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A Turning Point

March 20, 2004

I think it is time to do a little personal inventory, and set a course for the direction my blog should go. Blogging for me has been about many different things. When I first began to blog my purpose was to keep a personal journal, post theological thoughts in order to present a Christian Worldview and to present a biblical view of ethics and morals, thus Avoiding Evil. Soon enough I found myself posting on a variety of other things, including quizzes, the Friday Five, personal stories, funny stories, and even some silly things that made absolutely no sense. Looking at my category archive you will see the vast majority of different thoughts and topics that I have posted about.

But, to be really honest, there was in fact a very dark turning point for me. I ventured well out of my normal zone of posting and put together my very first post on politics, "The Countdown To War - "The left is full of idiots". Though I am a strong proponent of conservatism and most of my readers are as well, this particular post brought to my site a "real live liberal." As with all of them, if you say something about liberalism they call you unintelligent and then proceed to unintelligently bash your character, which inadvertantly starts a war of comments back and forth. This happened to a small degree with my first political post, but it really 'hit the fan' with my second one, "Liberals and Democrats Hate Bush". Even a most recent post about, "The Democratic Debates" brought in some people who went out of their way to make comments over an issue that had nothing to do with the post at hand, thus starting a battle. The political issue, however, began to bleed over into the religious aspect of this blog making just about every post I came up with a bloody mess.

Looking back, at first I began to realize the large amount of hits this brought into my site. It was kind of fun to banter back and forth with some of these people, just to hear their arguments, and in some ways to taunt them and egg them on. However, in the end I have found absolutely no fruit in it. There is no joy, no fruit, and nothing good that comes out of these types of political battles between conservative Christianity and liberalism. In fact, I find them to be more draining and harmful than up-lifting and good. Case in point, a recent mess I have gotten myself into over at Citizen of the State. Le Renard being a dear friend of mine has been writing several posts dealing with the issues of homosexuality, especially in light of the recent uprising over gay-marriage. In the process I began a conversation with another individual which eventually turned into some sort of war. Through a variety of comments we called each other names and took turns trashing each other. What in the world did all of that accomplish? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Over the last year or so it has become obvious to me that it is often difficult to have a conversation with someone who believes opposite of you without getting into some type of argument, war, or at the very least get caught in the middle of a sarcastic, mudslinging, battle (myself included). Something that was once fun, blogging, talking to people, and having conversations about different things can become a monotonous, difficult, and unproductive event when this happens. It is partly my fault, and yet it is also the fault of people who come to this site or any other site and participate and egg on an argument or fight. However, I have decided that this is not the direction I want this blog to go. While, I feel that the issues, subjects, and arguments that I have presented have not been false, I realize that some of the ways I have presented some things that I have said in an ungodly, resentful way. God is bringing me to account on that. I will certainly still discussion issues of religion, ethics, and maybe even some politics, but I refuse to get into large meaningless wars over such issues. Instead, the direction I plan to go should be more uplifting, and above reproach, rather than aggressive and somewhat malicious. I do however require the accountability of my frequent readers to keep me in line. This post was just a personal note of some issues I have been dealing with and the way God is changing my heart.

Pressed

Comments

Posted by: Michael
March 20, 2004 02:56 PM

This would be one of the reasons why I never got into some of these debates and or kept my comments short and to the point. Thank you for listening to God and your willingness to change.

Posted by: Christopher
March 20, 2004 04:59 PM

Maybe you shouldn't have comments on those posts.

Posted by: Pressed
March 20, 2004 06:07 PM

That is a good idea. Although, if I were to do that then those people would cry foul and get upset because they can't say what they want on my blog, but I can say whatever I want. They would see that as unfair I think... Same concept with blocking the trouble makers.

Posted by: Doug
March 20, 2004 11:21 PM

Yours is a voice of reason. I enjoy reading your posts because you make me think. You can't be expected to "make nice" with everyone out there and if they wish to be a troll, that's their business.

I delete and ban anyone who wishes to use my web space that I purchase with my money for their uses. That doesn't mean I am closed to debate, but if the only purpose for their comment is to cause trouble, they don't deserve the right to post on my site. They can plead that they have free speech and be correct. But the right of freedom of speech and the right to be heard are two different things alltogether.

To diagnose why these people are so hateful, just read John 3:19-21 a few times.

Thanks again for having such a great blog!

Posted by: Pressed
March 21, 2004 12:34 AM

Doug,
You have hit the nail on the head. Everything I have felt about this issue, you have just said. Thanks! I do, think your site is awesome as well and enjoy reading it. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Posted by: Anonymous
March 21, 2004 05:29 PM

You wrote:
>>they are simply looking to spread their opinion in a way that attempts to make you or anyone else who disagrees sound like an idiot.

Posted by: Anonymous
March 21, 2004 07:37 PM

He also wrote: "There are some people in the world who..." which does not necessarily refer to wildape boy.

Posted by: Caron
March 23, 2004 09:24 AM

Carsen, it feels so good to accept God's grace and to give that grace to others. As a fellow Christian blogger, I understand this post very well. And I know how God works in us when something isn't right. That is what Pressed is talking about. Let it go.