One of the recent conservative commenters on my blog decided to write to my pastor to make sure that he is aware of the sorts of views I have.Even James' world is filled with fusspots and busybodies. James is taking it all in the right spirit of course:
A conservative blog recently described me as "dangerous", and I realized that I should take that as a compliment.Indeed you should.
I agree with Jim West on this one.
to the cowardly offender who believes himself to be the thought police, and justified in reporting McGrath’s wicked views to his poor unsuspecting Parson, a word- shut up.As one who has likewise been "reported" I find yet a stronger kinship with my friend from Butler U!
What a crock! James McGrath is one of my favorite people. His book The Burial of Jesus is a real gem. People who push the outside of the envelope will always stir up the small-minded among us.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been following his blog much lately--haven't been blogging much or reading blogs much. But I will say that James McGrath writes a excellent blog, and I say this even if I am not a fan of "Lost" as he is. :) The funny thing is that he has gotten it from all sides, since some militant atheists have also attacked him as well. He seems to handle it all with aplomb.
ReplyDeleteJohn, with so much crap going on in the world (like the topic of this post) to get upset about, I want to commend you for handling so much of it with a fine sense of humor. This one made me laugh and helped cheer up an otherwise gloomy day. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey JKG,
ReplyDeleteI do think a sense of humor is a way to deal with this.
However, this is a serious issue as well. I made this comment on James' blog:
**Fighting on blogs is all good fun, but when it spills into one's personal life, career, etc. then, well, it gets personal.
Busybodies have taken it upon themselves to "report" me to my Executive Presbyter. It never amounts to anything of course, but it could.
I take it all as an occupational hazard. It is the small price we pay for speaking out.
However, I have a rule on my blog. Anyone can comment, but once someone "reports" me, s/he doesn't get to comment anymore.
It is a tough penalty, I know. There is weeping and gnashing and teeth by the banned busybodies who can no longer troll and spew, but that's the price you pay for crossing the boundary.
It is good to have an open blog, but I think there should be consequences for crossing personal boundaries.
This type of behavior, in my view, should not be rewarded by allowing these people to continue to comment.
I am glad you made this post and named what happened. We bloggers need to stand together to face this violation of personal space.
The way we do it is to say "You report us, you report my friends, you are banned from commenting."**