Scroll down for an update on my faith-based blogging session.
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There are so many nerds in this room…
I’m in a session about money. Henry Copeland of Blogads is talking about money and blogs, and the discussion is raging. Henry touched on the uniqueness of blogging, the kind that will attract advertisers. Part of the uniqueness is the community and conversation that takes place on blogs as opposed to the one way flow of information at online news sites.
Newsday is covering BlogNashville:
Right now, more than 8 million people write blogs, said Bob Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association. Blogs, short for Web logs, are running commentaries on whatever their authors are interested in. Content often focuses on politics or media criticism and usually includes feedback from readers.Participants such as Shelley Henderson said they want to expand their research capabilities to strengthen their commentaries. Henderson, of Los Angeles, dedicates her blog to keeping the Internet unregulated.
Blake Wylie of Nashville was among the participants who took exception to criticisms from politicians and mainstream media pundits that their work is often inaccurate…Wylie said bloggers often provide links to let readers go directly to their sources of information….Hobbs noted that blogs entries are corrected more thoroughly and prominently than in other forms of media.
“We write and then our readers edit us,” Hobbs said.
While bloggers dissect, analyze, and criticize journalists, blog readers do the same thing to bloggers.
The sessions so far are very well-done. I’m now in the miliblogging session with Robin Burk leading. I gave my big speech last Saturday, so I don’t plan on doing a lot of talking in my session. I’ll give a brief overview of what I do and what I think is important about faith-based blogging, then I’ll throw questions out for the audience.
Want to watch the events live?
I posted this photo of Chris Muir (right) so you could see what he looks like.
Update (3:00 p.m.): It is finished! I’ll update later and let you know how the faith-based blogging session went. Overall, it was positive!
Read the latest at BlogNashville.
Update II (5/8 @ 7:30 a.m.): I was nervous about the session for nothing. It began right after lunch, and I arrived with a few minutes to spare. I didn’t know what to expect or how many people would attend. I was pleased to see the room filling up. After a brief introduction, I asked maybe one or two questions about faith-based blogging in general to get the ball rolling, and the audience took it from there.
As an evangelical Christian, I’m all too aware of the associated negative stereotypes. But my prayers were answered. Everyone was civil and very interested in this topic. Involved in the discussion were non-evangelicals, a Jew, and someone who may be a theist. I didn’t poll the audience about their faith because I didn’t want to put anyone on the spot. I may have asked individuals, though.
We talked about how bloggers blog about their faith. Some Christians frequently write about their personal relationship with Christ; others prefer not to. In this same context, we talked about the language we use that others may consider exclusive. I call this “spiritual language.” For instance, some readers will feel excluded when I make a reference to “believers” when writing about fellow Christians. I said that Christianity itself is exclusive, but so are other religions or philosophical belief systems. People tend to forget that when criticizing Christianity.
This is what I mean by “exclusive.” Christ said that no one can come to the Father (go to heaven) without believing in him. He says he is the way, the truth, and the life, and this is what Christians believe. One of the many beautiful aspects of the faith is that God calls all, in a sense. We believe what the Bible teaches, that God foreknew who he was going to save. The call to repentance is made to all people, but only those who would be saved will be saved. That is why Christians are called to share the Gospel with all men because we don’t know who his elect people are, and neither does anyone else.
In terms of faith and blogging, someone talked about the need to disassociate faith, in this case, Christianity, from a particular political party. We have to be sure our faith sets the tone for our politics and not the other way around. Unfortunately, this subject wasn’t fleshed out. It is probably the most relevant issue facing faith bloggers who write about politics, such as yours truly.
Someone mentioned the need to be civil to one another, which should go without saying but often needs to be said. Tomorrow I’ll blog more about the session and BlogNashville in general. I scheduled a flight around noon so I could sleep in, so I’m still at the hotel doing what I do: blogging. 
Here come the BLOGGERS!
LaShawn Barber is AT BlogNashville… Of course, she is Blogging all about it HERE! …Thanks to the Internet, there’s a new model for controlling information–that is, a complete lack of control. Bloggers, rumor sites, and even inside sources are ru…
Trackback by Capital Region People — 05.07.05 @ 11:45 am
Wish I could be there. I ran your photo on http://donsingleton.blogspot.com/2005/05/see-blogger.html
Comment by Don Singleton — 05.07.05 @ 12:21 pm
Who are you calling nerd?
