Lutherans bite! "But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another." Gal. 5:15
Sitting back and observing how Lutherans interact on the net can be totally disconcerting. Mix in the pride and the arrogance with which we treat one another together with the sense of individual infallibility (each Christian replacing an infallible pope?) and you've got a terrifying scenario.
Only thing is, no matter how much I encounter this tragedy online, it's not at all descriptive of the Lutherans I live among in the flesh. Most are kind and gentle, and rather hesitant to chew out another person. They may think the other person is dead wrong, and reluctantly tell them so, but it is mostly said with great love and a deep look of concern - with both humility and gentleness. Most love to sing in four part harmony. They love the Sacred Scriptures and ponder their meaning. They are not ashamed to be Lutheran Christians. They love their church and sacrifice to spread the Gospel. They have the highest regard for the Holy Eucharist and want others to come and share the joy they've found in Christ's forgiving love. They tend to be kind to a fault and are content to do a lot of "behind the scenes" work with no recognition whatsoever.
So why the disconnect? What is it about these blasted pixels that seems to unleash and focus on the worst and to cover over the actual lived reality? Not that Lutheran Christians are perfect by any stretch of the imagination. It's that what's often experienced of them on the net just doesn't fit reality. At least in my experience.
8 comments:
Fr. Weedon,
This is not a new idea, but a big part of it is the impersonal nature of the Internet. The Internet is in many ways an impersonal community, there is no social network we have to fit into, like we do at church, work or play, where past actions have real social consequences. We can anonymously say what we want, or say we want with our given names and simply ignore the repercussions. One is a lot less likely to chew out someone at the church when he has to see them next week. (Of course, that potential social consequences are a big reason we are kndly is an effect of the fall!)
I would agree that there are certain venues where we can definitely be that way.
There also are times when we Lutherans get ourselves involved in an important discussion, and if our facial expressions, voice inflection, posture, etc. could be seen, it would be clear that we are expressing ourselves with the utmost respect and desire to communicate with each other....but with only words and print, and the nature of the back and forth solliloquys that are the case with emails and blog comments, the writer's intended tone can get lost. The more strongly they feel about a subject, sometimes the more likely this is to occur.
Sometimes also, someone gets into these discussions and because of a sensitive nature, easily feels attacked or criticized, when that was not the intention of the responder.
All of these unfortunately are realities in all human interaction, but the fact that we are interacting indirectly exaggerates it.
We (and by that I include myself) need to keep in mind the inherent weaknesses of this mode of communication when we choose to use it.
My sincerest apologies (to anyone) if I have ever come across that way. I can't remember a time ever where that was my intention. Thank you, Pastor, for the reminder.
I think part of it might be that the internet can be a bit of escapism - looking at stuff on the internet can take us away from where we are at. As such, with most things that are escapism, we let ourselves show frustration and poor behavior more often - especially when we are looking for a nice break - and then someone says something that sounds/feels/could be an attack on us/something we think/he looked at me funny and we throw in our shots. The joys of a good old fashioned flame war.
Sometimes I wonder if the tendency to "bite" is part of Lutheran identity. The Reformers occasionally wrote things that would make a blogger blush. And when one is convinced that one's own stand is on the side of truth, polemic is an all-too-easy option.
I think the impersonal nature of the web simply makes easier what we often forget...that each of us and we together, not merely "the other" have fallen short of God's glory. But from our beginnings, Lutherans have had an enormous hunger to bite others through our words.
Humor is good antedote at times.
Pr. Will,
Could it be too that they do not want to be silent any longer? Sometimes I think they are tired of being ignored and put in a corner when they think they have something vital to say, so they come out swinging.
Lito
The internet is a bit like driving in that it tends to bring out the old Adam in us under the protective security of anonymity and impersonalness.
Cyber-rage, road-rage - all pretty much the same thing, the twitching reflexes of old Adam.
Too true, Pastor C, too true...
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