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Behind Closed Doors
- 04/10/08
- 34
Anonymity and accountability are topics I have returned to several times over the years. They are issues that continues to concern me and challenge me as the internet grows and matures and as my involvement in it increases. A few days ago I posted some other thoughts about accountability (Drawing Out the Infection) and thought this would be a useful follow-up.
Admiral Lord Nelson once remarked that “every sailor is a bachelor when beyond Gibraltar.” This was a statement about anonymity, something that was quite rare in even just a few generations ago. Nelson knew that once his sailors moved beyond the bounds of the British Empire, beyond society’s systems of morality and accountability, they underwent a transformation. Every man became a bachelor and sought only and always his own pleasure. If you have read a biography of John Newton you’ll see a vivid portrayal of a man who was able to be a gentleman at home but who was vulgar and abusive while away. All it took was a measure of anonymity and he became a whole new man.
In the past, anonymity was both rare and difficult. People tended to live in close-knit communities where every face was familiar and every action was visible to the community. Travel was rare and the majority of people lived a whole lifetime within a small geographic area. Os Guinness remarks that in the past “those who did right and those who did not do wrong often acted as they did because they knew they were seen by others. Their morality was accountability through visibility.” While anonymity is not a new phenomenon, the degree of anonymity we can and often do enjoy in our society is unparalleled. “For most people most of the time, their villages or towns were sufficiently cohesive and their relationships sufficiently close that behavior was held in check. In small towns neighborliness was often ‘nosiness’ just as in cities anonymity was often ‘liberation.’ But the point still stands—traditional morality was closely tied to accountability.”
Undergirding these statements is the fundamental belief that humans require accountability. Left to our own devices, we will soon devise or succumb to all manner of evil. As Christians, those who seek to live by a higher standard, we know that we need other believers to watch over us and to hold us accountable to the standards of Scripture. Passages such as Ecclesiastes 4:12 remind us that “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” The Bible reminds us that “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17) and that we are to “provoke one another to love and good works…exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Life is far too difficult and we are far too sinful to live it in solitude. We need community. We need accountability. And God has been good to give us the local church as the primary means of this accountability.
Our society values anonymity. There are many who feel that anonymity is a right and one that must be closely guarded and protected. Those who use are familiar with internet technology will have noticed the influx of tools designed to protect the anonymity of the internet user. The latest versions of web browsers come with tools designed to erase, with a single click, all traces of what a person was doing while browsing the web. Other tools allow a person to be untraceable to others as he travels various web sites. While there may be legitimate applications to these tools they are, by and large, used by those who are up to no good. Interestingly, the software developed by Christians to guard against perversion do the exact opposite—they make public what a person has done. By removing the anonymity they provide accountability.
Anonymity extends far beyond technology. It extends to the workplace where many people travel extensively, spending weeks of every year in hotel rooms where what they do and what they watch is kept behind closed doors. Many hotels make a point of telling their visitors that they can order any movies they like while keeping the titles entirely anonymous. We live in communities where we may not even know our next-door neighbors either by name or by face. When we arrive home from work we pull the car into the garage and close the door behind us. We live only yards away from people we may never meet. Churches grow larger and relationships grow weaker. We are anonymous, impersonal people in a largely anonymous, impersonal world. We live beyond Gibraltar. Guinness does not exaggerate when he writes “More of us today are more anonymous in more situations than any generation in human history.”
I have often seen the effect of this anonymity in my line of work and in my wife’s. Aileen sells products online. It is not unusual to have a person who is somehow dissatisfied with his transaction write her an email that is rude, abrasive and even filled with profanity. But invariably, if the person later phones her or if she decides to phone the disgruntled customer, the person is much more kind and even-tempered when the communication is less-anonymous. I would assume that if they were to meet face-to-face, these customers would be more civil still. Anonymity can have a profoundly negative effect on people.
I do not think that Christians are any more immune to the temptations of anonymity than are unbelievers. Guinness asks, “Why are there more temptations in a hotel room in a distant city than at home? Why do more people ‘flame’ on the Internet than would ever lose their cool in an office?” These questions are surely as applicable to those who seek to follow Christ as they are to those who do not. Christian-owned forums and blogs are all the proof we need that Christians require accountability as much as anyone. Perhaps more so.
