Keeping My Mouth Shut On The Internet

Blame it on a Christian news Web site.

Every morning I open my Firefox browser to its homepage, The Christian Post, where I get a speckling of world and religious news. And every morning, I find myself disappointed in how divisive religion is. There's always a depressing mix of articles, from the typical stories about homosexuality in America, to Harold Camping's doomsday predictions, to billboard battles between atheists and Christians. It's just too much to start my day with. I guess I should just switch to CNN.com as my homepage, but, as a Christian, I really do want to know what religious issues are happening in the world. It's just sad that most of them reflect petty things such as Harold Camping end-of-the-world predictions—and just how many evangelicals actually disapprove of him—rather than highlighting major injustices like poverty and human trafficking.

For me, the issue shifts to, 'Should Christians just stay off the Internet altogether?' Should Christians really use the Internet as their online soapbox?

And to answer your presumed question, yes—I do realize the hypocrisy of using a blog to consider this subject.

On a serious note, I do question my own partiality to writing Web logs. I question my online musings mainly because of the crap I see on The Christian Post. It makes Christianity look like a damn high-school gossip show. "He said this...She believes in that..." I realize that when a person with 'authority' claims a certain idea or doctrine as the gospel truth, it can raise eyebrows and blood pressure. I get that. But that's exactly why I think more Christians should withhold their opinions from the Internet. Just stay off of it. And quit posting religious thoughts on Facebook, too. It's just going to make people write angry comments on your wall. If we're really witnesses to what we believe, then I would hope we'd realize how terrible we look. We will always have our opinions and beliefs, but online articles and status updates are really not the best places to share those thoughts. If you want to see things in this world get better, then write a letter to your senator. Go volunteer. Send some money to organizations that work to prevent whatever it is that's ticking you off. Philip Yancey once stated, "No one converted to Christianity because they lost the argument." A digital conversation will never be as gracious as one that's face-to-face. There may be a place for productive religious discourse on the Internet, but it's hard to find. And I find that I respect those who keep their divisive comments and opinions to a minimum, while I find it hard to respect those who are consistently posting negativity. It seems to me that, while Jesus had strong opinions at times, he mostly kept his mouth closed and showed compassion. There's an idea.