Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

By the Erudite Redneck

Good-hearted people take advantage of anonymity to do something kind for others. Keeping themselves out of it is part of the blessing of giving. It’s part of that whole “prayer closet” approach to spiritual life that Jesus suggested.

Bad-hearted people hide behind anonymity to do bad things, such as the Klan behind their sheets, or the Middle Eastern terrorists under the towels on their heads; to say bad things, such as the idiots who call in to talk radio; and to write bad things, such as the occasional “critic” who leaves meanness on this site.

It’s tempting to call the anonymous posters names, or just delete their unkind remarks. But, just like running from the terrorists or cowering before the Klan, that would be letting the bastards win.

Besides, although some of us who gather here know one another, and know our on-line handles, many more of us don’t. So, we’re all anonymous at some level.

Of course, there is a time when retreating is the honorable, just and wise thing to do. But I’ve got a pretty thick skin, from years of such attacks in my professional life. No pissant anonymous poster to this blog is worth the time it would take me to figure out how to delete him-her.

I do know this: There is no f------ anonymity across Jordan. Every name is written, it is said, in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I stand before God just as I am, fully identified, fully rotten, yet being redeemed.

The words we use are just so much wood, hay and stubble. They, pitiful attempts to express wisdom that they are, will be the first to go, in the final refining process.

Call it f------ myth. Call it f------ metaphor. Whatever. I, and lots of others, call it The Truth. We all will be called to account for how we used our anonymity.

END