Nicole is heading to Brisbane and speaking at a ministry wives conference on Friday. She will be teaching us about sustaining our spiritual fervour. I'm looking forward to hearing her and meeting her in person.
Because we both blog, we are getting interviewed together about the whole blogging thing. We are getting asked about why we do it, how it's useful for our spiritual growth and what we perceive the dangers are. I've been thinking about it a lot in the last couple of days, but haven't wanted to blog my thoughts yet. (Which is why I've not been writing anything at all!)
My main question is this:
How responsible am I for what people do with what I write?
A very minor example. Just say I post
a poem with a rude word in it. People read this poem and it makes them do bad things, like:
a.) use the word inappropriately themselves (
"Simone posted a poem with that word in so it must be okay for me to say it to my kids and grandma.")
b.) gossip to others about how bad I am for even typing such a word
c.) think I am just so way cool to have such an edgy and under-used word in my vocabulary and bow down and worship me...
Clearly, all of these are
stupid ungodly reactions and if anyone actually did them then they would need
a kick in the head a change of heart. But, as a blogger, how much care should I take to ensure that I cause no-one to stumble? The trouble with this medium is that what I write is available for everyone to read - so should I keep everything to a G rating just in case anyone under 14 stumbles across my blog? Should I not put half formed ideas out there in case they turn out to be wrong and people pick them up and run with them without reading the meta in which they are shot down convincingly? Should I not make cracks about my denomination in case people read and quote selectively and think I hate it - when I'm actually very thankful to God for it, committed to it,
and fond of it too. Should I not critique conservative ideas about womanhood, motherhood and women's ministry in case people think I do not agree with the bible's differentiation between men and women? I could get around all this by being super careful in all I write and balance and measure everything ("of course, when I say x, I don't mean y and z, except in the instance of b or perhaps c..."), but I think I'd lose my readership pretty fast and my desire to write, too.
So what do you think?
How responsible am I for what people do with what I write?
You are asking the right question, because it gets to the heart of blogging.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is a blog? It's public though it's not a published article, it's personal thought though it's not a private journal, it's opinion though not necessarily a balanced view of even your own beliefs on any given topic.
Why do you blog? For recognition? For edification? For reflection?
The answers to these questions I know not... but I wouldn't swear on my blog.
What about the time you cause others to waste in engaging in your ideas? What about the arguments caused when people engage with your ideas? Just how often should we comment without being unhelpfully obsessed with correcting the errors in what you say - or, perchance, sycophantically agreeing with you in the hope that one day you'll link to our blog from your slightly deeper and more popular blog?
ReplyDeleteBlogs can cause people to break just about every one of the ten commandments - except murder perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much we should be consider the weaker brother we don't know (I think we should definitely consider the weaker brother we do)... what happens if some poor sop out there is so enamoured by your every word - or a poor lass so enamoured by mine... how much do we need to consider the ammunition we give to crazies by being so public.
I like this latin quote that I'm stealing from elsewhere that gives me solace on the matter - so long as I am doing the right thing and comfortable with the idea that God reads my blog...
"abusus non tollit usum". It means "misuse does not remove right use".
Izaac - I wouldn't usually swear either. But I posted that poem for a reason and in the context of that poem, I think the use of that word is entirely appropriate. You may disagree.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I blog? Might post something on that next week.
Nathan - If saying 'you fool' is murdering someone in your heart... then I think murder is very possible through blogging!
Depends if you are looking at blogging in general, blogging as a Christian, blogging as a Christian leader / teacher.
ReplyDeleteHow does James 3 apply? "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."
Hi Robin. Welcome!
ReplyDeleteYeah. James 3 does need to be considered.
I guess I don't write particularly considering myself a teacher or leader. Maybe I should.
Great post, great question. I love your blog Simone, because you get to the heart of things.
ReplyDeleteI think with anything in life when you are putting yourself out there, and sticking your neck out, there is always going to be a mixture of negative and positive response. For me,I think the positive makes the negative worthwhile. You could sensor and justify every word you said, but then you'd be bland and unreadable. No one would care what you had to say.
