Internet Civility

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Internet Civility

Last week, someone attacked something I posted on Facebook, saying that God couldn’t be a male, because He was supposed to be perfect. At first, I just breezed past the comment and went on to other things. Then I thought about starting a dialog to argue with this person, but I decided FB was not the proper venue for such an argument. Finally, I realized that arguments over spiritual or theological things rarely ever produce worthwhile results, so I did nothing.

Now that I’ve had time to reflect a bit more and not answer by striking out in anger, I think I should address this lady’s comment. In fact, I want to address it on two different levels.

First, I’ll address the statement itself. I don’t know if she was trying to question God’s perfection or just His maleness. If she doubts His perfection, there’s probably not much I can say to show her that He is perfect.

On the other hand, she’s at least partially right in asserting that God is not male. He is not completely male. He has all the attributes of both male and female. He is complete within Himself, and He couldn’t be complete if He were only male or only female.

If addressing God as He or Him is what bothers her, she needs to know that up until the recent decades of “political correctness,” the male pronouns were also used to include both sexes. It’s so awkward to say “he or she” or “him or her” every time you make a statement that includes people of both sexes.

The other thing I wanted to address regarding this situation is the necessity for respect and decorum in replying to posts, whether the posts be on blogs or Facebook or Twitter—or whatever. Attacking the author’s premise is just plain rude.

If I make a statement about Jesus and you don’t believe in Him, you have every right to ignore my statement and move on to the next blog or comment. You can even feel free to ignore my posts in the future. Arguing with what I said, however, is just plain rude.

If you believe in Confucius or Joseph Smith or Mohammed, that’s your right. Say what you want to say. I don’t have to agree or even read it, but it’s not proper for me to start an argument with you in your venue.

What do you think about the need for civility on the internet?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

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Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.