Many bloggers and other Internet users value anonymity. A blog is understood by some to be a place of refuge and safety—a place where a person can post what is on his mind and on his heart while revealing little about who he truly is. It is a place to let loose with the anger and frustration. It is a place where a person can speak out to other people and about other people without ever having to look those people in the eye. If every sailor is a bachelor beyond Gibraltar, we could as easily say that every blogger is a pundit or a curmudgeon or an expert or a righteous man when in front of his keyboard.
Guinness says that, in former days, morality was accountability through visibility. Yet today many of us are able to remain invisible. Not too long ago I was an invisible blogger. In some ways I valued my anonymity, and yet I knew that it could be a danger. I wrote a lot and my site was read by many people, but all the while I was safely removed from the people I wrote for and wrote about. I began to see the effect of this in my writing. It became increasingly abrasive and showed a distinct lack of character. But a couple of years ago, by the grace of God, things began to change. By live-blogging conferences I had to emerge from my home office and meet many of the people who read this site and whose sites I read. This has been, in every case, a tremendous blessing. At the same time I made changes to my life, even going so far as to begin attending a new church where I could come face-to-face each week with people who would encourage or exhort me as necessary. I deliberately sought people who could challenge me and keep an eye on whatever ministry opportunities arise from my writing.
I am not suggesting that I am a model to follow. But I think that God was gracious to me in revealing the necessity of avoiding complete anonymity. He helped me understand that accountability is closely tied to visibility and that personal holiness will come not through anonymity but through deep and personal relationships with my brothers and sisters in the local church. And so I have sought to make myself more visible that I may accept correction and reproof when it is necessary. At the same time I have renewed my commitment to the One who is always watching and who knows every word I write and every intent of my heart. And so this is my challenge to bloggers and to those who comment on blogs: make yourself accountable through visibility. Commit yourself to purity of heart and to only speaking or writing what is honoring to God. And then ensure that there are people who know you, who read your words, who will lovingly exhort and correct you when you do not keep this commitment. In this way we can honor God and maintain a focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (34)
I work with the public, and I noticed a big difference when we moved to a smaller town from a large city. When I was an anonymous service person in the city, I was an easy target for people to unload their frustrations. Now that I deal with people who know they will likely see me at the grocery store or the next little league game (or as a customer in their place of business), they are much more civil.
Yes! If there is a disconnect between a person’s internet personality and real life, something is amiss. Valuable blogs are honest, which means the blogger is willing to come across as a regular human being (or an irregular human being, as the case may be), not someone that has everything figured out.
Also, with rare exception, when I don’t want my name associated with a comment or post, it’s a pretty good indicator that I should quickly press delete.
Great post.The heart of this post, I believe, applies to so very many people in Reformed circles (myself included). I don’t mean just online, but in general. It is easy to write books, share your own ideas and pronounce judgment upon folks without ever “getting your hands dirty” and dealing with people, what most would call the “Ivory Tower” theologian or teacher. We have to remember that God hasn’t called us to be anonymous. God loves people and calls us to do the same. While it is of utmost importance to remain theologically sound and faithful to the Word of God, we must remember God’s purposes in remaining faithful, and that is 1. To bring Him Glory and Honor
2. In bringing Him Glory and Honor, to Make Disciples.
How can we make disciples by remaining anonymous?The answer? We can’t. God forgive us for walking in anonymity.Thanks, Tim, for this timely reminder.
Mike
Wonderful post Tim! That’s one of the many things we love about your ministry…you are truly a man without guile.
Very good thoughts.
Newton offers an insight about accountability in courtship and marriage that also works for everyday Christian living and the Internet from his autobiography retitled “Out of the Depths” by translator Dennis Hillman (originally titled “An Authentic Narrative”). Newton says that courtship works well if there are friends who support the courtship, a reasonable expectation of fulfillment of the courtship to marriage, and conformity of the courtrship to the will and worship of God. Newton learned from his ventures into the slave trade how quickly he turned to utter depravity about women and life, away from his soul-mate Mary and the surroundings of Christian friends. Newton would learn the accountable presence of friendships in the church as a help for dealing with human depravity in the personal life and in romance,
Newton’s insight works well for accoutability among Christian writers on the Internet. I have found through some new friendships developed among Baptist Christians and bloggers that my writing and reflections on Bible lessons have gradually become sharper in my worship of the Lord and in my evangelical witness to others. This has not been without struggle in the flesh, but with the guiding cross-centered direction of the Holy Spirit, my Comforter who points me to the cross of Christ for my counting of self-centered merit to death with Christ and my reaping of good fruits in Christ.
