A long-winded statement of intent
Monday, December 28, 2009 by the BCth
A dear friend of mine privately expressed his disapproval of a certain action I recently took, namely posting a link to this blog on his friend's Facebook wall. This was offensive and uncalled-for, he said, considering the beliefs of that friend in contrast with some of my views expressed here. In retrospect, I see his point very well. I have since apologized and undone that ill-considered action. I had already stopped the practice of tagging Facebook friends in my notes imported from here, because that can easily be viewed as spam and I hate spam as much as anyone else. Unsolicited links certainly fall into that category as well, and I was in error to do what I did.
That being said, I don't apologize for my views and I don't think I should have to. I make some effort to qualify my statements of opinion, but to do that constantly would be tiring and would make my prose plodding. I rest assured that my readers, whoever they are, can and will use their own discernment to filter my words. I myself can end up disagreeing with my own words later, so how can I expect anyone else to agree with me? That's not the point. The point is to express myself freely. To censor that expression would defeat the purpose of keeping a blog in the first place.
This same friend characterized my views as “anti-Christian.” I understand they appear so to his mind, and he is welcome to see it that way; however, I see it differently. To disagree with certain aspects of a particular belief system, and to voice that disagreement, is not necessarily to attack the whole. And for someone to take such criticism of their belief system as an attack on them personally is, I think, a result of the misidentification of the ego with that belief system. I am not my beliefs, just as I am not my body or my name or my occupation. Those are things that I have, and they are all temporary. I do not go out of my way to insult Christians or anyone else; nevertheless, there will always be individuals who take offense. I realize that I have not always chosen my words as carefully as I could have, and that is unfortunate. But I am not perfect and I don't claim to be. In cases where my words might cause offense, all I can do is hope for the offended party's forgiveness and understanding.
No one is forced to read my blog. If I may have promoted it a little too enthusiastically before, I no longer do so. I shall be content to simply keep on writing and let those who are attracted come, and those who are not, go elsewhere. That's the beauty of the Internet: barring the odd blind link, everyone gets to choose pretty much exactly what to allow into their consciousness.
Everyone is on their own, personal journey in life. There are longer and shorter paths, more pleasant and less pleasant paths, easier and harder paths, lighter and darker paths, but no path is better or worse than another. The continuing existence of this blog constitutes an open invitation to walk a step with the writer, hear what is going through his mind at the moment, and, if you are so inclined, to freely offer your own thoughts in return. His sincere intent is for this exercise in sharing to be mutually beneficial and/or interesting. If it were not, there would be no reason to engage in it.
Huh boy, do I take myself seriously or what? Well, I am in a bit of a funk, so... (shrug). Now I go to transmute this melancholy into peace, perhaps even joy, through a little spot of active meditation. Good luck to me. (small smile)
That being said, I don't apologize for my views and I don't think I should have to. I make some effort to qualify my statements of opinion, but to do that constantly would be tiring and would make my prose plodding. I rest assured that my readers, whoever they are, can and will use their own discernment to filter my words. I myself can end up disagreeing with my own words later, so how can I expect anyone else to agree with me? That's not the point. The point is to express myself freely. To censor that expression would defeat the purpose of keeping a blog in the first place.
This same friend characterized my views as “anti-Christian.” I understand they appear so to his mind, and he is welcome to see it that way; however, I see it differently. To disagree with certain aspects of a particular belief system, and to voice that disagreement, is not necessarily to attack the whole. And for someone to take such criticism of their belief system as an attack on them personally is, I think, a result of the misidentification of the ego with that belief system. I am not my beliefs, just as I am not my body or my name or my occupation. Those are things that I have, and they are all temporary. I do not go out of my way to insult Christians or anyone else; nevertheless, there will always be individuals who take offense. I realize that I have not always chosen my words as carefully as I could have, and that is unfortunate. But I am not perfect and I don't claim to be. In cases where my words might cause offense, all I can do is hope for the offended party's forgiveness and understanding.
No one is forced to read my blog. If I may have promoted it a little too enthusiastically before, I no longer do so. I shall be content to simply keep on writing and let those who are attracted come, and those who are not, go elsewhere. That's the beauty of the Internet: barring the odd blind link, everyone gets to choose pretty much exactly what to allow into their consciousness.
Everyone is on their own, personal journey in life. There are longer and shorter paths, more pleasant and less pleasant paths, easier and harder paths, lighter and darker paths, but no path is better or worse than another. The continuing existence of this blog constitutes an open invitation to walk a step with the writer, hear what is going through his mind at the moment, and, if you are so inclined, to freely offer your own thoughts in return. His sincere intent is for this exercise in sharing to be mutually beneficial and/or interesting. If it were not, there would be no reason to engage in it.
Huh boy, do I take myself seriously or what? Well, I am in a bit of a funk, so... (shrug). Now I go to transmute this melancholy into peace, perhaps even joy, through a little spot of active meditation. Good luck to me. (small smile)
