The Sunday Sermon; A Question Of Timing.
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A tweet appeared in my timeline this morning, asking people about the positives and negatives of online activism. I do not consider myself an activist, especially since that seems to mean people want to reduce you to a one dimension issue, but I replied because it seems an important topic. Online activism, especially twitter, has been a place of freedom for many. Those like myself who have to be anonymous, those with disabilities who for whatever reason are excluded from more conventional activism have been given a voice. However the huge drawback it seems to me is that people only hear the voice, they do not see the person behind it. Online we are expected to be always on, to be available, to never be weary of answering the same questions or facing the same prejudices.
There is also the assumption that because you share one belief, you share others, the invented myth of community that also haunts the online BDSM scene. The drawback of communities is you start seeing others as members of one instead of the rounded individuals they are. The more radical wing of sex worker activism could not accept I am a Christian, they wanted me to fit into a community which they had designed the limits of, and acceptable beliefs of. I am sure other people can think of their own examples where belonging seemed to come at the price of being less than the sum of all their parts.
Which brings me to the verses, and the song by The Byrds. We need to recognise for ourselves there is a time to fight, and a time to rest, a time for peace and a time for war. If we do not then we risk being exhausted just by trying to interact. Sometimes we sow seeds, other times though the land must lie fallow. There should be no guilt in this, from others or towards ourselves, it is all a question of timing.
Source / Full Text at Sometimes, It's Just A Cigar
A tweet appeared in my timeline this morning, asking people about the positives and negatives of online activism. I do not consider myself an activist, especially since that seems to mean people want to reduce you to a one dimension issue, but I replied because it seems an important topic. Online activism, especially twitter, has been a place of freedom for many. Those like myself who have to be anonymous, those with disabilities who for whatever reason are excluded from more conventional activism have been given a voice. However the huge drawback it seems to me is that people only hear the voice, they do not see the person behind it. Online we are expected to be always on, to be available, to never be weary of answering the same questions or facing the same prejudices.
There is also the assumption that because you share one belief, you share others, the invented myth of community that also haunts the online BDSM scene. The drawback of communities is you start seeing others as members of one instead of the rounded individuals they are. The more radical wing of sex worker activism could not accept I am a Christian, they wanted me to fit into a community which they had designed the limits of, and acceptable beliefs of. I am sure other people can think of their own examples where belonging seemed to come at the price of being less than the sum of all their parts.
Which brings me to the verses, and the song by The Byrds. We need to recognise for ourselves there is a time to fight, and a time to rest, a time for peace and a time for war. If we do not then we risk being exhausted just by trying to interact. Sometimes we sow seeds, other times though the land must lie fallow. There should be no guilt in this, from others or towards ourselves, it is all a question of timing.
Source / Full Text at Sometimes, It's Just A Cigar