad to see a group of women start a blog promoting Christian women going to college in light of the idea being widely circulated that women shouldn’t go to college or that it is even a sin to send a daughter to college. When a prominent Christian gentleman wrote a blog entry basically saying that it was dangerous/wrong for women to blog about anything other than the conservative literal view of Titus 2, I was glad there was a lot of blogging and calling on the carpet over it. In the past this would not have happened. I am glad to see a Christian critiquing some of the messages coming out of places like Vision Forum.
So the great thing about the advent of blogging is that writing and thinking on the web isn’t limited to people with the skills or money to set up a website. With places like Blogger, almost anyone can have a basic blog set up in about five minutes. (On the other hand, the downside of places like Blogger is that anyone can have a basic blog set up in about five minutes. But I digress.)
Even though I might be in sympathy in some ways with the views and ministries mentioned above, I think it is in everybody’s best interest that nobody gets a “free ride” on the internet anymore. (Or when they write a book and give an interview.) If you are going to say something, then you better be prepared to back it up or retract it. As my husband says, everybody has blind spots and biases, no matter how slick their website or how many degrees or supporters they have.
So, I guess in all honesty this blog has a pet issue like most every other one – mine is avoiding controversial pet issues and encouraging others to live out their calling in God’s sovereignty, majesty and grace. And those are pet issues I’ll be happy to answer for someday. 🙂
(I welcome comments and discussion on this entry, even though I’m not sure I’m done with my sabbatical.)
Sallie,
thank you for saying this. I’m in the process of sorting some things out for myself (that might surprise a few people) and your words this afternoon have helped. It’s good to see you back – even if it’s just for now.
SDG – me
Sallie!
Well, that blog entry was worth the wait!
I, too, ahbe been online for many years and had avoided even reading blogs because I was so weary of hearing people quote their favorite celebrity bloggers. I mean, I was so weary of it I wanted to spit! Then I, too, realized that blogging is a great way for anyone sitting at home to express an opinion and to discuss issues, whether it is the best recipe or the best way to educate a child.
And thanks for the nod to College Girl. We have some great things planned for that blog and hope that we can be another voice in the conservative world for those who are still sorting through their views of women.
AND, welcome back…don’t go away again!
Love,
Karen
Great post, Sallie. I like your Pet Issue. One of the subtle things Satan has used through the millinia it is to get Christ’s true followers to break fellowship with each other over anything and everything. There is a reason that these passages are in the Bible… Mr 9:38-40 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.Ro 14:1-8 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Sallie, I enjoyed this entry immensely! Being an independent, fundamental Baptist for most of my life, I grew up thinking that people who didn’t do it just like we did were absolutely wrong. After I married and moved away from “home” I found that there are many, many people who don’t have the exact same convictions that I do, but who are serving the Lord nonetheless. I have not dropped my convictions on some of the things you mentioned, and I am still strongly independent, fundamental Baptist, but I have grown to have more grace toward others who don’t hold those same convictions. Thank you for your attempt to bring balance into the picture, something that my pastor-husband and I strive to do in our life and ministry (although many would argue that balance is just a euphemism for compromise!).
Hi Sallie,
I agree and I like your blog. 🙂
Sonya Kramm