Drawing from the book of Ecclesiastes, two is better than one, for they receive a good return for their labor. I hope that other Christians would be wise to take up this truth of Ecclesiastes and join into fellowship with fellow Christians in a confessing way on the blogosphere, and in person, to make their communication experiences and evangelical witness more fruitful engagements rather than spiritually dead engagements.
Why do manses have large picture windows? So everyone can see what the parson is up to as they drive by. As a former pastor in two rural communities I have come to put some value to anonymity. We were never allowed to be a part of the community and never allowed not to be at everything either. Constantly required to be present and never allowed to mingle.
All that you say in this post is true, but for those of us whose calling requires the absence of privacy it is very nice sometimes to shop without always being recognized. Just a thought.
Another thing I have noticed now that I pastor in the city is that the anonymity of the community contributes to a greater sense of community in the church. People crave real community in the church because of the absence of it anywhere else.
Hi TimConcerning the internet, I disagree with some of what you said. Our experience with the internet is very new as things go in the world. Early on it was very easy to stay anonymous. There were very few rules and mores about how to function online. This was due to the immaturity of the medium.
As our identities become more established online, our anonymity will actually decrease. As we become more known through our interactions, our “face” will become more well known within our circle. We have already begun to move this way. Bad sellers and customers on EBay are ferreted out and exposed. Bad posters are shut out of online groups.
Of course, right now, people can sometimes just create another persona and continue on, although they are usually quickly recognized when they return somewhere, even with a new handle. Eventually, I think, that persons wishing to interact in “polite society” will be required to identify themselves before joining. How global identity will work has still not been worked out but it’s coming.
Eventually, most people will refuse to interact in places where the infantile are allowed unrestricted access. As the internet matures, it could actually increase our accountability in those places where we choose to work and play.
Great post Tim! Our our young people (I’m a Youth Pastor) are growing up in this culture of both anonymity and false anonymity with regards to the internet. It’s so surprising to see what private things youth will throw up on the internet for the world to see but wouldn’t tell anyone but their best friend.
Anonymity is especially a breeding ground for lawless behaviour in cities, where everyone is reluctant to speak up against wrong.
Paul
Thanks for this post Tim. I am constantly challenged to be less and less anonymous. As an Elder and Youth Pastor the call and requirement to be “above reproach” is constantly ringing in my ears, accountability and not anonymity is one of the tools the Lord gives me/us to live out this mandate of scripture.
From what I’ve noticed the worst place that people hide behind anonymity are on sports message boards. Posters use pseudonyms and created avatars and behind these fake personas they intentionally become a different person and can say anything about coaches, their families, players, or other posters.
Most theological boards, have more of a check and balance on what is said, but even then sometimes charity loses out. On my blog and responses, I sign my real name, and even though I am passionate about what I write, I try to write it as if it were going to be printed and read by the people and problems I am addressing. Even with this in mind, there are times when I fail at this. God be merciful to us and help us remember that the tongue is a fire (James 3), and so are the hands on keyboards.
As to Ken’s post about the lack of privacy that pastor’s face: I echo his sentiments, especially after serving two small congregations where the parsonage was on the same lot as the church. I could not go out in the yard to play catch with my son or in the drive way to shoot hoops without somebody knowing that I was out there. It really blurred the line between ministry time, and time with my family and made it very confusing for both me and the church. But, it did make me think twice about what I did, and in many respects it kept me out of some trouble. But it really took its toll on my wife and sons as they had to live in even more of glass house then usual for a pastor’s family.
Yesterday’s sailors are today’s truck drivers and what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. However, I hardly think that social scandal and shame (something [some] sailors and [some] truck drivers ignore once they leave their home) can be used as a springboard for comparison to Christian accountability within the body of Christ.
I’m not convinced that there is such a thing as “anonymity” when it comes to spiritual matters. See Romans 1:32. Even those who misuse the Internet know that there is a higher power watching over them and that they will one day give an “account”.
Accountability is only as good as the morals and virtues of the person you are being accountable to. I wouldn’t be comfortable making myself accountable to Jimmy Swaggart or Marc Driscoll for that matter.
When I was in Bible College, my best friend invited me to the horse races in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His brother was a jockey and we were to be given a pass to tour the stables and stand down near the rail while the horses ran. I thought it was harmless but a couple of the young “preacher boys” told me it was sinful to go to the horse track. I asked one of my professors and he agreed that it was sinful. I didn’t go and to this day I wish I had. There is nothing sinful about watching horses run a race.
