The World of Blogs

Herein lay collected thoughts and reactions based upon my recent introduction to the world of blogs, as read from Cleopatria’s Blogroll (http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/9665/html).

1st Lesson Learned

As with books and covers, apparently one also cannot judge a blog by its title.  I learned this by inspecting several blogs, two of which are discussed below. 

The blog-title “Between Athens and Jerusalem” (in the category "Ideas and Beliefs") is catchy, creative, and thought provoking, and therefore I couldn’t resist inspecting it.   However, had I not already been familiar with the name "Taylor Branch" – he penned a magisterial trilogy on the modern Civil Rights Movement sub-titled “America In the King Years” – I likely may have never inspected a blog by that name (in the category "United States History").

Comments on Content, Truth, and Method

In “Between Athens and Jerusalem” I appreciated and was intellectually stimulated by the somewhat Hegelian dialectical approach he frequently invokes, as when he says, “the Christian life is a juxtaposition of humility and confidence,” or when he states that "the joy of incarnation and the sorrow of the Cross must always inform one another" in the minds and hearts of the faithful.

“Between” displays an articulate, intelligent literary style.  His facility with Christian theological expression is pleasant to read initially, but after a while such expressions are – for me – rendered immaterial and ethereal insofar as they fail to be incarnated in a genuine body of concern for specific modes of earthly welfare (in the course of the blog – less than thirty entries –only  a handful of specific concerns are mentioned).  Nevertheless, his prayers are a pleasure to read, as they are both elegant and edifying.

While the florid language can be intriguing and the content is thought-provoking, the resultant length of the blogs in “Between” is slightly over-bearing, especially since they are presented as reflections and musings.  The emphasis is the heart of individuals, and this is most evident in his entry on “Weslyan Distinctives,” where a properly conditioned heart is presented and espoused as a prerequisite for productive social dialogue.  Nevertheless, the primary agenda in “Between” is finding an appropriate theologically rooted language for understanding, addressing, and ameliorating issues of contemporary social concern.  The blogs are, mostly, musings in that direction.

The utilization of symbolic truth, with its inherent vagaries, is his primary tool.

Contrarily, the "Taylor Branch" blog does not engage in musing.  His blogs’ content directly parallels the subject matter of his major published works (e.g. the modern Civil Rights Movement and democratic equality).  Even if one was unfamiliar with this author, a brief perusal of his entries' titles quickly and clearly reveals their theme. This blog is like a living addendum to the author's books or an active commentary between author and readers.  His language, albeit articulate, is plain and direct.  Branch’s blogroll displays an assiduous mind and a passionate heart eager to assist in calls for a more just and equitable American democracy. 

Branch wields the sword of empirical, rather than symbolic, truth (critiques against the soundness of his logic or the veracity of his evidence, notwithstanding).

Of course, there is certainly room for and value in each approach within the sphere of civic- and nationally-oriented social discourse …

Yet, the value is not in the approach, per se, but in the audience that each mode of discourse can reach out to and connect with.