I really don't get this one. In a piece appearing to announce the grudging "acceptance" of blogs at Christianity Today, author Ted Olsen insults current bloggers, while expressing his ignorance of the form. He's apparently relying on some four-year-old information, which makes no sense in the blogsphere, since so much has changed. Claiming that there's nothing much worthwhile at Blogs4God (could he have possibly looked at all 969 blogs?) makes me wonder if he's only trying to make everybody else look bad so he won't have to work so hard, or something. ?????
I wish I knew what criteria he used to determine the "worth" of a blog.
Trudy:
Here is the paragraph from the print edition of CT. I responded to you at my site also.
"Blogs4God.com lists 917 explicitly Christian sites including some of the most popular: (lists 7). But 917 is certainly an undercount and Blogs4God does not yet list many worthwile blogs such as (lists 2)"
I don't see that as a slam or dishonest journalism.
My points at my post stand.
Your quote in my comments is incorrect. Most bloggers can make their own decisions about what makes a blog worthwhile, don't you think? Blog on!
Posted by: Bene Diction | Monday, February 16, 2004 at 10:28 AM
It's easy to see why large publications such as CT does not like blogs. It's because most bloggers who are Christian are not the:
[quote]
"Right-wing Republican, feminized Promise Keeper, butterfly kissing dad, married to the stay-at-home mom, calling themselves "single income" but the mom sells Avon, tupperware, vitamins, Amway, etc at night, homeschool the seven kids who look like the Precious Moments Figurines living in the Thomas Kinckade gingerbread houses with the lampost on in the meadow next to the brook where the deer pants reminiscent of Little House on The Prairie" where the environment appears to be "sanitized", "isolated", and "overprotected" while driving the woodgrained minivan whose backdoor is a billboard for every cheezy Christian bumper sticker, stop abortion (a hyprocricy when the kids are not in a seatbelt and the mom goes 20 MPH over the speed limit weaving in and out of traffic), and the Republican party while listening to Focus on The Family.
[/quote]
Yes, the major Christian media outlets portray 'real' Christians as the ones who fit the description above and those who do not fit as the 'fakes' and 'heretics'. That is probably the criteria they used to make their judgements.
Posted by: Totem to Temple | Friday, February 13, 2004 at 05:48 PM
Let me rephrase that ..
As for b4G feeling critisized, well yeah, but you can't fault me for originally interpreting "But 917 is certainly an undercount, and Blogs4God does not yet list many worthwhile blogs, such as ..." as a compliment!-)
All this said and done, I'm glad to see that while we disagree, we do so with respect and intelligent debate. Kudoz all around!
Posted by: Mean Dean | Friday, February 13, 2004 at 11:54 AM
From Yeterday's Christianity Today - Weblog: New Kids on the Blog "The main critique of the column was that it didn't mention this or that blog."
(http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/106/42.0.html)
Possibly, but that's now how I read it, nor is it what I was saying (or trying to say).
The issue was ONE OF METRICS. By what measure did the original article deem blogs 'worthwhile?'
As for b4G feeling critisized, well yeah, how else does one interpret "But 917 is certainly an undercount, and Blogs4God does not yet list many worthwhile blogs, such as ...?"
My attitude on all this ? "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." - 1 Corinthians 12:4-7,12
(http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=1+cor+12&version=NIV)
Posted by: Mean Dean | Friday, February 13, 2004 at 11:21 AM
Yeah, I'm confused by it too.
I mean, we do list Christianity Today is listed at blogs4God. I'm sure they don't think their own blog ... I know, because Ted Olsen has emailed me in the past and reminded us to cover their blog in our Zine's cache.
Yes, we've got alot of "look at my cat blogs" ... but one need only go as far as blogs like David Heddle's He Lives or my own HealYourChurchWebSite to find real value and real ministry.
Wow ...
Posted by: Mean Dean | Monday, January 26, 2004 at 09:21 AM