Bloggers will always remain invisible. We can only know what the blogger chooses to let us know and we have no way to be certain that what they disclose is genuine.
I need more Scripture to support this thesis.
Excellent post Tim. This resonated with me not only on a personal level but a community level. It seems in our church communities, we are not willing to or able to be real about who we are and what we struggle with. There seems to be a casual culture of come and go. It is just easier to keep to ourselves…to stay anonymous and to not invest time in going deep with relationships. We are robbing ourselves of the accountability, encouragement and possibly the correction we need when we do this.
Good thoughts. There’s always a balance with ones privacy. For the most part our lives need to be wide open. And of course we need to be in a local church, and have elders to oversee our lives as well.
But we need to watch out for our liberties, which can be taken away. Not our sinful habits of course, we need to grow in God;’s grace and knowledge, so we can overcome our sinful habits, and become more conformed into the image of Christ our Lord.
I heard Alistair Begg say one time: “Isn’t it a blessing to us that we are unable to read one another’s minds. If we could, we be killing one another. But God’ knows our thoughts, and our deepest intentions.” (paraphrased)
The first time that I saw Lord Nelson’s maxim in operation was during a tour with the US Army in the Republic of Korea in 1983-84. There were fellow soldiers who felt that any conduct was permissible just so long as they cleaned up their act before returning “to the world”.
I spent one long, difficult, night with a fellow soldier when he needed someone to talk to after figuring out that his wife was going to leave him after he had quit writing her, cut off her allotment, and shacked up with a Korean gal in the ville. There wasn’t a whole lot that I could tell him other than to repent of his sin, trust Christ completely, and beg forgiveness from her. Even though he had an “evangelical” background this seemed all new to him and I am not sure if he ever got right with God and man.
I think Tim neglected some important points.
First, while being under social compulsion to adhere to certain rules may have benefits both to the individual and the society, it is not a moral good, per se, and in no way distinguishes believers from nonbelievers. As Augustine says in Confessions I.xii, “No one is doing right if he is acting against his will, even when what he is doing is good.” In City of God, I think he explicitly states that it is impossible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons or with the wrong attitude, though I cannot remember the reference. A morality based on “accountability through visibility” as Mr. Guinness puts it, seems less a morality and more a cynical pragmatism—the Sociology Gospel, if you will.
Secondly, several scriptures rather overtly reference anonymity as a positive thing. I realize that they may bring up issues beyond the scope and focus of this article—I mention them as a counterpoint and not to accuse Tim of any insufficiency. Matthew 6 explicitly exhorts us to give, pray, and fast in secret, and says that those who act as they do because they know they are seen by others have no heavenly reward. In John 3:30, John the Baptist says, “He must become greater; I must become less,” which is the essence of anonymity as I understand it. John 5:13 is just one of many examples of Jesus remaining anonymous to the crowd so as to more effectively minister to the individual.
Anonymity is at the core of true humility—the attitude that recognizes that all good comes from God and has God as its end. It allows me to place principles, which point to God, before personalities, which often don’t. As C.S. Lewis says in Chapter 9 of The Great Divorce, when you have drunk of the fountain of life, “you forget forever all proprietorship in your own works. You enjoy them just as if they were someone else’s: without pride and without modesty.”
Everything said in Tim’s post about abuses of anonymity is true, but it paints an incomplete picture. Anonymity is only as good or as bad as the motive of the individual exercising it. It is not a societal problem, but rather a personal opportunity.
Tim, you’ve hit upon a real problem.
When my husband and I married a year ago I took over his web-based business, so I could work from home and he could get a “real job”. There is one part of the business he has never, and will never, let me take over and that is the e-mail. I never asked why before, but recently I found out. We sell used books, and occasionally what we ship out ends up not being what the customer had in mind. Sometimes it’s our fault, sometimes theirs. We always do our best to make it right. A few weeks back we filled an order for a handbook for a certain Christian ministry. We sent a beautiful copy, like new, but apparently not the edition they were looking for. An e-mail followed, which I never saw, which was so abusive that my husband was visibly shaken all day. He refused to let me see it and told me that it’s almost always the people buying Christian books that are abusive in this way. He said that early on in building his business he was so troubled that he considered not selling any Christian books at all. This is just a horrible commentary on Christianity in America.
