Those in positions of authority, especially, should not be surprised when they are subject to scrutiny and discussion, at times with words of praise and at other times with words of criticism. I've voiced approval of the words and actions of a good many public figures, and probably viewed a greater number with a critical eye and written disapproving words. What I try to do on my blog is to let those I write about speak for themselves by their words or by their actions, and then I write opinionated commentary.
On many occasions, I've called out politicians and leaders in the church, more often than members of other groups, for what they've done and what they've left undone, because I'm interested and involved in church and politics, and, I should add, church politics. I try not to get personal or judge motivations. I can't say that I've always succeeded, but that remains my intention and my goal. Sometimes I mock, many times I employ irony, and sometimes sarcasm. In truth, when I discover that I can use a person's own words against them, especially to expose hypocrisy, I take delight in that. Is that wrong?
So. Having said all that, recently I discovered that it is easier to type words on the screen about a person than it is to say those same words face to face. Oddly enough, of all those in authority that I have called out on my blog, only two have shown up with responses in my comments, and both were bishops, one in the Church in Wales and the other in the Episcopal Church. There may be others, but I can't think of any at the moment.
The first was a post on a statement by
Bishop Gregory Cameron of the Welsh Diocese of St. Asaph. I wrote the post during the meeting of the
Anglican Consultative Council in Kingston, Jamaica, in May of this year. Someone who claimed to be Bishop Cameron appeared in my comment section. I'm not 100% sure that this person was, in fact, Bishop Cameron, but after several comments from him, I came to think that he was who he said he was. I know that at the times he left comments, I was getting visits from someone in Jamaica.
Then recently, I posted on
Bishop Michael Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, because he announced on his diocesan website that he was a candidate for the position of bishop in the Diocese of Louisiana. Bishop Smith responded in the comments, and this time I was sure that the person who commented was Bishop Smith, because he was in Louisiana, and he invited me to attend the sessions for the diocesan School for Ministry which he was leading at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans.
Despite bad weather, I made my way to New Orleans, because I wanted to meet the man who could be my next bishop and hear what he had to say. While I was at the Cathedral, I repeated most of what I said in my post, and it was not as easy to repeat the words in my blog post while I was looking Bishop Smith in the eye...
...which led me to think that before I post criticism of another person, I might do well to make a habit of asking myself if I would say the same words while looking that person in the eye.