I think all it comes down to is you as a writer, being prayerful, and listening to your conscience, and letting the Spirits work in you convict you.
Once you do that, then the rest (how you are received) is not really your responsibility.
One thing I'd add is that when Christian people DO show the courage to stick their necks out a bit in blogging, fellow Christians seem to be VERY fast to rush in and be critical. this to me seems worse than whatever small offence the post caused in the first place.
And with the poem with a swear word. There's just too much silly hypocracy. It's like, I'm more than happy and willing to watch a movie with a million swear words, and not bat an eyelid or wonder whether it is edifying, but then a blogger friend types out a poem, not even her own, but quoting another author, on her blog, with one swear word, and I tsk tsk her? Nah. You can't do that. If you do, then never loan a friend a dvd ever again that has ANY swearing on it.
My 2c:
ReplyDeleteWe're responsible to speak with integrity, no matter how private or public the speech.
We're responsible to interpret the words of others according to their intent.
Those who engage in conversation and those who are engaged in conversation should treat each other with the grace expected of every human interaction.
Eavesdropping, by and large, is rude if it's deliberate. Rude people should stop being rude. If you want to be part of a conversation, it is required to speak occasionally.
In short, I think blogging a reasonable expression of Christian freedom, and one that enables conversations beyond what might otherwise be effectively impermeable barriers - distance, time zone, cultures...
This is a question that any writer in any medium should consider. I think reasonable care is warranted. However, as in all of life, if we take our eyes off God and fix them on others and they're reactions or try to anticipate their actions, we're going to get all messed up and so are our words.
ReplyDeleteActually in the end people will do what they want with our words. Any well known author (who, by the way, has spent months writing their book and probably done 50 zillion edits of their work, unlike a blog) will tell you of instances where people have taken their words out of context or misquoted or just plain misunderstood.
Our writing is like a child. You 'create' it, do your best with it and then let it fly. But keep your eyes on God!
I don't think James 3 is applicable - unless you are willing to apply it to everything any Christian says ever. Like discussions in Bible study groups where a participant voices a thought (though not necessarily an opinion they hold to). I would hate to think that people think of me as a teacher when I blog - I'm more a learner.
ReplyDeleteI really like your blog. It's edgy and provocative and honest. It's for thoughtful, maturing readers. I echo what Wendy says in her last paragraph. And Ben too.
ReplyDeleteI think all it comes down to is you as a writer, being prayerful, and listening to your conscience, and letting the Spirits work in you convict you.
Use wisdom, in other words. Sanctified common sense. And what's wise for one blogger might not be wise for others.
I am an assistant to a minister awaiting ordination. Soon I hope to be called to a congregation. I don't want to say anything that might be interpreted the wrong way. And neither do I want to say anything that will be interpreted the right way, but to my detriment.
That means I am guarded in what I blog about. I am trying to be interesting without being overly controversial.
That means that my blog will never be as stimulating or thought provoking as yours, Simone.
Bat on. As your reader, I wouldn't advise that you change a thing.
I really like Izaac's second paragraph about what is a blog. And I like your point about sending half-formed ideas out there where they might be shot down - and sometimes things turn out very differently to what you expect. (For example, I don't think I should have posted my post last week about leaving church - but in doing so I actually expected people to argue with me and shoot it all up. Then they didn't, and now I think, 'hang on a minute, that's not even my own balanced view of it' ... and not really want I'd want to leave there forever on the subject.) Anyway, I rambled my way through some of how responsible we are for the effects of our posts posting on High FIdelity last year ... I'll have to revisit it when I get a moment.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things I get anxious about - how someone misconstrues my words (intentionally or otherwise) is generally not one of them. I think if you're going to worry about that then you'd better not speak to anyone because people can (and will) take anything out of context to suit their own motives.
