The State of the Blog: A Quasi-Important Post

Last updated on: July 16, 2014 at 6:10 pm by Ben Spackman

The State of the Blog: A Quasi-Important Post 2014-07-16T18:10:32-05:00 Ben Spackman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The continued existence of this blog is in question.

As I’ve gone through the science coursework, volunteering, MCAT study, and such to apply to medical school, a surprising number of people have commented to me along the lines of “it’s too bad. We need your voice. How much can you write or teach in medical school, or as a doctor?” And the answer is, not much to none at all, at least for the next eight years. I have generally agreed; I want to write, you want to read, right? But, five years in graduate school, even working myself with a working spouse and parental support, have simply not
paid off professional or financially. That time I spent in grad school, the experiences teaching, writing, synthesis, insight, personal study… whether in Gospel Doctrine classes, firesides, Institute classes over 10 years, writing, or blogging, the cost to access my accumulated knowledge has been zero, with rare exceptions.

Generally speaking there’s a cultural expectation that knowledge should be free, and LDS in particular have a long tradition of distrusting people who get paid to teach religion or scripture, especially if they make some claim to specialized knowledge that merits payment. Well, guilty. I would have liked to make a living off all the work I’ve put in acquiring specialized knowledge and disseminating it, but it seems I can’t.

As with teaching and writing, my primary incentive for blogging has always been pastoral, with a concern for the community and a desire to share what meager talent I have. Given the heaviness of the last year, finishing my science coursework and prepping for the MCAT, I wouldn’t have taken this blogging offer at Patheos if not for its financial potential. Perhaps, given another year or two, increasing word of mouth, and good regular content, I might hit the mark where it makes more than pocket money. (FYI, I have about 8000 hits monthly, but need to be in the 50,000-100,000+ range. Still, I’m pretty impressed by that 8000, since only 4-5 posts go up monthly.)

But things change, and not always for the better. I’m a slow writer who revises often, and I care about what I write, which means, I estimate, that my writing here has been worth about 4$/hour and likely to go down. Living in New York and applying to medical school, I can’t justify that.

The bottom line is, I would love to continue sharing what I have to share here, but I can’t afford the time it costs me. (I hear Ira Glass and NPR Drive Week as I write this…) If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, if you value my voice here, the posts, podcasts, handouts, if you want it to stay “on the air,” please contribute, if you can. I know times are hard all over. Perhaps some of you have tried before; I just noticed that the code in the Paypal button was messed up in WordPress and fixed it. It’s been at the bottom of the About page since I started, but today it’s here too.

I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far here, but should I abandon the blog to focus my writing time on the book? Your comments and contributions will largely determine the answer to that question.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 14, 2014

The World of Isaiah and Jeremiah: Israelite Faith Crises (A Fireside)

Next Post

October 10, 2014 Recommended NT Resources, Part 1: Translations, Text, and the Bible in General

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ancient languages Announcements Book of Mormon books D&C evolution Genesis Gospel Doctrine Gospel Doctrine Resources history LDS Church History New Testament Old Testament prophets science and religion scripture study Seminary teaching temple Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 January 2010 December 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who killed Goliath the giant?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses David Joseph Adam