BDW Quoted In Blogs Become Baptist Battleground

Blogs Become Baptist Battlegrounds by Rob Marus of ABP is the second of two articles published today that quote The Big Daddy Weave. Marus quotes Ben Cole and I throughout the article. Check out a few snippets below:

WASHINGTON (ABP)—One classic joke about Baptists is that wherever two or three are gathered, there are four opinions among them. The same can be said of bloggers, and Baptists seem to have taken to blogs with particular gusto, on both the institutional and individual levels. But as a democratically governed and notoriously fractious bunch, blogging Baptists also seem to have put a new virtual twist on the time-honored tradition of contentious business meetings.

And here's me:

“Historically, we Baptists have been dissenters,” said Aaron Weaver, a graduate student at Baylor University who operates the the Big Daddy Weave blog. “The blog is merely a new medium … Baptists use to dissent when dissent is necessary. In some ways, blogs are a form of congregationalism.”

And me again:

“The format of the blogosphere disallows coercion tactics that have been employed in the past by dictatorial church leaders,” he said. “The blog medium serves as a safe haven for those who feel that public dissent is their only option.”

Both Cole and Weaver agreed blogs can lend themselves to nastiness. But, they warned, don’t throw the baby out with the proverbial bath water.

The medium is neutral

“Blogs are not inherently bad,” Weaver said. “Negative and destructive blogs are a reflection of the blogger—not the blogosphere. I suppose anonymity can lead to people being dishonest. But if honesty is an issue, it is an issue of character and not the medium of blogging itself.”

Marus concludes his article with a most excellent quote from Ben Cole:

“Quite frankly, those who lament the ‘unhealthy’ and ‘un-Christian’ character of blogging must have been ridiculously blind or purposefully naïve for the last 400 years of Baptist bickering,” he said. “That some of the current SBC leadership weep and wail over blogging, and gather round like huddled martyrs, and yet they were the selfsame provocateurs of the fundamentalist juggernaut would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.” Cole concluded: “Would Christ blog about the malfeasance run amok in Baptist life? Probably not. Neither would he sit quietly and cover the backsides of the worst denominational offenders, as some of our convention trustees seem content to do.”

BDW Quoted In Blogging Baptists by John Hall

Blogging Baptists by John Hall is the first of two articles published today that quoted yours truly.

Hall writes,

For some people, blogs are like a family reunion where people barely know each other. There’s a lot of talking going on, but there’s little agreement on much of anything. But for many of the increasing number of Baptist bloggers, that’s the beauty of it....

The blogosphere is the world’s online dinner table, where people from all perspectives can share their thoughts and opinions on what is going on in their lives and the world around them.

And here's me:

Aaron Weaver, a Baylor graduate student who blogs at www.thebigdaddyweave.com, uses his blog to stay informed of Baptist issues related to politics, but he also advocates what he calls Baptist distinctives. He believes blogging is a way to connect with younger generations.

“For the most part, the young Baptists that I know don’t read Baptist publications. They don’t read denominational newspapers. But they do read blogs; they like blogs. Many even have blogs of their own. They are exchanging ideas with each other, and they are willing to read blogs from other Baptists of all ages,” Weaver said.

“Their blogging is definitely not limited to Baptist or even religious subjects, but some young Baptists are thinking and writing about topics of interest to other Baptists. It is my hope that more younger Baptists will discover the Baptist blogosphere and become more interested in our distinctives, history and the future of Baptists.

“In our increasingly pluralistic, post-modern, post-denominational world, what is the future of Baptists? That is a question which Baptists—young and old—should be dialoging about. The Baptist blogosphere is the perfect place in which to have that much-needed conversation.”

I enjoyed the article and appreciate being asked for input. However, I do differ a little with Professor Amanda Sturgill of Baylor University who is also quoted in Hall's article.

Amanda Sturgill, a journalism professor at Baylor University, blogs on media and religious issues at aejrmig.blogspot.com. She believes Baptists, in particular, blog for two reasons—they are family-oriented, creating a desire to share their family lives with others, and as evangelicals, they believe they have something important to add to the global conversation.

Baptists may be supplying information and perspectives that Internet surfers are wanting, Sturgill noted. Research indicates 25 percent of web users have looked for religious information on the Internet.

“People from evangelical faiths have classically seen new media technologies as being a great witnessing tool—allowing believers to reach all the world in an expeditious manner. This has been true for everything from print to the World Wide Web. It’s no accident that Gutenberg’s first product was a Bible. But usually it doesn’t live up to hopes. There is Christian broadcasting, but mostly existing Christians watch and listen, for example,” Sturgill said.

I think it's safe to say that Dr. Sturgill is a newbie to the Baptist Blogosphere. The Baptist blogs that I've read for the past 2 years are focused on Baptist-related issues - theology and politics - not family. And while there are Baptist blogs that serve as a sort of "witnessing tool" - most do not. This article points to reasons why Baptists blog.

New Baptist Blogs

Here are a few relatively new blogs that are out there in the Baptist Blogosphere.

Check 'em out.

We Are Texas Baptists (texasbaptists.wordpress.com)
-This is a blog run by folks at the BGCT. Outgoing Executive-Director Charles Wade has also been contributing to this blog lately. A pretty decent blog that has sparked some great conversations.

Baptist Young Professionals (youngbaptists.wordpress.com)
-This blog is a project of the Texas Baptist Young Professional Network. Contributors include Young Baptists from inside and outside of Texas. Though I've yet to post anything - yours truly is listed as a contributor.

David Lowrie (loveandlead.wordpress.com)
-This is the blog of recent BGCT Presidential candidate and pastor of FBC Canyon, Texas, David Lowrie.

moderateBaptists.com
-This is the best Baptist site that you've never visited. Nathan White - a student at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond - has created a useful resource loaded with links and a comprehensive blog aggregator. Nathan's blog aggregator includes 70 non-SBC Baptist Bloggers, some who post every day and some who rarely post. You may have seen a link to moderateBaptists.com over at the Baptists Today website. Be sure to stop by and check it out.