so yesterday was one of those fun days when i posted what i thort was a random thort on some global happening and turns out it wasn’t…
not that i am new to this or very much surprised – from not joining the save the orangutang group on facebook which eventually [after much patient messaging and reasoning and trying to be nice] scored Justine from Australia the prize of being the first person i had to block on Facebook [she was seriously stalking me and commenting on every single thing i did on how i had time to change my status but not to save the orangutangs] to wondering if Rob Bell maybe had a point with some of his questions [altho to be honest, this debate just got long and dreary, I can’t remember being personally attacked for it] to not making a big push to save the World of Birds [because christians apparently hate animals and proved it once again] to promoting two township cyclists riding the Epic [because it’s such an expensive race, can’t they ride the Argus and what about the bird people?] to writing about moving to the Simple Way in Philadelphia [cos we have poor people here, how dare you help poor people there] i have been bombarded by a group of people [different every time strangely enough] who have taken up the cause of telling me what a terrible person i am and what i can or can not write on my blog.
yesterday it turned out that i have to love the royal wedding [because one day somehow those two people who got married are going to be my king and queen and will i respect them then? – wrote the south african boy from stellenbosch, south africa] but it is okay if i don’t love sport [cos it’s boring and stupid and real friends do outdoor things]
all of these things remind me of one of my favourite monty python skits from the flying circus series [flip, am i allowed to love british comedy?] which is where a person played by graham chapman walks into the room and announces “there’s trouble at the mill” – when his posh ladyfriend asks him a bunch of questions he eventually gets flustered and says “i was just told to come in here and say there’s trouble at the mill. i didn’t expect a kind of spanish inquisition” – the doors burst open, there is a musical fanfare and three red cardinals come in announcing “Noooooooo-body expects the spanish inquisition. our weapon is fear, that’s all fear and surprise. our TWO weapons are fear, surprise and a ruthless efficiency to the pope, our THREE…” and so on until he changes it to, “Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as…” – ah you should just go and watch it here.
so some of what i have learned from these various blogs is the following:
[1] you have to like what i like and so much so that you must support it and if you don’t like it then keep it to yourself and don’t you dare mention that you don’t like it – that will somehow lead to what i like being irreparably damaged forever somehow
[2] if i disagree with what your blog is about i will tell you so, many times, and rush as quickly as i can to making it a personal attack on you, what you like, who you spend time with and what you spend time doing, or don’t
[3] when you write about positive things like creating better relationships or making a difference to the poor i will be very, very quiet because it is a lot harder for me to rant on those things and i prefer the easy targets
[4] some people, like Caryn and Brits, come around and we move to a place of being able to interact quite positively and be mutual encouragers which is why i always will try to take the time to reason and explain and love and try and be patient and engage…
and [5] my friends rock! as someone who likes to believe that i don’t get affected much by what people say and think about me [which is true to a huge extent] i do realise that at the end of another long day of slogging it out with people i don’t know, that a kind comment from Cara or my extended family members or Kleinfrans or Sammi and a bunch of other people who i know and love [or a nice defence/take on by my beautiful wife Val] let’s me realise that actually a barrage does tend to wear one down – so thank you friends and family for your comments when they have come, cos they have brought life and encouragement and strength and helped me to carry on.
and to close off with words from another amazing scene, “Listen, don’t mention the war! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.” [Basil Fawlty, Fawlty Towers, The Germans]
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Dude. Blogging is a dangerous pastime. There’s a line from a U2 song which might or might not be entirely appropriate to quote (at risk of offending your detractors) but the basic gist is “Don’t let [them] drag you down”
Your blog is inspiring, funny, entertaining, challenging, (sometimes) infuriating, never trite or pretentious, thought provoking, uncomfortable, constant and consistent, edgy and admonishing. I don’t always agree with you and that’s kool, as you differ from me, at times. Truth is, any great social commentator must rub people the wrong way. Write what you are led to write, not what others will enjoy.
I don’t say this stuff because we’re friends. I thought these things about your writing before I knew you. My advice: let the naysayers comment and express but don’t always feel that their opinions deserve a response. Just let it be part of the conversation. If their comments are personal and not issue driven, just moderate them away.
Thanks for this blog, Brett!
As my brother often tells me…haters gonna hate. Keep going though, I think you’re doing great and even though I sometimes disagree (duh) and other times agree (duh) I really love reading what you have to say!!
Yo Brett,
I am reminded of a portion from a Russell Peter’s show (I’m probably gonna get into trouble for quoting a comedian before the Bible…) where Russell makes a comment and a portion of the crowd “boo” him. To which he replies, “What? You boo me because I have an opinion!?!” And that stuck with me – I guess most people are OK that other people have opinions, but they get rather upset when those opinions disagree with theirs (go figure!) From my side, I have often enjoyed your thorts (except the ones that I don’t – but then I refrain from attacking you cause that would be rather pointless 🙂 )
I often tell Cindy (my beloved wife) that “It’s each to their own I guess!” – meaning that we all look at and approach things differently, so rather than freaking out, let’s enjoy the diversity and celebrate it. When it comes to debatable matters – and let’s be honest, most our fights are over very “debatable” issues, I must refer back to Romans 14 (Rom 14:4-6 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.)
So my friend – be one with peace over your thorts as they reflect your journey in Christ. (And have no fear of those who will throw their stones (your response by the way is often a huge challenge to me) because stones will always be thrown.) Should your confidence and conscience be firm in Jesus then take the step of faith in that direction you feel led.
