...ahh, but it's SO tempting!!
In the past couple of weeks, someone with whom I'm (MOST unfortunately) acquainted but have never (thankfully--and let's keep it that way!) met face-to-face has been posting anonymous ugly, hateful, vengeful, rude comments on the blogs of people whom I love. I was also the victim of Madame Troll's vitriolic spite awhile back.
I guess I shouldn't be amazed that someone who claims to be a believer and spouts scripture to "back up" her crazy-ass rants ("crazy" being the key word here) would waste so much time (even as she accuses other people of wasting time online) attacking people who are "bad" solely by virtue of association.
My natural reaction is to go on the defensive and fight back. I guarantee if it's a battle of words, I'll win, because I know a lot of them...and I can use them well. But is that productive? And does that not put me right in the same category in which I've put her? And maybe worse, because she is, without doubt, suffering from some sort of mental illness--no one in their right mind behaves in such an atrocious manner.
I've never been a fan of the whole "WWJD" thing, because I'm never a fan of mass-produced crap, especially not crap that's supposed to "spread the gospel". Whatev. But in this situation, I have to stop and think about it. How would Jesus, if he had a blog, react in the face of such undeserved hatred? It's not in me to love this woman. It's not really even in me to have the slightest bit of compassion for the obviously wretched life circumstances in which she's found herself (self-created or not).
But God surely has some compassion and love reserved just for her...maybe someday she'll find the person in whom it's been placed. And maybe I can take a miniscule step (not even really a step--maybe just a VERY slight leaning) in that direction by not following the basic instinct I have to invite her to fully engage in battle with me.
This is NOT what I want to do, mind you. But, for the moment, I'm choosing to take the higher ground and give her that "grace of free will" that my beautiful and oh-so-wise girl wrote about here. It's tough, sometimes, to be a lover of God.
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6 comments:
Don't you remember all of thaose times that Jesus let the pharisees have it? Jesus would kick her ass!! Verbally of course.
I agree with Nate. Jesus would verbally kick her around a bit.. as would Buddha and every other deity known to man, woman, child or beast.
It's horrible behavior.. and it comes from bitterness. There was a time ( a long time ago ) when I thought the kinds of things she's writing. That was the root. I was hurting and bitter. Just the same, she needs to be exhorted. In my opinion.
~*
I think that there are battles to fight and battles to just ignore. Some things (i.e. crazy people who leave vicious comments) are beyond are control. Maybe we should concentrate on what we can change and let her self-destruct on her own.
Ooops, did I say her? I mean him or whoever it is that's saying these nasty things.
I'm staying out of it :^)
for me, i have felt in my spirit for a little while now, that at least in the beginning, i need to respond with grace.
my initial response is one to try to set common ground, to bring down the tone of the conversation to one that is just that - conversational. i try to speak kindly and share, in a calm, lucid, and well thought out manner, how my thoughts differ from theirs. and do it with a spirit of humility, love, and grace.
when this is met with more of the same, i speak a little more firmly, but still calmly and kindly. i guess i always try to speak that way because i know that is how i would want to be treated. and i also know that i was once like them.
hardened in my evangelical arrogance, devoid of genuine love i would abuse for the sake of "love", as i called it.
i am also convicted that if i don't respond to them in such a manner, how will they ever experience it? how will i ever show them that what i have is qualitatively different than what they have, and that it has radically changed my inner being?
plus, many trolls simply like to get people riled up. so if you allow them to rile you, they have won. if you stay calm it is not much fun for that type of troll and they move on.
in the end, if no common ground, or at the very least, calm, loving dialogue can be found, i simply delete and ignore.
I agree with all of you. :-)
There's definitely a time for verbal ass-kicking, there's a time for silence...and there's a time to attempt to speak calmly and rationally into a situation and hope for a place of, at the very least, agreeing to disagree.
This is one of the times that silence is the most prudent path.
There are really a lot of unspoken extenuating circumstances here. And some spoken ones...mainly, that this person's opinions are just simply not worth getting "riled up" about, as Jon so eloquently put it. :-) Truly questionable level of sanity is another. I deal with people on the fringe of mental incapacity (and sometimes past the fringe) regularly--I don't need to come home to it as well.
Anonymous, untruthful, vicious "attack and run" posts are full of cowardice and devoid of intelligence. If you can't "stand and deliver" and then continue standing to defend your position, then your position usually isn't worth the paper on which it's written...figuratively speaking, of course.
So. She's not going to win here. Not today. Because I'm refusing to be riled.
Hey, just so you know. Someone "anonymous" was attcking me at another site. Maybe it was the same person. I just made fun of the person. What they said didn't make sense.
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