I don’t know what is going on these days but the energy creatures of the Internet have been out in force lately. The blogs I have been to the last few days/weeks have had comment strings literally in the hundreds, filled with mean-spirited hateful hurtful comments. Just vicious. After reading them I feel like I’m covered in shit and I want to take a shower. The "Christian" blogs may not have the more colorful language found at the rest, but they are just as filled with vitriol. It’s just masked in "spirituality." Nothing like a pharisee in full dress robes to ruin a conversation.
It never ceases to amaze me that pharisees come in all shapes and, uh, non-religions. And tonight I discovered another casualty of this crap. Over at NiT is a sad, sad example of this vitriolic hate-filled Internet meanness. Brittney resigned today from her role as First Blogger, so-to-speak. At least the first paid blogger for a media outlet in middle Tennessee. To understand her vital role in the creation of a true community of bloggers in Nashville you would have had to experienced it. Even though I never went to any of the blogger gatherings or commented much either on NiT or on the many, many blogs it, through Brittney, introduced me to, I still felt like a contributing, appreciated and liked member of this community. And I always stood a bit taller when she choose to highlight one of my posts on NiT. She could snark with the best, argue her point to the end but when the chips were down, or when you had a helluva victory, she would be right there by your side, cheering you on or offering a cup of encouragement. She once said she’s not a "Christian," but she acts a lot more like one than many who arrogantly claim the title.
What pisses me off the most is that even after she’d resigned the energy creatures and pharisees didn’t quit. I could not believe the hateful words written, and written and written again. It makes me sick to my stomach. How can people be so nasty to another human being??
I guess I’ve just hit my limit.
WKRN will be hard-pressed to replace Brittney. Hers was a huge, overwhelming job and she did it with aplomb and finesse. Not many could pull that off.
You? I think you should replace her.
If you could stomach the ridiculousness. I couldn’t, so I stopped reading the majority of the SBC blogs. Oooh, was that snarky?
HA! Yeah, it was. But those are EXACTLY what I was talkin’ about so it’s okay.
Hmm… Let’s see here… Brittney wrote:
“That voice is irreverent, brash, sarcastic and opinionated. I was asked to highlight other bloggers in the Nashville area and to praise them, debate them, engage them, just the same as you would on any blog.”
Seems to me that she took the first step down the path to meanness, and her readers joined the parade downhill. Typical of the media. Who will make a stand for more positive things? Christians spend more time backbiting and quibbling over minor dead doctrinal issues than in living God’s love. Who will stop the slide?
Brittney ran her sharp stick into the hornets’ nest and then complained about being stung. Granted, others didn’t need to help keep things stirred up but big-time media voices have power granted to them by sheepish listeners. Role models. The whole pack of them has taken the easy way. Who will turn around and start climbing?
I have NO idea what you’re talking about, but I’m sad about your pain. There are lots of times that human beings STINK (Just finished Frank Peretti’s “The Oath” for the 2nd time). Most of the time, in fact. Yet He loves us anyway – and commands us to do the same – go figure!
Larry,
No she did’t. There’s a big, BIG difference between debating, challenging, being irreverent and being mean. Brittney never crossed the line into meanness. That’s why the attacks on her were so frustrating for us all. She may have been frustratingly subborn and left-wing, but never, ever mean. These dogs attacked and ripped her up just because they felt they could, not because she led them down some path. Most of them, in fact, are not regulars in our community. Most do not have a blog, and had never bothered with NiT before the post in question. They came out because someone else alerted them to the post in question and for no other reason.
Alisha,
Don’t worry about not having any idea. It’s a mostly local thing… and the pain was only momentary. More frustration than anything. Yeah, human beings sometimes stink… but I think this brand of stink can only exist because of the anonymity the Internet can provide. When you have to say things like that to a person’s face, we humans are much more apt to grumble under our breath than speak such hate out in the open. Then again, not always….