Archive for the 'Faith' Category

Self Censorship Online

Published
by
Brent Logan
on 10/3/2008
in Faith, Rants and Social Media
. 3 Comments

Gary Walter asks about self censorship — do we trade off authenticity for safety?

I gave my opinion in his comments, but because it ended up being so long, I’m reposting here (with minor modifications):

Gary, we all self-censor. People ask us for an opinion about clothing or hair style and want affirmation. They don’t want to hear that it makes them look fat or old. So we don’t tell them. We say it makes them great or young or vibrant or whatever. We’re protecting their feelings and letting them know they’re loved.

Other times we self-censor because we don’t want to admit that we’re not perfect, that we’re still figuring things out, or that we hold opinions or do things that others might consider unacceptable. This self-censorship is not about protecting others, it’s about protecting ourselves. It’s more insidious because we still justify that we’re protecting others from the conflict that might occur. But we’re just fooling ourselves.

Does that make it wrong to self-censor? I don’t think so. I don’t have to bare every thought or impulse or action just because I have a blog and a twitter account. Part of this journey we call life is learning how and when to disclose to others, who we can and should trust.

I’m not “authentic” enough to tweet that my wife and I had a fight on the way to church and then paste on smiles to shake hands and say “fine” when asked how I am. Maybe that’s part of what’s wrong with church. We need to be more open and honest about our true condition. Yet it’s hard. Those who volunteer at church, even playing the piano, are expected to meet certain standards (at least in some eyes) and is authenticity really the battle we want to fight? I’m not there yet and may never be. I rationalize that this problem is as much with the church as with myself, but am only half convinced.

With social networking, authenticity is even more difficult, or maybe it’s easier. Most of us have never met you, yet feel like we know you from your blog posts and tweets. We come to this relationship with no expectations other than that you entertain us or make us think once in a while. It’s working.

It’s when the “in real life” and “virtual” lives cross paths that difficulties arise. Those in real life don’t understand how or why we bare our lives online. It rocks their paradigm in ways they don’t understand. How dare you admit that or hang out with those people or do that?

It’s a personal decision. What do you get from online sharing? Is it a self-discovery process that could just as well be done with a private diary? Is it an ego trip where you fool yourself into thinking that the world is interested when you get your drink and piece of free fruit from the cafeteria? Or is it a way of making friends in a new world and you’d no more censor yourself with us than you would with your friends in real life? After all, why would we be authentic with you if you’re not willing to do so with us?

Maybe the real question is why would you be willing to share something online that you wouldn’t share in person?

Questions only you can answer. Good luck! And I’m looking forward to reading your answers online. ;-)

What do you think? What are you not willing to share online and why not?

Update. Check out the comments on Gary’s post. Gary responds to my comment and at least a couple others.

Update 2. Gary promotes his comment response to a new post and embeds an interview with on StrangeLove covering the topic.

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Another Vicarious Victory

Published
by
Brent Logan
on 7/22/2008
in Faith and Family
. 3 Comments

I take success where I find it. Many times, it in celebrating the victories of others. Here’s a doozy.

Last Sunday my brother-in-law completed the an Ironman 70.3 — 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. He describes the race:

I had a great swim, which is good as it’s probably my weakest of the three sports. The ride was very hilly (rolling they said, yeah right). Aside from a sore right hip and right knee from mile 40 to the finish, the bike section felt good. The run was very challenging. The course was quite hilly and my hip and knee continued to bother me throughout the run. By mile 11 the pain in my feet overtook the pain in my hip and knee so I had something else to focus on :).

My goal was to complete the Ironman 70.3 in less than eight hours. My official finish time was 6:40:29.9. I finished 1,054th out of 2,500 athletes.

Sounds like a victory to me. But there’s a lot more to his story:

It’s hard to believe that less than six months ago God performed a series of miracles to help doctors find the aneurysm in my brain. 74% of people with berry aneurysms that bleed die, 8% have neurological issues; leaving just 18% who are functional survivors. Four months ago I was returning to work after spending nearly two months in bed following brain surgery. My first training run in late March was a 2-minute run after which I felt like I’d been hit by a mac truck. My training began in earnest about 11 weeks ago. Thanks for your prayers over the past six months for our family!!

I’m in awe!

Quote of the Day — Micah 6:8

Published
by
Brent Logan
on 5/9/2007
in Faith and Quotes
. 0 Comments

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. —Micah 6:8

Pithy. Demanding. Liberating.

Pithy: Micah 6:8 may be a little long to be pithlike, but for a statement of how to live one’s life, it’s hard to get much shorter or meaningful. And it makes a great song. ;-)

Demanding: Read it again. Can I (1) act justly, (2) love mercy, and (3) walk humbly with my God? Do I? Or is it easier to demand justice except when it means I lose, more fun to celebrate that Paris Hilton is going to jail, and “human nature” to rely on God only when times seem tough?

Liberating: Does God have one single path for each of us? Only one God-chosen spouse, one career, one city, etc? Or does God give incredible freedom to choose our lives, knowing there are many ways to live according to His will? I believe it’s the latter. That’s liberating.