ReplyDeleteHey Simone
ReplyDeleteThanks for posing your question. I'm not a regular here, so I hope you don't mind me commenting. I have been doing a bit of thinking about blogging as a very-new, non-player with this medium. (I only just discovered what Google Reader is and does... is it any good?) Thought I'd comment since you put it out there....
My thoughts are:
1) Are you asking the wrong question? If you're trying to help wives like mine who are going into (or already in) ministry, perhaps a more helpful question you need to think through is not: "How responsible am I for what people do with what I write?" but "How am I responsible for what I say?"
2) Izaak's questions are really very helpful pointers on some honest reflections... not just for blogging addicts like you, but also for facebook addicts like me.
3) Someone the other day mentioned how helpful it would be for some bright spark to workup a theology of blogging, since it's so new and unique to the life of the church (historically speaking). If you know of one can you point me to it?
4) I wonder about the relationship between speaking publically and blogging. I recognise there are differences. But are there not some big parallels?
5) I've already just about murdered someone on his own blog... in my response to a brother who I love and who I know loves me. He just made me really, really angry. Now, I am sure that God holds him accountable for the words he used.... but I am accountable for my response to those words. In the end, I still suspect he's got his own issues to deal with by disparaging some other brothers in Christ with his comments.... but I am deadset sure I sinned by speaking shortly in my anger.
6) It would be VERY unhelpful to recommend that everyone blog. Someone I know said recently "If I started a blog I'd pretty soon get the sack!" and I think in his case he's actually correct. And it's not because people are out to get him - rather, because he would be misunderstood in a context largely devoid of the normal human... context!
7) Our words can create and our words can destroy. Once they're out there, we can't take them back. I spoke outta line yesterday in public and slammed a guy in front of my mission team. It was a shocker. I apologised to him in front of the group of people who'd seen and heard it. But I wonder about the danger in blogging of not even knowing when we've drawn blood! (At least with my situation yesterday I could see his blood spattered all over the faces of my friends..... hard to see the result of our words in the blogosphere!)
8) Sorry - gotta go to touch footy! Thanks again for asking the questions you do here about blogging. I hope I've been constructive and not destructive.
Your brother
Dave
Hi Dave.
ReplyDelete1.) I don't really see this as a minstry wives blog. More a who-ever blog. But the question "How am I responsible for what I say" is the primary one. Trouble is, this is tricky to answer. I aim to write stuff that is true and helpful. But helpful to whom? What if it's really helpful for 60% of readers, neutral for 20%, annoying for 10% and deeply unhelpful for 10%? I imagine that a lot of my more serious posts could be like this. This is what I'm struggling with.
2.) yes
3.)Ben Myers spoke about blogging at the ACCC conference last year. That's the most I've heard. Were you around for that?
4.)Speaking publicly... yeah, but I imagine it more like a tv chat show than a sermon or lecture. People are welcome to chime in with an opinion.
But it's other things too. For example, I post kids ministry stuff knowing that people like me are cruising the web on Saturday night in desperation... I'm pleased to share my ideas around. I post poems - so it's kind of like an anthology sometimes. I expect people to be able to flick between genres - If you are reading a poem, judge it by standards appropriate to the genre. If I write a poem about marriage it is going to contain truth (though maybe not literal truth) about the way stuff is ... it is not going to be an exposition of Ephesians 6 or Genesis 2 so don't read it expecting that...
So, yes... It's kind of like public speaking, but public speaking in a variety of genres.
5.) Youch!
6.) Yeah. It's not for everyone.
7.) Yes. And I think this is more of a problem for girls. More than guys, girls just tend to move to a corner and bleed quietly rather than come out and yell and shout. I'd actually rather the shouty thing. So girls, come yell at me when I write dumb stuff. Don't let me get away with hurting you!
8.) have fun. Nice to hear from you. Is Sarah coming Friday?
s
Ben - Thanks. Prayerful is good. And I like the dvd analogy.
ReplyDeleteAnthony - your eaves dropping comment is very interesting. [Lurkers! Listen up!]
