"Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah's colorful language, the 'scarecrows in a cornfield' (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry."
- David F. Wells
Friday, December 17, 2010
Not to beat dead horses - although I've found that's one of my only skills in life - ha ha - but the thought crossed my mind when reading some of the comment threads yesterday that we were, all of a sudden, kicking it Thinklings-2004 style around here. In the early days of this blog things were a bit edgier for various reasons: the blogosphere was newer and more wild-westy, other social media had not yet spring up, we were all more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, gender wars, etc . . . It wasn't unusual for things to get a bit chippy. We even had our share of enemies, along with delusional sociopathic blog-stalkers (really), comment thread grenade hurlers, trolls, rival group-blogs, detractors, naysayers, and fist-shaking curmudgeons. That wasn't always fun, but, frankly, I sometimes miss those days. It's gotten a bit staid since those early, heady times. I blame Blo.
A unique (and welcome) aspect of the debates yesterday was that we were getting comments from some folks who appear to be new to the blog. That hasn't happened in a month of Sundays and I credit Jared for the extra dose of Mojo. It did, of course, get a bit prickly and I have a partial theory as to why that might be:
I think it's easy for people to find our page header a bit off-putting.
So, with that in mind, I thought I'd leave a few disclaimers:
1. The name "Thinklings" grew out of an email discussion list we started a dozen years ago. When we named ourselves thus, we didn't even know there was a blogosphere. We certainly don't think we are in the same league as the original Inklings, but we do strive for the community and creativity of conversation that they had, back in the day.
2. All that "Intellectual Universe" stuff is tongue-in-cheek. I think Jared thought of that in the wee hours of our 2002 Christmas Moot. We don't really think we are the nexus (or the seven Samurai) of the Intellectual universe. Heck, there aren't even seven of us any more.
Now, I'm wondering if today's quote, which by complete chance is a C.S. Lewis quote regarding Narnia, is going to spark the debate again?
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Comments on "Thinklings Controversy":
3. Karl
- 12/17/2010 2:48 pm CST
Those were the days I first discovered this blog. I miss them too. Not for any unpleasantness, but for the vitality of the discussion and (for the most part) irenic debates.
Today's CSL quote is one of the last things to come from his pen, isn't it? That first sentence is some of the last advice he ever gave anyone.
5. Milly
- 12/17/2010 8:18 pm CST
I think you need to post more controversial writings. You could be the Jerry Springer of the blog world. ;-}
7. Bill
- 12/17/2010 11:49 pm CST
Whatever happened to Kenny and Asbell, anyway??
Well, Asbell rarely descended from the Olympian heights to sully his robes in the oily waters of the Blogosphere.
We're actually trying to draw Kenny back in. He's holding out for a better contract.
10. salguod
- 12/18/2010 12:13 pm CST
What we need is a semi-popular beverage of indeterminate hue to debate over.
(BTW - Why the human check question? Is the ccode thing no longer working for you?)
11. Bill
- 12/18/2010 4:40 pm CST
CCode is still in effect, but we got slammed by some spammers that obviously had gotten around that.
I may add a kaptcha at some point. But the human check is kind of fun.
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Lewis? Who is Lewis? Shouldn't we be talking about sports or something? Maybe the weather?