
Readers might recall the previous open letter I posted. This is a follow up to that letter. A friend of mine and I were discussing a phenomenon we are noticing on
several Lutheran pastors' blog sites: relying on passive-aggressive game playing,
rather than clear assertion and propositional argumentation and debate.
Here is what my friend said, and I thought it was interesting. Perhaps you
will too.
"Passive-aggression is not a psychological disorder, it's a game people play. And some Lutheran bloggers play it well. It's not pop psychology, but the identification of a game wherein a person appears benign and victimized but actually is the aggressor. The "I'm offended" crowd is particularly good at this gambit. It's also not really an ad hominem, since you are not making a point by attacking a person personally, you're simply calling out his game.
This is really the whole mode of some Lutheran bloggers. They write ambiguously and then complains that no one understands them. I've fallen prey to that one on several occasions. Some Lutheran bloggers take weird positions on things, and then complains that people think they are weirdos.
I think the bottom line with the whole passive-aggressive Lutheran blogging crowd is that they like the attention, and they'll do most anything to get it, including redefining Lutheranism. They're not content with being another irrelevant cog in the wheel. They want recognition. In a way, when a person responds to them they provide the very thing they are looking for: recognition, attention, validation and credibility. The more attention you give them, even negatively, the more they do what they do."
My respectful suggestion to Lutheran bloggers, particular Lutheran blogging pastors, is to drop the gamesmanship and start making clear and well reasoned assertions. Leave the amateur psycho-analysis, ad hominems and emotionalism at the door when you blog.
The Lutheran blogging pastors in my blog-roll [over to the right] are amongst those who do not indulge in these games and that is why their blogs are ones I find consistently to be helpful and edifying.
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