On internet debates- this is a note I typed up for facebook

When our ideas are met with opposition, we are forced to examine them and make a case for them. Only then do we know if what we believe is truly "true"-- because it has withstood the logic test, the test of time and the test of persecution. Strangers on the Internet--even friends-- have the funniest way of handing you your rear end without giving it a second thought.
We call that keyboard bravado- it's easy to be brave, and say what you think, when you are hidden behind a screen. Not always so easy in real life.
There is nothing quite like sharing an hour or two with several dozen people who think everything you stand for is idiotic- or worse, abherrant. Over time, if you persist in these conversations you begin to gain a sense of admiration or fondness for your worthy "opponent" in the debate. Ideological walls remain, but you begin to seek out-- and find-- common ground. Mutual respect is cultivated, and a deep reverence for the other person's human dignity ensues. This makes way for perfect charity... Which is how people who have publicly sworn at me and accused me of facism or sexism have afterwards sent me boxes of baby clothes or get-well-soon cards, how people who have literally spent entire nights arguing can also spend an entire night giggling over a plate of goat cheese spaghetti or sharing in the experience of labor and birth together.
Often, people who have regularly debated these "hard things" of life become jaded-- it's easy to lose heart when we hear the same questions, the same answers over and over and over again. Sometimes, if we don't also take the time to be "filled," it can be devastating to our own beliefs.
Most forums consist of random strangers having conversations, which makes for quite a different dynamic than here on Facebook, where we are, in theory, "friends."
Strangers don't mind telling you exactly what they think, and in the end, you become friends, or at least admire each other.... it is pure honesty.
"Friends," however, don't always share their thoughts and lives with you. Friends are easily offended, and easily misread you because you expect them to "know" you better and thus don't take the time to explain yourself. In the end, you might realize that there is little honesty and much misunderstanding. The internet is full of irony.
A debate in your pajamas is far more intimate and "real" than a debate at a formal dinner party. The internet breaks down barriers, but it requires prudence and sincerity to achieve your goal, be it personal growth, evangelism, or edification. Only the person who has set out to waste his time will waste his time.

In the end, a bond of common human unity is built- a respect for the human dignity of each person you encounter, while reinforcing, I think, that some of us are not of this world.
We can *facepalm* or we can light up-- we can be disgusted or we can be totally enraptured and moved. Some of the most meaningful emails I have received have come from relative strangers I've only met in internet land, while some of the most difficult and painful moments I've experienced have come at the hands of friends and acquaintances. A man I tagged in this note, who I had never met in real life, once called me out on living a double life (half Christian, half utterly worldly.) He was pushing my buttons, but he was right.I had been deceiving myself. My life changed, I became a better follower of Christ thanks to a person who, at this time, doesn't really find himself engaged in a personal relationship with Christ. There is irony there, but there is beauty, too.

This is why some days, we receive violence and abuse and other days praise in an environment like this... Because our prudence and our faith is constantly being tested. Sometimes people fail us, other times we fail them. But always, we grow. We are stretched. We learn, or we give up. And with each other. The challenge, for us, is to keep in mind the objective-- why are we here?

I was here to be an open book, but if I'm an open book and no one picks me up to read me, only glancing briefly at a few words here or there, or staring at the cover intently... well, I'm going to be misunderstood. And it will hurt. Other times, I will be understood. And it will hurt.
The important thing, the way I see it, is to prayerfully keep in mind the goal... why am I here? I have not done this, lately, but I needed the reminder. So thank you!

The internet is life, accelerated.

incidentally, I would have tagged Nash but I can't find him on my friends' list... I think he defriended me. :-P
If I didn't tag you and you're an R&P or Raveler, it's because i reached the tag limit.