Time to Respond
Published on 27 Oct 2008 at 3:25 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Misc Journaling.
A little over a month ago, I was “written up” by a conservative writer in the Churches of Christ. The write up resulted in a steady stream of negative comments to my site. Some disagreed respectfully, but in strong words. Some were down-right mean. I wrote a reflection on the experience wherein I wondered aloud about what to do with the growing stack of negative comments in my comment moderation queue.
Well, my own emotions have settled a bit. I’m assuming the heat behind some of the more inflammatory commenters has settled a bit. That’s why this afternoon I sent a form e-mail to every person who left a comment on my blog because of that story. Once I sent the e-mails, I deleted all of the comments I had left in my moderation queue.
Some people suggested that I simply ignore them. “Don’t feed the trolls,” they’d warn. And, indeed, I agree that those people who drop by a blog they’ve never read, leave a nasty comment, and then never return, are not generally worth encouraging.
However, most of these folks come from my old tradition, the Churches of Christ, and so they are family. They’re closer than general Christian family that I might find all over, they’re the family I grew up with. So I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and offer, if they wanted it, a chance to discuss their views with me.
I don’t know if any will respond. When I hit the “send” button on that last e-mail, I took a deep breath, deleted all the comments, and put it the whole thing in God’s hands.
That’s where it was all along anyway, I suppose.
The form letter…
Good Afternoon,Several weeks ago you came to my blog through an article you read at The Christian Courier. When you came to my blog, you left a comment on the post the Christian Courier article linked to, a comment that was caught in my comment moderating software. In the weeks following Wayne Jackson’s article (and a follow-up article where he repeated many of the same arguments), I had almost 30 negative comments left on my site. I made the decision not to publish any of those comments, since the commenters did not take the time to read more of my journey, I doubted they were at my blog for actual discussion. Indeed nearly all of the comments were on posts that were 3 or 4 years old.
However, I didn’t want to ignore the comments. I wanted to respond. You took the time to type it, and I don’t know what your motivations were, but I want to believe that you wrote what you wrote on my blog motivated by a desire that I might continue to seek out God’s truth–no matter what the cost.
I’m writing you now to offer my hand to you for dialogue and discussion. I’ve copied your comment below, to remind you of what you said. I would recommend, to get you up to speed, that you read my blog response to the flood of comments (http://www.jaredcramer.com/?p=990). If, after that, you would like to discuss any aspects of my beliefs, whether why I left the Churches of Christ or how I came to change my own views on the morality of same-sex relationships, I would welcome the discussion. I work full time as a clergy person at an Episcopal parish, so I cannot promise that I will respond to your e-mail quickly…. but I do promise that I will respond.
Grace,
Jared
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
parodie on 27 Oct 2008 at 4:28 pm: 1
This seems like an interesting and thoughtful approach. I hope you will continue to let us know how it all evolves!
The Postulant on 27 Oct 2008 at 5:01 pm: 2
This is a characteristically gracious response, Jared. May it bring the reward of righteousness.
Indie on 27 Oct 2008 at 9:26 pm: 3
I’ve found that when I respond similarly they don’t respond back. It’ll be interesting for you to see if you get a response.
RogueMinister on 8 Jul 2009 at 7:27 pm: 4
Jared, this week I was looking around the internet searching for church of Christ related content. I came across both this post and the Christian Courier article. I am thankful for your humble and thoughtful response to what was a poorly contrived and inflammatory article (and comments that I assume to be in a similar vein.) Thanks and I am so glad that I got the chance to meet you at Jessee’s wedding. You are a blessing!