Let’s talk about the tactics of discernment ministries (thread):

Years ago, I became bothered by the tactics some of my theologically conservative friends, acquaintances, and others began to employ.

Their tone mimicked that of conservative (political) talk radio and sensationalist tabloids. Now, I’ve never been a fan of talk radio or tabloids, so I’ll admit I was a bit biased against the tone from the start.

A lot of mockery characterized this movement. A lot of sarcasm. Those are biblically appropriate, at times. But it’s also easy to slip into a culture of sarcasm, and to resort to mocking rather than thinking.

If you think about it, mockery and sarcasm are always at someone else’s expense. Such rending of the flesh is rarely filled with virtue. Even friends, in fun, can go too far in creating a culture of sarcasm.

My worries ran deeper than tone, though. An emphasis fell on supposed trajectories. Affirmations of conservative confessions were treated like lies.

And then came the pictures. If somebody was seen in a photograph with someone else, well, that of course meant the two (or more) must be walking in lock step on every issue, at least according to this type of reasoning.

Guilt by association. Forget photos. If you had ever blogged somewhere, been interviewed by someone, or anything else even close to resembling an association with an opponent, you were deemed guilty until proven innocent.

Of course, nothing can prove one’s innocence once cancellation is in order. A person might say he or she isn’t progressive, might even espouse extremely fundamentalist stuff, but none of that can ever change the perception that somebody is a squish at best, a wolf at worst.

Another fallacy in play was the straw man. Misrepresent your opponent. Spin everything in the worst possible light. If a charitable reading exists, reject it and substitute some awful assumption in its stead.

If anyone corrects you on the aforementioned method he or she is either naïve, compromised, or a shill.

One of my biggest complaints about all of this, as a theological conservative, was the alarmist language which might undermine the meaningfulness of future problems. Alarmism undermines more genuine concerns.

Theological error on an intellectual level isn’t worse than an utter lack of love. Our rubric shouldn’t be based on often arbitrary man-made categories, but the Bible. Horseshoe theory is real and sometimes resembles a Cheerio. That brings me to the real point of this thread.

Compassionate conservatives and progressives have increasingly become what they once hated. 'Cancel culture' could be at the heart of this, but that opens a can of worms I’d rather not take up. The issue is more immediately apparent to me in this wonderful place called Twitter.

Subsets of this site specialize in sarcasm and mockery. Again, those are biblically appropriate, at times. But it’s also easy to slip into a culture of sarcasm, and to resort to mocking rather than thinking. The line between mocking principles and mocking people is thin.

Such is the case when we see even experts in a field mocked because they failed to follow progressive protocol regarding associations. The argument from association is circular.

If this really well-respected person up and endorses a questionable character(s), he or she must suffer from the same deficiencies. But of course, that's completely wrong. That's nothing more than thoughtless tribalism.

Of course I’m not averse to picking things apart through humor. It can be a lot of fun. But it’s not so fun for the people on the receiving end. And it’s especially not fun for their families. There’s yet another thin line between corrective banter and cruel bullying.

I’ve come to realize more and more the importance of this reality as people in prominent positions have shared with me in private the heavy price they’ve paid for the popularity they never even asked for.

The thought has since crossed my mind, more than once, that the reason family members of public figures are often abrasive in response to criticisms of their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters is fairly simple:

they’ve been hurt, over and over again, by complete strangers, and due to no fault of their own.

Sometimes it seems as though scandalous sins encircle every institution inside and outside the church. It's often that oppressive people play the victim. I get all of that.

But once upon a time, I really thought the people pointing such things out held the moral high ground. More and more, that’s simply not the case. Many have become exactly like that which they most despised.

If you want to know whether or not you’re in their number, examine your interactions with others. Are they loving, or marked by hate for the ministries of men and women you take to be beyond the pale?

Take a look through your timeline. Is it edifying, or filled with your enjoyment at the expense of others? What do you think about, feel strongly about, and talk about each and every day in your online interactions? Are you benefiting brothers and sisters or tearing them down?

Who am I to say all this? I’m somebody who’s engaged in all of this at some point to greater or lesser extent. It’s not like I’m above it. But neither are you.