Looks like the boy’s in trouble again
Living much too close to the edge of sin
Now he finds himself where he should not have been

It’s been an interesting day, starting with snapping at several people first thing this morning on Twitter. The Brett Kimberlin and Neal Rauhauser as flesh incarnate Gog and Magog meme in which so many wallow got the better of me, and I snapped at the usual suspects, some of whom snapped back. I have no love for Kimberlin and/or Rauhauser, holding them in approximately 37.4% of the esteem I have for a pimple on a warthog’s butt. However, after a while the constant victimization cry wears thin, especially when it is conveniently accompanied by donation pleas. Please. Give it a rest and get a job already. Either you are giving these two jokers far more credit than they could ever possibly deserve, or you really ought to be cutting them a slice of the funds you are receiving given how they are the centerpiece of your every fundraiser.

Oh God why is Your peace so hard to find
And the answer to the questions that haunt my mind
Oh Lord Your ways are not like mine

Next came a spillover from the previous evening. The back story first. By now you’re doubtless familiar with the Lindsey Stone saga. Ms. Stone, during a recent company outing to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, thought it would be amusing to pose for a photo channeling to some small degree the late Lenny Bruce:

I rather doubt Ms. Stone knows who Lenny Bruce was, but that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, as the story unfolds, unfortunately for Ms. Stone and her co-worker who took the picture it was noticed a couple of days ago by some who viewed it with less than a favorable eye. Said people started circulating the photo with Ms. Stone and her employer’s names attached. Before you can say “gone viral” the photo did go viral, with vitriol by the vat full hurled at both Ms. Stone and her employer. The former replied by deleting her social media presence; the latter responded to the howls for blood by firing Ms. Stone and her co-worker. Justice served; pound of flesh taken; scalp… scalped; Ms. Stone’s head hoisted on a cyberpitard. Everyone happy, right?

No, not really.

My initial reaction to the photo was a combination of revulsion that anyone could be both that disrespectful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of Ms. Stone’s freedom to be disrespectful and astonishment that anyone could be so dense and self-serving as to think this was actually funny and a great photo op. Which is still my reaction. I would love nothing more than to give Ms. Stone a reading of the Riot Act that would forever be enshrined in academia and studied as a textbook example of how it is done, followed by dragging her by the ear to the nearest VA hospital for a lengthy tour so she could witness first hand the price paid for her enablement to be a jerk. If that didn’t provide her with the necessary clue she needed to get a clue I’d finish by handing her a copy of Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” while telling her to never say she wasn’t warned, wash my hands and walk away. Period.

But here’s what I wouldn’t do.

I wouldn’t print her address and phone number.

I wouldn’t print her parent’s names, address and phone number.

I wouldn’t demand she be fired.

Why?

It’s something Jesus mentioned once. You know…

… let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone?

You see, God is still in the sin forgiving business. He still loves His creation. Even when it behaves badly. Sometimes very, very badly. Something to remember. Which, apparently, many on the right have failed to do. Having said all that, back to the original story.

Anyway, a conservative blogger saw an opportunity to score points by writing an open letter to Ms. Stone, verbally stoning her while throwing in some fat jokes for good measure. At which point I snapped — again — and wrote a snarky reply complaining bitterly about how the aforementioned blogger had time to do all this but apparently never had the time to offer condolences for my brother’s death this past August. At which point it was on. He fired back, I fired back to his firing back and several others entered the fray with no intention of discussing how to save a life.

And it pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call You Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holiness

Now, one thing you quickly learn in the blogging game is that every blogger with a following can count on at least some of their followers to immediately rise to their defense by heaping scorn on anyone who dares take the object of their fanboi or fangurl affection to task. This defense will range from everything from gentle rebukes to wannabe tough guys trying to call you out, calling you every name in the book because you politely decline to publish your home address so they can “pay you a visit.” I’m sure the FBI will be delighted to hear of such charming offers. But I digress. Anyway, all of the above quickly came down on me. A fine fun time for all involved, no doubt.

Well, actually, no.

Can we really be what we were meant to be
Jesus people living by the Spirit and living free
My heart longs to serve but wanders so aimlessly
Oh Lord You deserve every part of me

I realized in the midst of all this I was not heeding my own words: Be the better. Never become what you profess to oppose. I was behaving like a wounded pseudowarrior in the Battle of Butthurt. This was wrong, inexcusable and indefensible. Thus properly chastised (and don’t you hate it when you have to give yourself a stern lecture?), I withdrew from the battle, deleted my furious comments and apologized. Last time I checked the acid thrown my way was still there, but I’ll let God deal with these people even as He dealt with me today.

It pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call You Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holiness

That all said — and it needed to be said — I remain extremely disappointed with the conservative blogosphere. Here it had the opportunity to offer not snark, but sharp rebuke tempered by the knowledge that we, too, are but sinners saved by grace. Instead, we rose in self-righteous indignation, took our best cheap shots and then whooped it up over our “victory.” Victory? Really? Acting without grace and/or love is victory?

Hear my cry of desperation
As I see the wickedness of my ways
You alone are my salvation
And Lord I’ve learned this one thing to be true
Is that the closer I get to You
I see I’m a stranger to Your holiness

Don’t want to be no stranger
And it burns like a fire

One can say Ms. Stone is responsible for her own misfortune, and be quite correct in doing so. One can also say she got what she deserved. Fair enough. However, stop and think. How many times in our lives have we not received what we deserved as just punishment for our sins? How many times have we really, really screwed up, hurting ourselves, God, and others by our actions and/or words, and not been taken behind the woodshed and thrashed within an inch of our lives? Yes, we bear the consequences of our sin. Yet even those are ofttimes kept away from us by God’s hand and by His grace.

Are we genuinely better than Lindsey Stone? No. We have presumably not yet posted our sin on Facebook for all the world to see. That doesn’t make us sinless.

We need to open our hearts to God and our eyes to ourselves. We need to love as Jesus loves us. I failed miserably at that today. That doesn’t preclude me from saying that many others are also failing miserably. We don’t have to be such failures.

We can stop being a stranger to holiness.

And it pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call you Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holiness

Don’t want to be no stranger oh no
Don’t want to be no stranger
Don’t want to be no stranger
Looks like the boy’s in trouble again