Influence Schminfluence
Last week we had a fascinating discussion that led to a few rabbit trails and intense debating via the comment section of Martyholman.com. After I posted the blog in question, the guest blogger and I had a great and equally fervent conversation via instant messenger about the topic and worked some things out that needed to be cleared up.
One of the things our guest blogger was a bit annoyed about was the amount of people who took my side of the debate. This didn’t surprise him however, nor did it surprise me.
You see, people side with who they connect with and are influenced by the most. If someone pours into their life, and they connect with them, then why should anyone listen to the guy or gal who has done nothing for them, even to the point of ignoring good advice.
About a year ago, my friend Jeff responded to a hilarious blog post by Stuff Christians like. The author had written a piece that made everyone laugh connecting some of the famous pastors of our day and age with super hero characters. One of those connections was linking TD Jakes with the Incredible Hulk.
Jeff responded with a light and loving rebuke of this hilarity by finding it interesting that the author would use the only African American pastor in the bunch with the only not white super hero mentioned. Jeff made it clear that he was not calling the author a racist, but simply said he found it interesting.
You would have thought Jeff was the antichrist as tons of people responded to jeffs thoughts with harsh rebuke after harsh rebuke, including the author himself.
A few things were at work here: Stuff Christians like has a point, and its rarely to be serious. It is always a funny blog, and I would encourage you to check it out. Jeff decided to “hijack” the blog with a comment changing the original purpose of the said post, and the people who read the blog didn’t like that very much. If you know Jeff, you know he’s a great guy, but not even he could change the purpose of this blog.
Also, this was (if not the first), one of the first times Jeff had commented on this blog, so no one who reads this blog (relatively speaking) has a relationship with Jeff or knows what a great guy he is.
This was the case with last week’s “Hate makes waste”. The guest blogger changed the whole point of my blog, inferring that it was all about me propogating my philosophy (as if this is not the case with every blog) rather than it being about conversation. Now, beautifully and ironically, a lot of conversation came from his thoughts.
Then, many of the people he was addressing through my blog didn’t have a clue who he was, and the ones that did, with only a few exceptions, didn’t consider him any kind of expert in being able to critique me. (which, by the way, is accurate – he is not)
In the end, the only good thing that came out of it from my end is the conversation we were able to have apart from the blog, and the amount of people who understand what it is my blog is attempting to accomplish. It is not for the purpose of propogating philosophy, though I wonder if it is possible to write without your influence leaking out of your work? Even our guest bloggers writings and chatter “shrugged of Atlas” – a philosophy bent on propogating the value of rational selfishness.
I say all this to reiterate the purpose of my blog – to create conversation for the purpose of growing – preferably in love. And to ask you whose thoughts you are trying to propogate as you comment on my blog?
Basically, who is influencing you right now?
Related posts:
Two things. 1) I would like to point out that while the Incredible Hulk is, in fact, green while using his powers, he lives most of the time as a run of the mill super genius white dude. 2) Atlas Shrugged and so called Randianism, is not “bent on propagating the value of rational selfishness”. Rather, the idea of Atlas Shrugged is that the idea of pursuing a course of rational “self interest” (very different from selfishness, “rational” or otherwise) creates the greatest good for the group and is therefore the most moral societal structure. In fact, once society (in the book) tips into actual selfishness, it collapses.
That being said, my final thoughts on your blog and Darren the intern; it takes an enormous amount of effort (and a bit of masochism) to commit to writing a public blog containing your personal thoughts and to keep it fresh and interesting and to do it with regularity. So for your openness and your willingness I commend you.
Yeah, if I remember correctly it wasn’t The Incredible Hulk. I think TD Jakes was some lesser-known sper hero who is of African American decent. (Because, seriously, there aren’t any well-known super heros of African American decent.)
I find the comparison between myself on SCL and Darren on your blog quite interesting. I had not looked at it this way. But there is a lot of validity to the comparison.
If I remember my Rand correctly, she doesn’t shy away from the word “selfishness”. She’s careful to explain that this does not have to mean it’s at the expense of others. She called the philosophy she espoused “rational egoism” which certainly doesn’t imply hesitation about calling a spade a spade.
I think a lot of people who followed Rand hesitated a bit in calling it selfishness because the associations the word evokes wasn’t really what they were getting at.
I think the Green Lantern is relatively well known. Not to mention Storm (from X-Men) and Blade.
i think i recall that the Iron Man suit was worn by a black guy for a time.
Lucas Cage, the Power Man.
More importantly, i can’t seem to remember any villians with black or brown skin.
Fair enough points, all around.
I’m actually feeling badly. This is now the 2nd blog I’ve hijacked by bringing up the topic of super heroes and race.
I think the original question was, “Who is influencing me right now?”
Perhaps it’ll count as some form of atonement if I “bite” first.
Ultimately, I’d submit that we’re influenced by everyone around us.
People I’m trying to maximize the influence of are: (in alphebetical order)
* Jesus Christ
* My amazing wife.
* the members of my small group.
* Marty & the rest of the lead team at FC
* NT Wright
* Shaine Clairborne
I am under, under, under the influence of love
Dear Marty,
Please start blogging again. We miss you.
- The Internet