Al - I'm looking forward to your stuff post-ordination! Our advice - Don't preach on any books of the bible beginning with 'G' until you're through!
Wendy - thanks. Good advice.
Laetitia - that's a pretty dim view of human nature! (possibly right though!)
Ali - The old post-pull-down! I know it well!
Thanks everyone. You've given me heaps to think about. I let you know how it goes.
I'm sure you've done this already Simone, but for Dave's sake, some links to the bits of Ben's paper that he posted on his blog can be found halfway down this list - there are three posts. Various people suggest other places to look in the comments here.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I think Dave was commenting on the context for your talk, rather than on this blog. I don't feel very much like a ministry wife, and I'd hazard a guess that Nathan would want to argue about wearing that label too...
Thanks for those links. I couldn't be bothered looking them up! I heard the talk though. It was stimulating.
ReplyDeleteAhh! Now I understand. Yes. That makes sense! Stupid me!
Hi Simone - the other thing I thought of was mystery writers. Murder mystery writers are always trying to dream up some new method of bumping off the characters that no-one but the brilliant detective (team) will pick. If someone who reads a particular story decides to do away with their 'enemy' using one of these methods, who's to blame - the perpetrator or the mystery writer for 'giving them the idea'?
ReplyDeleteThe perpetrator.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of arguement frustrates me a little, because the logical conclusion is that the only books we can righteously write are ones about flowers and ponies, the only art that is holy are pastel sunsets with a psalm quote and the only music we can safely write is lovely acoustic elevator music.
If the sole aim is to not offend, you are left with nothing of any substance at all.
I think crime novels are generally a bit lame, but that is not a moral objection. If you are going to tut tut everything with some kind of violence, and say the author than carries the responsibility of any way someone else takes it, well you can write off any fairy tale as well. And also a little book you may have heard of, called the Bible.
Wow, I'm kinda belligerant this morning.
I'm not normally into correcting spelling, but theoretically it's 'belligerent'. However, I point it out because I think it might be worth keeping for the implied 'rant' ending! Nicely Freudian.
ReplyDeleteOkay, now I'm even more ballijurant.
ReplyDeleteBen - you get my point exactly. :-)
ReplyDeleteI know this is late, but I just watched a six minute video of Paul Tripp speaking about the use of words at J.D. Greear's blog.
ReplyDeleteIt speaks about vocabulary and intent and may help you continue your considerations.
http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/03/paul-tripp-on-bad-language.html
(And yes, the clip uses a bad word)
Yes. But I'd argue that poem I quoted (complete with the f word in it) paired with the poem I wrote to partner it (http://simone1975.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-stops-here.html), actually did extend grace to those who read it.
ReplyDeleteNot pastel-coloured-pony-skipping-to-elevator-music grace, but understanding, empathy and a call to action. When bad things happen, it is important that we call them bad. Sometimes (not often) such language is called for and appropriate.
Agreed. Everything in its place.
ReplyDeleteJesus didn't stroll into the temple and innffesively quip, "oh you little rascals!". He stormed in and yelled 'YOU BROOD OF VIPERS!!!!!'*
*Last four exclamation marks, mine.
I've heard DA Carson drop the f bomb. He was telling a story of how he'd asked someone at a uni campus what they knew of the 10 Commandments and the person replied said that he could only remember 1 of the 10: "Don't f...."
ReplyDeleteIt was shocking. But effective.
I like The Whitlams music. And Nick Cave. They see things that we don't and help us to turn our face to the world in a way that understands. I quote them often in sermons. Not the swearing. But the concepts.
Just came back here to get something, but sometimes I feel like there's a balance between being a "custodian of the truth" and trusting other people's discernment too. Every now and then I will link to a particular post on a blog, which overall is not a blog I'd theologically endorse, but I sort the good from the bad - and somedays I think readers will do that too, somedays I think they won't.
ReplyDeleteBut personally, I don't rely on other blogs to be doing all the discerning for me, and the impression I get is that most readers I know don't either. But then some bloggers probably have their little fan clubs who do anything they do.