Spirited public debate puts ideas and concepts on the table. All sides of a topic are free to be explored. Our country was founded on that premise. And that’s the beauty of the blog world. Everyone has a voice – everyone has an opinion that holds some value, even if only for themselves. Even me.Locking people out of a discussion only leads to mistrust. Shutting down someone’s voice only leads to dissension and lines drawn in the sand.
I don’t apologize for giving you a headache and I don’t apologize for “exhausting” you with my debate. Nor would I expect an apology in return.
I accept you and love you for who you are – for who God is leading you to be. Can you do the same?
There it is. It’s out in the open. I’m not ashamed of who I am – of who God is leading me to be. And I’m not afraid of listening to other people’s viewpoints and possibly learning from them. Anything less is pretty shallow.
When ideas can no longer be shared... when concepts can no longer be explored... that's when we've reached the end.
The only one with all the answers is God. The rest of us are left to sort it all out and make sense of it.
Of God and Football: What's the point? It's a quest for truth. Because in everything that is, there is purpose - God's purpose.
You might participate in the discussion. Or you might not. The latter ends without learning. The latter ends without teaching. I find that pretty shallow. And I don't see the transparency in that.
6 comments:
I would add a wrinkle to this idea.
The term ‘censorship’ implies that someone has control over opinion and over thought.
Definition of censor: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable (censor the news); also : to suppress or delete as objectionable (censor out indecent passages)
It comes to English from the Roman term for the man responsible for taking the census and regulating public morality.
They had ultimate power over people’s action, to the point of imprisonment or death.
I don’t believe that’s happened here. No one has control over your thought. No one has control over your ability to express your opinion -- blog or otherwise.
The government can have control over your liberty (if you commit a crime) not your thought.
Viktor Frankl talks about this in Man’s Search for Meaning. The last of the human freedoms is thought -- choices. They can’t take that away.
Just because one doesn’t agree with you, or doesn’t participate in your discussion, doesn’t make them a censor, because of the simple fact that they can’t control YOUR thoughts and the expressing of YOUR opinion.
Unless your ultimate goal is to try to change someone else’s opinion.
Then you have a burden to make a good argument founded in truth and logic.
Even then they aren’t censoring you if they don’t agree. Disagreement doesn’t denote censorship.
If they don’t want to enter a discussion with you, then that’s also not censorship.
It all boils down to power.
Censorship only happens when someone has enough power to change what you see and how you are supposed to think.
And with that thick skull of yours, someone better pack a lunch.
You jarhead you ..
:)
Dale
Dale! Wassup, ya big lug?
Man, I totally respect your thoughts and opinions, Dale. This post really had nothing to do with anything on this blog. On this blog I can say what I want (heck, it's mine - I should be able to say what I want).
And, truthfully, it's not important to me that anyone even reads what I write. I really write just to try and sort out my own thoughts (hard to rattle things around this jarhead sometimes).
This post was a generalization of people who say they want to dialogue (I could put quotes on that word), but then literally shut out anyone with a differing view.
Funny enough (not that I'm suggesting anyone is creating a cult - so, please, nobody get your panties all twisted up), but I was reading an article about the prelude to developing cults. The first step is almost always to shut out and stifle any dissenting opinions.
I'm not out to change anyone's mind about how they feel on any subject. My goal is to share thoughts, views, and opinions so that we all might grow a little - including me.
Or, we could just color the whole world blue so there's nothing left to debate. But, what if I don't like blue? There should be nothing wrong with saying it. So I do.
FYI...regarding the second part of your definition of censorship. Yeah, I've been deleted because my opinion was viewed as objectionable. And I find that a little sad.
Anyway...one of these days I'll just learn to write about fun stuff that doesn't offend anyone. I'm just not there yet.
Luv ya, bro. I really mean that.
Actually, I'll be the first one to agree with JB.
Not about the squabble (Crash, no-Crash, traditional vs. emerging churches, etc).
I agree that Christianity would be wonderful if it wasn't for the Christians.
Pious. Hypocritical.
We talk about love and act in selfishness and ego.
We point fingers. We attack. We accuse. I’m the worst among them.
I’m with JB on that. If “the student reflects the master”, then Jesus is looking pretty bad right now. I see that.
The problem with that line of thinking comes in when you look at Jesus Himself.
Even though we profess to follow Him, it doesn’t mean that we do things as well as He does them.
Jesus has none of our shortcomings. None of our hang-ups.
It wasn’t piety and hypocrisy from Jesus, because He had nothing to be pious and hypocritical about.
He actually DID practice what He preached.
So before we throw out the baby with the bathwater, and assume that since all of us stupid little humans are what Jesus had in mind to represent Himself on the planet (so that makes Jesus a phony), take a second look at what Jesus was really trying to say, what He was really all about.
His character. His life. His mind. It’s all in the Bible, there for the discovery.
He was above reproach. He called Himself God. He said He would die and rise again three days later. Sinlesss. A sacrifice to atone for sin in light of perfect justice.
All true.
That’s the ethic that we are striving for, and missing.
That’s the ultimate vertical measure.
I know we don’t stack up, but He does.
Dale
You know, I just realized something.
JB is just a kid.
You can tell from his/her writing style and his/her choice of diction and incorrect grammar, etc.
Also, his/her blog has references to beer and Jessica Simpson.
If I was a kid, and wanted to seem like an adult, I would talk about beer and Jessica Simpson.
I think that JB might be more "in the know" about this situation than he/she is letting on.
Occupation: Garbage dude? Yeah, that's how a sanitation worker defines themselves.
The pic has a caption that reads 1000 free flash games.
That's probably a stock pic downloaded from a games site, probably frequented by a tweenie.
I think we've been had.
Pretty smart, though, to be able to pull together all the necessary components to complete the ruse.
Someone probably gets good grades.
I’ll do some private eye work to see if I can sniff out who it is. ISP address searches and things like that.
Unless you want to come clean right now, JB, and tell us who you really are.
Either way, it’s all good.
Dale
Let me clarify something, just because it needs to be said. This post and this blog are not about Crash or no Crash, traditional versus emerging, my old friends versus my new friends, or any other wasted argument. And it's definitely not about any one person in particular (well, it's a lot about me, but nobody else in particular).
It's about a search for truth, a truth that I don't have at the moment.
My words, my thoughts, my ideas, my commentaries are put here for the world to see and comment on if they choose to do so.
The goal is learning and growing. Maybe I can learn from you and maybe you can learn from me.
I'm not so naive to think God is not some multi-faceted being, capable of using multiple visions of churches (or small groups or whatever) in order to reach out and grow His children. It's small mindedness to think it has to be one way.
I'll say it again in case anyone missed it the first time... ALL ideas have some value. And ALL ideas are welcome here.
This post originated from something that happened on another blog. Deleted comments and being shut out of the discussion were the precipitators. I couldn't vent there, so I chose to do it here.
And that's the dilemna. Since none of us has all the answers, we need each other in order to grow.
j.b.: I have no idea who you are, brother, but you're way off the mark. There's never been a person who has commented on this blog who isn't welcomed here - including you. Your thoughts, however frightening they may be to me, have value too. Feel free to share anytime.
Dale and Keith: Nothin' but love to both of you.
Now, I gotta go sharpen my sword.
Go Colts! :)
Yes, I bought my Peyton Manning starter LAST year, thank you very much ..
9-1! Superbowl champs!
Dale
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