A Response To Some Other Article Some Place

The below is a response to an article posted in RELEVANT. The article can be found HERE and is called "Will the Internet Kill Christianity?". I feel a bit bad, in retrospect, posting such a long comment to this post. Very long winded, I doubt anyone will read it on there! (Definitely a TL;DR moment. :( )

Firstly, Where did all these atheists come from? Do they normally hang around here, or have they decided to amass at this article in particular? o_0


NOTE: It really was remarkable how many atheists showed up for the comments in this article. Generally Relevant attracts Christians, with only the occasionally atheist poking the more gullible members into arguing. But, wow, they were every where! I can only call them Trolltheists, since they weren't there to do anything but argue.

Secondly, the internet can be a great place to find information, but you should always take everything you see and everyone you meet with a great big bag o' salt. The anonymity that the internet grants means people can be as ruthless, cruel, dishonest, and underhanded as they want to be without suffering any kind of real consequences. This is why debates don't happen on the internet*, just screaming contests to see who can shout the longest and get the last word in. People online don't typically treat each other with the same dignity and restraint they would in person, because they "aren't really real people" online.

It's not a matter of exchanges ideas, understanding an opposing view points, or even trying to mutually figure out what to believe, it's about winning. And the only real way to win is to tear the other person down until they're crying on the floor, praising their opponent for their superior logic, and waving the proverbial white flag.**  Or if they won't give up, humiliating them in front of as many people as possible.*** As long as you come out on top, regardless of whether you're right or not, that's all that matters.

I've long since figured out that it's no use participating in the online community's "debate" when it deals with religion or politics. No one listens. All they ever do is talk over each other and trample over people in their rush to "win". That's not the kind of people I want to be associated with, and certainly not the kind of debate I want to be involved in.

However, a lot of people get online and are completely unaware of the environment they're stepping into. They don't realize that when they debate or argue with someone, what they're saying or thinking or feeling doesn't matter. They'll just keep being torn down until they convert or run away with their tail between their legs because it's always about "the win".

Thirdly, American Christians are astonishingly ignorant of their own faith. I suppose on a day-to-day basis, this is fine. (I mean, historically humanity has spent a lot of time being ignorant and getting away with it.) In real life you generally don't have to worry about someone randomly coming up to you, shouting about what a moron you are and then giving a 5 point dissertation on all the moronic things you've said, but online that's exactly what happens. Online, that level of ignorance is a faith killer.

So, yes, the internet can be a faith killer. If you walk into it thinking you know everything, or that what you know is enough, or not even knowing how ignorant you are, prepare to get torn apart from the butt up. You'll get chewed up and spat out and then have your virtual corpse danced on. That's just the kinda place the online community is if you aren't careful. And people aren't careful.

I've been an active user of the internet for 14 years. I have survived--nay, retained my humanity-- online by knowing where to go, where not to go, the kinds of people who are worth investing in, and the kinds of people who are basically trolls pretending to be human.

There's a lot of great things about the internet, but debating about religion and politics****? That's really not one of them. I stick with nerd stuff, and only certain places, because even being a nerd with opinions can be a dangerous thing on the internet.

*I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'm talking about normal every day behavior online.
**Does this ever happen? I've never seen this happen, especially when dealing in politics and religion.
***This is pretty common though! It's practically an universal pass-time sport online.
****And by this I mean debating two opposing views, not necessarily the subject matter itself. It's possible to talk about religion or politics without it being a debate, but it's a tricky line to walk and most places can't do it. (Mostly because trolls come in and turn it into a debate. Trolls just can't help themselves! <3)