What I love (and hate) about blogging

I attended the Evangelical Theological Society meetings a couple of years back. I loved it. People presented papers on ideas on some pretty important topics. You couldn’t get away with much. Often, the people you were refuting were sitting in the room listening to you talk. You had to be pretty sure about what you were saying when they are sitting right in front of you. Not so long ago, it was easy to write about someone, and they would never know. Now, if I write about somebody or link to them, they will know, at least if they care to. I love the accountability this creates. I love that you can’t post something and hide. I love that smart people are a mouse click away. I love that I’m forced to interact with people who don’t agree with me. You can’t live in a cocoon if you blog. I hate that so many discussions don’t take advantage of this opportunity – we often end up talking past each other, and we end up more entrenched than ever. I love that on an average day, over a hundred people read this page and I have no idea who they are. This is the best and the worst of blogging.