It seems to me that the internet has become the new fountain from which flows the abundance of the heart. What we do when we think no one is watching is a very accurate indicator of the true condition of our soul. The “false” personas people act out for the internet issue from their true characters. Ultimately sin issues from a disregard for God. And it is God alone against whom we sin. And the internet is the perfect place for this godlessness to rear its ugly head. This brings Vegas, or the lands beyond Gibraltar right into our homes and reveals to us our hearts. It reveals to us our hypocrisy, and the sins that lurk beneath it.
This is NOT to say that I think accountability is not important. It is. It helps prevent the downward spiral of sin. And in a Christian community where we constantly preach the gospel to one another it is an important means of our perseverance as saints, and even the conversion of those whose profession is false. But we can not be with each other all the time, and we all know it. We need to remind one another that we are ultimately accountable to God. It is Him to whom we will answer. It is He who sees us when we think we are absolutely alone. What we do online, when “no one” is around is a window into the true state of our souls.
Tim— thanks for this excellent meditation, that is so applicable to Christian bloggers and anyone who spends a lot of time on the Internet.
Adam makes good points regarding the positive aspects of anonymity. When we pray in secret, one-to-one with God we avoid the temptation to “perform” in prayer, and also, we are just as easily tempted by non-anonymity (IOW, fame/pride in reputation) as in being “invisible” and able to indulge the flesh.
We live in a cultural environment that provokes both these sorts of temptations, and of course, the sin within us responds readily. So I think that we must turn to our brothers and sisters as you suggest, to give us feedback and to help us guard our souls. And we ought to pray sincerely that the Holy Spirit fill us and that God will “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”.
Well Tim, this may be one of the best articles you’ve ever written! All you say is so true. Thanks for a great look into your own walk in this area. I remember seeing that distinct change in your writing.. Somehow I think Christian bloggers got the wrong idea initially; forgot that we are disciples of Jesus Christ first, writers second. The blogosphere is much better for the Lord working in you and others to set that right.
And thanks for bringing up this whole subject of accountability. Another place to remain anonymous is by attending a large church that doesn’t hold its members accountable…that’s not very helpful.
Tim,
This topic is one that should be considerd by all believers. It is definitely putting the character of Christ in us to the test. We who blog should be purposeful in our transparency. It sounds as though you made that decision when you began posting live at conferences. I have commented many times on your blog and then last year at Shepherd’s Conference you were pointed out to me and I went up and introduced myself to you. You were encouraging and kind. It did not dawn on me until later that day that putting a face and a handshake to a blog name made a difference to me. I think it was the breaking down of that anonymity. Good stuff dude.
Thanks, Tim. This was a much-needed gentle rebuke to me.
Where does the Bible teach our accountability to each other?
Nowhere, I think.
We will certainly be accountable to God on the final day of judgement, the Bible is very clear on this.
But I can’t think of a single verse which teachers that Christians are accountable to each other.
Verses which teach that we should encourage each other, confess our sins to each other (and so on) come close, but they are not the same.
The demanding of accountability to a human judge is more a feature of state rule (where it is legitimate) or Roman Catholicism (where it is not).
However I completely agree about the risks of anonymity!
As a blogger who has often been asked to “come out” and disclose my identity, I think a lot of what you have written is valid.
That said, however, there are some benefits to anonymity:
First, many of my observations about life, faith, and church, would, if my identity were known, cast certain people mentioned in my blog in a poor light. It is inescapeable. But by cloaking myself in anonymity, I’ve cloaked and protected those mentioned. If my identity were known, however, people would know who I was referring to, and harm would be rendered unto him/her. For example, everyone in the whole wide world now knows that one of your neighbors is a nuisance (and that you, on the other hand, are a helpful, insightful, and humble Christian). If your identity were anonymous, on the other hand, the integrity, honor, and reputation of your neighbor would not have been further tainted through your blog.
Second, those leaders in the church (pastors, etc.) often live in a fishbowl existence where they must toe the party-line. As a result, there is no outlet for honest, inquisitive doubts, creative speculation, and/or unconventional thinking. Online anonymity provides the space and room to air out some of these thoughts. (I know that many of you will respond that a true pastor should be able to disclose honest reflections, but before you do, just google: Peter Enns).
I agree that many cowardly hide behind an anonymous mask. In their blogs and comments, they bare their soul, and expose their immaturity, their bitterness, their finally-unrestrained anger in all manner of ways. I hope that I have not been so. In every way, though anonymous, I have tried to be respectful. If I have seemed a little cutting at times, it is only because sometimes the truth cuts.