Soli Deo Gloria
Just want to thank you for your posts. Yours is the only blog I am reading right now and I enjoy your sense of humor and what you have to say. Please keep writing your random thoughts, and try to put aside those who would have you stray from that. As in the King’s Speech…You have a voice…make it heard.
Okay, so I am not trying to be rude or anything, and I really don’t know you all that well, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but I just feel like some stuff needs to be said. 🙂
Everyone will not always like you and some people won’t always agree with what you have to say, but keep blogging. People shouldn’t attack you for what you are saying, but you also can’t get offended by it. On Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc it is really hard to read tone so what one person rights as purely informational someone else interprets and offensive and then they are mad and it goes downhill quickly. So don’t let people who disagree get to you and by you making such a big deal about it, it makes you look very ‘unChristian’ and very unforgiving and very bitter. We are all human and make mistakes, but I read your status and your responses to her seemed very rude and bitter and her responses weren’t necessarily right either and you both were at fault. So basically, I am not trying to be mean, but you just need to let it go. Not everyone is going to like you, and because you raise such controversial topics, there will always be discussion on your blog and facebook statuses. So look at the posts as discussions and try to answer as calmly and peacefully as possible. You might have to wait a day before you respond so that you can ensure that you speak in love and stay kind.
haha, oops *writes 🙂 and I meant ‘interprets *as offensive’
I think some of your responses are a little rude and brazen if you ask me. You tend to trivialize other people’s causes like world of birds or wildlife causes in favor of your people driven causes. Each to his own, but maybe a response of “hey I think your cause is also worthy and I’ll give it a mention”. I think you said “love God, love people…everything else is commentary” that seems a little flippant and shows your attitude to other causes. But each to his own. You should rather outright say that you do not support anything other than God or people. Commentary seems very condescending, much like giving other people’s causes bread crumbs.
I read your blogs and also thort for the week and for the most part, you’re cool. I eat fish, vegetables and support My local nightshelter in the CBD. I also support environmental causes when people ask me to help, such as stopping fur and animal experiments as these are inhumane. I don’t see how a Christian could ever be for such cruelty or indifferent to it as Jesus I’m sure would be against it as well.
I read about the cycle race that cost R30000 and there I definitely agree that it’s overhyped and overpriced! The money could help plenty kids in need instead of going to bug corporate. Would you sell your cars to pay fir this? If yes, then you should ask people with a clear head. If not, then you shouldn’t really ask others to support this pricey event!
For the most part your blog and thirst are pleasant, but when you complain and moan about other people and put other people’s causes down or moan about other ministers then it comes across as very negative and then the negative comments breed more negative comments.
Keep it humorous and give people’s ideas and causes a mention as well. Don’t fight back with negative comments.
thankx for your comments manina, i can see how some of my responses might be seen as rude and brazen – after a whole day or week of being attacked on something it might get to that, but i imagine initially it might just be the way people read it – it is difficult to read tone into emails and suchlike – take the world of birds for example – it was not a case of me trivialising something – i was asked to use my thort/blog to support a cause and i decided not to and then when i chose not to [if remember correctly it was all done in a gentle and peaceful way] then i was attacked and accused of a bunch of things and so possibly after that i was a little less generous or curteous – the cycle race was different to me [and i agree thinking back on it and looking at the cost and stuff that it is very high and another day i might have thort about it differently] because it was people i knew asking me the question, it was two young guys from the township where i used to live and so i had a relationship there as well and so it was a case of supporting something or someone that i felt was more valid – not trivialising the other thing at all but saying i chose not to – for some reason people got on my case about that and started making general statements/accusations like christians hate animals and a bunch of other stuff which isn’t true and i remained pretty calm through the whole thing…
yeah i guessd if you don’t know me then stuff might come across differently from what i mean and that is something to defnitely take note of and work on – thankx for taking the time to comment…
What are your views on other living brings such as animals? What wider views to you have also on say conservation and the environment?
yeah we try do our bit as much as possible – i imagine we could do more but this last year we started recyling and doing free range as much as possible and really try and look after what we can – i think God commissioned us to look after the world as much as he did each other – i do generally think of people as more important than animals though [altho some sometimes make it difficult, hm] so ja conservation an environment are important things we should be caring for – i have a bunch of friends who are quite involved in different areas of this so learning all the time
It’s great to see Christians involved with these things. I really like your low budget food week. Really good idea. Have a look at my suggestions on Vals blog.
Would be cool if everyone ate together as a sort of community thing instead of the nuclear family in front if the tv. Or better yet, a big fire and good food and friends. In my commune we had that and life was great.
If you look at some animals such as elephants, you can really see how they care for their young, mourn the death of another elephant and get along in a small group. Highly intelligent and wise these animals are. Many people could learn from them.
Is the simple way similar to a commune? Sounds like the way to go to set an example for Christian living.
yeah i would imagine simple way is a commune-type vibe – linked to a network called nieu monastics so taking a lot of lessons from the early monks and fathers of christianity in terms of simple living, community, building into community – thankx a lot for the suggestions maurice – where are you at these days?
If you write positive then you get positive back. So keep your blogs positive.
Hey Martin, sometimes it’s the negative stuff that needs to be said. Like the news. If we only reported the positive stuff, it would be unbalanced.
Maybe as an addendum to this conversation, you can check out my favourite SCL post ever: http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2010/11/the-jesus-juke/
While it’s only loosely related, I think it’s relevant (and funny)
yeah, read that one the other day, been guilty of it a bunch…
…and so you should be… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory…