Mi casa es su casa

Last updated on: March 9, 2011 at 6:18 pm by Fred Clark

Mi casa es su casa 2011-03-09T18:18:28-05:00 Fred Clark

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.

Let me first say that I have been humbled to have learned anew how important the TypePad site was to many people as a safe space, a home — or an inn, at least, or oasis — where one could be and connect without being reminded at every turn that there are others, far too many others, who think there’s something wrong with you, or who blame you just for being you, blame you for your identity, your history, your very existence.

And I am saddened and sorry for having pulled the rug out from under that safe space by relocating here, to a busier intersection where the echoes of many voices — some friendly, some hostile or hurtful or just uncomprehending — make the re-creation of that kind of safe space seem unlikely.

It is good for me to be here, among all those many voices, where I can seek to encourage and amplify the friendly ones and challenge those that are hostile. But it is not at all good for those of you who, rightfully, want and need and deserve a place apart from the pain of that cacophony. And it is not fair for me to drag you here with me just because I am looking to engage in the very same heated arguments that you’re wanting and needing and deserving to avoid.

See, I’m lucky. I have received “favours,” John Woolman would have said, although a more precise word would be to say that I am privileged. I have the luxury of abstracting myself from those voices and those arguments at any time. I have the privilege of choosing to seek them out because I have the privilege of not being barraged by them 24/7/365. I have the privilege, in other words, of not constantly being told that there’s something wrong with me, that I must be ashamed of my identity or my history or my very existence.

Most of my life occurs within a safe space far safer and more sheltered than any online community could every provide. And so it’s very easy for me to forget how “favoured” that makes me — to forget that this is what “privileged” means, that most people do not enjoy that luxury. So thank you for reminding me. I am sure I will need to be reminded again.

That privilege allows and enables me to seek out and engage a larger argument — one that sometimes involves wading into and rubbing up against voices and ideas that others cannot ever escape and thus should not be asked to abide. In a sense, it also obliges me to do so. “As a Christian, I may be permitted to quote from St. Luke: ‘Much will be asked of him because he was entrusted with more.'” (I’m invoking E.F. Schumacher there, in part, to avoid invoking Stan Lee.)

Which brings us to the present crossroads. For those who found comfort at the TypePad site but find no comfort here, I want that site to remain a haven and a home. And so I have passed it along to others who are well-equipped to ensure that it will remain what it has been for you. Not to strangers, but to members of this community who understand it and understand you and who can and will serve you well.

I very much hope that this will be received in the spirit in which it is intended. Not as an abandonment, but as an effort to empower others to ensure that a vital task is not abandoned and, far more importantly, that people are not abandoned. (This is where Spidey was only partly right. With power comes responsibility — but not just a responsibility to employ the privilege of power on behalf of others, but a responsibility to step aside and yield that power to others.)

For the purposes of creating and ensuring a safe space for inclusive community, I think this will be an improvement. I have never been good at monitoring comments, and I think the community as a whole will do a better job of that, and of giving that important task the care and attention I have never given it. Above the fold, I have often published posts that I realize are likely to provoke drive-by trolling and unfriendly mortar-fire in comments. I have often posted with an impatience and a lack of charity that can reasonably be expected to be responded to in kind (or in unkind). I sometimes pick fights. Those aren’t traits that are conducive to maintaining or preserving a safe space below the fold. Not here, but not there either. So this should be better.

I do not want to see a parting of the ways, but a passing of the baton.

This site — www.patheos.com/community/slacktivist/ — is where I will continue blogging. Fred Clark writes a blog called Slacktivist that is hosted at Patheos.

The community that came together at slacktivist.typepad.com can continue to seek and find and build a home there, and new voices will have a chance to emerge and to be heard in a context where they are empowered to speak. It is my sincere hope that there will be an ongoing interconnection — cross-pollination of ideas, opinions, concerns, humor, Doctor Who trivia, recipes, blue-footed boobies and mutual affection. How will all that work? I don’t know, exactly, I’ve never done this before. But of course — and here’s one lesson I have at least partly learned — it’s not only about me.

I deeply hope that those who were not pleased with my move to this new site will continue to read what I post here, but for those who cannot — for reasons of principle or protection — I hope that the TypePad site will become a place for you that this site cannot be, and I hope that you are as excited as I am by the possibility of what that site could grow to become. I wish you only the best.

All of this raises various technical and housekeeping details — some of which are still in process — and I realize that there are other questions and issues regarding this site that I also need to address or clarify, but let me save those for another post.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 9, 2011

Re-reading Woolman after 20 years

Next Post

March 10, 2011 Robots and stylebooks

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category class warfare evangelicals Iraq Left Behind Mammon music Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 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 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, “Let there be light”?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses God Paul Noah