The Care and Feeding of Our Testimony

1. We owe it to Christ to be ready to answer questions in the sense of explaining how our faith works. We should not hesitate to talk about being Christian Mystics and what that means. Even if you aren’t eloquent about it, you should take the time to prepare some kind of answer about your faith.

I noted in yesterday’s post how helpful it is to, in Jay’s words, get used to being thought of as a loon among nonbelievers. You don’t have to justify your faith, just be ready to talk about how it steers your actions.

Among those who also claim to follow Christ, you are not obliged to jump through their hoops, either. Don’t let someone try to back you into a corner as if they were some kind of inquisitor. Your faith is not subject to any man’s tests of orthodoxy. We would prefer to find ways to do this gently, but you shouldn’t fear to use more direct and even harsh words to deal with Pharisees who falsely claim Christ.

2. Anglin’s Daily Stormer was the first to fall to Big Tech’s censorship. Then there were a few more lesser known pariahs who were banned from various services. But with Alex Jones it was far more noticeable, and closer to the mainstream. The case of Jones was outright collusion between multiple services, leaving him no outlet but his own sites. I wonder how long he can keep those, too.

I had hoped that WordPress (WP) would not join in this tragic idiocy; they have stoutly promised not to in the past. But I noted yesterday that someone writing under the nickname Dr. Eowyn lost his/her primary WP blog. They lost their second WP blog the next day. Today it’s someone named Jay Dyer, who actually pays for service.

These victims range across the right-wing spectrum of politics and philosophy. We aren’t a part of their world politically, nor in terms of traffic volume. Dyer’s blog was registering between 3000 and 10,000 visitors daily. They’ve all been told they have broken some rule, but WP refuses to explain to any of their censored clients how they have transgressed the terms of use.

This matters to our virtual parish because there’s no way I can guess when they might shut the door on me. Consider that Jay Dyer was paying WP a whole lot more money than I do. If this blog becomes inaccessible, please check with the forum. You don’t have to join to read the kind of notices we would post there, just bookmark it for now.

3. That forum is not a substitute for a blog. Granted, part of what I’m paying for every year with an email account handled by Google is the option to use their blogging service, Blogger. The fee covers all services offered by Google. But then we have to wonder when Google’s clamp down on their YouTube video service — with a growing number of “conservative” users kicked off or restricted — would extend to Google’s Blogger service. Would we be safe there? For how long?

Pray with us that we can know how to prepare for this virtual war. I’m trying to keep track of this stuff and estimate how it might affect our operations here. To the degree this blog matters to your faith, it’s worth taking it before the Lord.