Rude Christians on the Internet
|Jonathan Acuff (whose hilarious and insightful work can be found at the Stuff Christians Like website) has written something useful over at CNN’s religion blog that explains why he thinks Christians are so rude in internet discussion. It’s a good article, and I think he’s nailed it. Read it.
Thanks to internet arguments about Creationism and Bono’s salvation, THIS is the legacy Christians are leaving in this generation. Let’s do something about this, because I’m tired of explaining to everyone that being a Christian doesn’t make me a hateful teenager who protests science and attacks gays. Surely we can leave a better impression than that.
(More articles at www.ThinkingThroughChristianity.com)
6 Comments
I’m unimpressed.
Do tell. Do you think he’s missed something?
Well, maybe I’m just out of touch, because others seemed to receive this well on Facebook, but I didn’t feel like he nailed it at all. He had an entertaining intro that displayed his skill and wit from the work on his blog, but then his commentary seemed shallow, piecemeal, and arbitrary.
I don’t think Christians are jerks online because they’re policing the internet for what they can’t change in real life — unless what they can’t change in real life is their own pathetic walk, and then it’s more a reflection of their shortcomings than an Christian proclivity to Crusade against heathenism.
There’s no question in my mind why Christians are jerks online. The internet is filled with jerks and crazies; and Christians, sadly enough, are hardly any different from most of our culture.
The ones who are won’t be found in internet fights, and most polite Christians in our culture think it’s polite to never even mention that they are Christian, so you wouldn’t know.
Which is to say, concisely, the reason Christians are jerks online is because Christians today do not act differently from non-Christians. And the ones who do, you often don’t realize they’re Christian.
To backup Jared’s sentiments, his analysis was compartmentalization and displacement. Really? I hate to be the one that points it out, but “Christians are idiots” seems a better analysis of why Christians are jerks on the web (not suggesting it’s a great analysis, just that relatively it’s better). As Jared points out though, he should get points for style, and playing the “Jesus is the answer” card.
成熟,就是有能力適應生活中的模糊。.................................................................