There are reasons, but I think i might expand on this in my own blog sometime soon. Thank you for provoking some good thoughts and discussion.
Gordon Cheng - I hear your point re. accountability, but it’s not simply a matter of finding a verse.
It is part and parcel of ethos behind the ‘one another’ commands, behind the concept of the church as a body, and the very essense of church discipline.
God held the whole of Israel accountable for Achan’s failure. Paul expected the whole church at Corinth to deal with the sexually immoral believer. The letters to the seven churches show that God held some of the churches accountable because they didnt hold each other accountable.
In our effort to avoid wrong accountability, heavy shepherding, and ‘let’s all hold hands’, we mustn’t swing too far in the opposite direction.
The real you is the you you are when you are, or feel, the most anonymous. You are what you are when nobody is looking. If some kind or degree of accountability alters your behavior, the result is a false personality. Hiding behind “accountability” just hides the real you.
Tim, this is a great post that highlights how a certain kind of anonymity can be destructive. I also think that Charles has a point about being anonymous and how the “real” us comes out when we think we are being anonymous. But in my experience, I know very well that if I make a rude anonymous comment or something like this, I’m never completely anonymous, because God always knows. The guilt factor always seers my conscience and my heart eventually.
On the other hand, I have often blogged or commented anonymously out of fear. Sometimes to share honestly about a topic or struggle can be costly if we are found out by an employer, for instance. Some of the views in the Bible are not P.C. if you are in government or if your company holds “progressive” views on social issues, etc.
Ironically, my new employer had found my blog thru a link from my facebook account and connected it to me at the time I applied for the job. My boss interviewed me after having read my blog, which I never ever would have thought possible. What’s totally weird is that my fears were totally false. As it turns out, she is in the same denomination (as are a few of the other women I work with). She actually had a favorable impression of me from my blog! And last month a group of us started a weekly accountability group at work!!!
So, I guess my point would be that anonymity is somewhat of a misnomer in the context of eternity and can strangely have the result of working to the opposite effect in people who are in union with Christ — by causing us to expose our true selves and then by having the Holy Spirit drive us to our knees, to the cross, and communion with the family of God, our Father. Of course, it always much better if we follow the original plan, rather than to ever presume upon God’s grace. …
So I work from home so I don’t generally get to be anything BUT anonymous.
Very nice. Thanks for this!
In Christ!Pauline Youngwww.benotashamed.net
I totally agree and would like to challenge you and your readers to take the next step and enter into virtual accountability. We strive to “watch over each other in love”.http://orthokardia.wordpress.com
bart
Bart wrote … “virtual accountability”
You have any “virtual salvation” to go with that?
I would like to challenge the readers commit themselves to this motto, “To be, and not, to seem.”
I don’t believe that true accountability can exist in a virtual world. By its very nature, to be accountable is to be known. And in a virtual world, no matter how good our intentions, we can still hide whatever we want of ourselves. And even if we’re not hiding, those wrong things that others might see in us and be able to point out to us, remain hidden.
Interesting and thought provoking — my background in industry has caused me to think that there are and have been several levels of communications which have different implications:
Face to faceTelephoneHandwritten letterEmail
Folks certainly act differently when speaking one on one. Unfortunately, I’m finding people do not want to engage in face to face communicates but prefer to use email. Email is not a bad tool but when used to avoid face to face communications, it becomes a problem. Having grown up in a rural community, there’s a lot to be said about interpersonal communications and personal relationships taking place face to face. Thanks for your post.
Good post Tim. Thanks for the good thoughts.
This is something that a friend of mine and I were discussing just today.
I presume that you are distinguishing a difference between blogging completely anonymously - where even your friends don’t know that the blog is yours - verses blogging with aliases - where your friends and family know that you are the author but not the rest of the world wide web? I ask because, whereas I don’t agree with complete anonymity (mostly for reasons you already mentioned), I’m not comfortable divulging my children’s names. In fact, I won’t show their faces, either. Consider me overprotective if you will. However, I’ve always displayed my own picture and recently my real name as well. Thought?
As for blogging anonymously, I have heard many arguments here and elsewhere, for the “freedom” of anonymity.. “I can refer to others but protect their identity,” “I can speak more freely than I would if my identity were known,” etc. I do not believe anonymity grants more rights than we have otherwise, pardons actions otherwise forbidden, or gives license to speak without restraint. We still should not gossip, slander, or speak ill of others. For even if the rest of the world does not know that we are the one who said it, we are still accountable to God for the sin. Agreed?