My approach to social media engagement.
Originally posted on Facebook 15 January 2021. [2 minute read]
Some wonder why I don’t speak out for or against certain events or persons on social media.
On one side, there are those who consider me ‘weak’ for not addressing issues. On the other side, some view my words as too forceful when I use my public voice.
So, let me be clear about how I do or don’t communicate in the digital presence of thousands.
My 10-point approach:
(1) I will *never* apologize for having and communicating a biblical mindset, wherever Scripture takes me.
(2) I make no apology for beginning with doctrine arising from Scriptural admonitions, nor will I sidestep the application to life I find there.
(3) My starting point will always be theological, then, sociological. Others may, and do, reverse that order; that is their prerogative, not mine.
(4) I will speak and have spoken to cultural-political issues across a wide spectrum, beginning with a decidedly biblical-theological position. I do not reverse that order.
(5) I refuse to stoop to respond to the inanities of memes, strawman arguments, article-wars, or the latest fact-checker craze. Period.
(6) I will be glad to and have engaged with individuals and their thoughtful ideas in a venue which suits us both. I will be judiciously honest when we disagree. I will celebrate our agreements while I will clearly mark out our distinctives.
(7) I have been and will continue to be irenic (peaceable) not polemic (combative) in my approach.
(8) My prophetic inclinations are those of the trumpeter on the wall, warning of what is to come. There are good people who will respond in other ways. Their voices too should be heard.
(9) Others are well trained in apologetics, law, logic, and philosophy; they need not my help, but I am glad to hear their voices.
(10) I will care for wisdom (generous prudence), meekness (strength under control), and peace (not to be confused with weakness) amid social media firefights (such are not my calling).
I do believe there will come a day when I and other Christians like me will be silenced, whether taken off social media or taken to a gulag. If you poo-poo such an idea, please, read more history. One of the reasons I will create a video series on “persecution” this year at MarkEckel.com is based on my reading of history.
I do believe the latest censorship moves by Big Tech – which I have spoken out against before – bear the marks of literary giants Bradbury, Orwell, and Huxley. For those who celebrate the “take down” of any person or group, I ask you again, to read history. Robespierre celebrated the guillotine during the French Revolution until it was used on him.
The hate-filled loathing against one president has already shifted to the next. I will never be party to such defamation; rather in the spirit of 1 Peter 2:13-17 I will “honor the emperor.”
For those who think I should speak up, I just have.