Okay, so I’ve got a few comments today that have been deliberately tossed into my spam folder with the other potted meat products. I love debate, different opinions, discussion, but you can’t simply drive by and try to post sloppy insults towards me or other people making comments. There really is nothing more pathetic then a poorly worded insult.
I actually get a surprising amount of negative responses on the internet and in person, some rather violent ones, actually. It makes the kind, or even the simply rational comments and discussion, all the sweeter.
If I took all this hostility seriously, I’d be walking around in a constant state of paranoia.
As to the internet bullies threatening to dox and hack me, whatever. Been there and done that, so many times, I actually just went ahead and doxed my own self. I’m not a celebrity or a politician, I don’t have a double life to protect, nor do I particularly care what people think of me.
There are a couple of pseudo Christians however, that have made some rather obscene and hostile comments. Those actually hurt, folks, like a punch in the gut. There’s something that just shatters in my soul when I realize you’re out in your communities supposedly representing Christ, but revealing what’s truly in your heart when you attack me with some pretty vulgar and pornographic threats. If you want to know why there is so much resistance to Christ in the world, why Christianity is sometimes perceived as oppressive and hateful, it is flat out because of some of the awful behavior of those claiming to be His followers. That is painful stuff for me, I don’t like seeing His name maligned. It is heartbreaking to contemplate.
So, as usual, attempt to act like a human. If anyone really perceives my rather gentle words as a threat to their entire identity, I don’t know what to tell you. Perhaps you need to find a better identity.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
The internet breeding cowards one day at a time!
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Interesting experiences. I’ve been lucky so far.
I’ve been thinking of taking a cross-country train journey of discovery in a few months. Sea to shining sea. The kind of itinerary that would let me get off in various places and rent a room and hang out to soak up the vibe for a few days. I am wondering what I’ll find. I suspect I’m not going to be thrilled with a lot of it, if not downright depressed. But it is going to all go in a journalistic treatment of some kind. With some of the online personalities I see, though, I’m not sure my trust in my fellow man is going to be repaid.
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Oh, the train is a lovely way to travel! You should go for it. Also, in person many people tend to be nicer. You might even be pleasantly surprised on this journey of yours. 😉
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I’ve found that also. There are some really great Christians out there though. So I try not to be too critical of any group of people based solely on their most out spoken within the group. Those who feel themselves morally superior or in a place they can act in an ungodly manner are generally the loudest too. They are also generally the asshats. ignore them because you are loved.
I may not always agree with your opinions but I know how to be civil in my descent and do so in a none threatening way. I find you to be much the same in that regard. So ignore them and keep being the awesome person and Christian you seem to be. Christ did say love everyone so try and love even the bullies. Maybe a little love and they will change or maybe they won’t It doesn’t mean we have to stoop to that level.
keep writing, I’ll keep reading, even when we may not agree.
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Thanks, Michelle. I appreciated your kind words and even your disagreement 😉
“So I try not to be too critical of any group of people based solely on their most out spoken within the group.”
That’s a really good thing to remember, because it’s tempting to just throw out the whole lot of them, toss the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. Needless to say you can’t judge an entire group by their loudest and most obnoxious members.
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So sorry. I guess they hadn’t read the verse, ” hereby shall all men know that you are my disciples because you have love one to another.” (Sometimes that gets lost in dogma and hit dogs howl but don’t let it discourage you, you’re doing a great job!)
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I enjoy your posts IB and look forward to reading them. I’m always pleased when I check my e-mail and see a post from you IB. I have a little process whereby I check and delete all the surrounding messages, while i hang onto yours knowing it will finish off the session with a good thought and leave me with thinking to do. Then I get a cup of coffee, open your e-mail and read through it once for flavor, then reread it for detail and include the comments. Then I see what, if any experiences or observations it triggers and how it affects or agrees with my own constructed paradigm. Then I write a comment and reread it for structure and readability and make the necessary revisions. Then I copy it, as I have lost too many comments to rewrite them. Then i post the comment. If there are any other comments that I like or think I could add to, I then address those.
You almost always give me food for thought and have, upon occasion actually changed the way I think about my world and beliefs. Thank you very much for the energy and effort you put into your posts IB. You make a difference. When you come across idiots just remember Proverbs 28:9: “He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
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Thank you Paul, you’re very kind and you teach me a lot. I look forward to your comments and your blogs, they’re always thought provoking. Many times I actually chew on them for a while. Good food for thought, calorie free even 😉
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😀
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There are simply those times when there is nothing left to do but hit the spam button lest you would otherwise pollute a peaceful and uplifting post. A little leaven, after all, leavens the whole lump. We can’t control the world, but we can perhaps control a small portion of our own world on the Internet.
Shalom,
Scarlett
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people being a troll is one reason why I left my last blogging site. I’ve always wondering why people have absolutely nothing better to do other than be a royal PITA to someone else.
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Your last line reminds me of one of my favorite Chesterton quotes: “Get a new soul, man. That thing’s not fit for a dog.”
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What is “doxing” someone?
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It’s when you post someone’s real name and address about the internet, hoping some psycho decides to take up the challenge and start harassing them.
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Ha! Too bad for them. I have pretty much doxed myself already. Bring it on I guess LOL.
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“Doxing” is posting someone’s personal contact information–address, phone number, work information–on the internet and encouraging others to harass the victim.
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Bravo!
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People perceive what they’re open to and focused on. Dealing with negative and sarcastic comment I have come to realize that people’s comments are more about themselves and the quality of their perceptions rather than about the post. If they’re see good it is because they have good in them; if they hate it is their own perceptions that they hate. It almost never has anything to do with us or the post. Knowing this I deeply appreciate goodness and leave the haters to their hatred. Your blog is very good, which means I am good too 🙂
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“You’re mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elder-berries”…. C’est vrai! The best put-down of all time…
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#BlackLivesMatter is still so much less important than Feminism! As long as ALL women are oppressed by patriarchy why do we even worry about a very narrow oppression example – just a single race?
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