Comment by Sean Hackbarth — 05.07.05 @ 12:31 pm
Boy, do I look drunk.
And I was.
not.
Comment by chris muir — 05.07.05 @ 4:07 pm
OMG, not only is he one of the BEST cartoonists around, he’s HOT looking!! Wowee!
Comment by Maggie — 05.07.05 @ 8:28 pm
La Shawn: I apologize for not getting a chance to talk to you (more than just my quick “hello” at the BlogNashville party on Friday night). I hope you enjoyed your stay in Nashville, and please do come back again.
Comment by Blake Wylie — 05.07.05 @ 10:58 pm
Damn you grey foxes… always making the ladies swoon!
Comment by SCSIwuzzy — 05.07.05 @ 11:30 pm
La Shawn…You take the best pictures! Your smile always is picture perfect! Your mom must be proud!
Comment by Laurie — 05.08.05 @ 12:20 am
BlogNashville - Faith based blogging
LaShawn Barber moderated the BlogNashville Faith-based blogging discussion group. Blogs within the faith based area of the blogosphere do not speak the same language and that can be a source of negativism even if unintentionally. The use of super-charg…
Trackback by Chasing the Dragon's Tale — 05.08.05 @ 6:15 am
Faith Based Blogger Sesssion
La Shawn Barber’s Corner » A Conference Only a Blogger Could Love In terms of faith and blogging, someone talked about the need to disassociate faith, in this case, Christianity, from a particular political party. We have to be sure…
Trackback by Movable Theoblogical — 05.08.05 @ 12:06 pm
Leaving Nashville
Nashville wrap: Maybe we should have reconvened the
Trackback by EdCone.com — 05.08.05 @ 4:10 pm
Senatus populusque blogorum!
After the last panel finished and Glenn Reynolds made his closing remarks, I meandered over to the bar across the street from the Belmont campus and joined another sort of session in progress… Sittting to my right were Sean Hackbarth…
Trackback by Classical Values — 05.08.05 @ 10:45 pm
Finally at Belmont for Friday
Later, Rev. Donald Sensing, who was sitting behind me flat out informed people that he did not have time to follow a link. So if you want to send something to One Hand Clapping for his attention then 1)Include …
Trackback by Tales of Tadeusz — 05.09.05 @ 1:45 am
Great job, as usual, LaShawn. While I think faith and political parties is one important aspect, I think the cultural war is broader. How should believers live in peace and harmony with those non-believers who are not only sinners, but deny that their actions are sins? Those who commit adultury, those who do NOT keep the Sabbath holy, those who covet the things of the their neighbors, those who take the Lord’s name in vain — all based on claiming the Christian sinfulness of their actions is irrelevant to themselves.
And the big one is sexual promiscuity, fornication. Including homosexual issues (see Ann Althouse on Peggy Noonan, or my recent blog posts about: “Hi, I’m gay” as an intro.)
Included in living in peace with sinners is the very political issue of when should sins be illegal, and punished by the state? And when should NON-sinful actions be punished? And why?
Comment by Tom Grey - Liberty Dad — 05.09.05 @ 5:33 am
LaShawn is it possible to get a transcript of your talk? This subject is of great interest to me. I don’t necessarily read just Christian bloggers and to be perfectly honest some days it is hard to tell the difference. Which makes me wonder…should there be a difference?
Thanks for thinking out loud about this issue.
Comment by Spunky — 05.09.05 @ 9:29 am
Hi Spunky - Fortunately (for me) I didn’t have a script, and I don’t know if anyone recorded the session. In retrospect, it would’ve been great to record it.
Comment by La Shawn — 05.09.05 @ 9:40 am
Thanks for the scoop! Darnit, I’ll probably get a job in Nashville now, now that I’ve missed BlogNashville!
(I’d have missed it anyhow, most likely - hello, Kentucky Derby!)
The faith blogging points are all good, and it does need to be discussed more. It could be quite the mess though; there are pro-welfare Christians and anti-welfare; anti-military and pro-military; pro-extramarital sex and porn and anti-extramarital sex and porn…there are a lot of different understandings of God’s Word, our place this world, and how we’re able to act. So it isn’t just a political divide - it’s a cultural one within our own ‘house.’
Comment by Miss O'Hara — 05.09.05 @ 11:47 am
Ron Artest: Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
…LaShawn has written about the communication gap between Christians and non-Christians, and words and phrases that have different meanings to the two groups. It would be a terrible thing indeed if “I’m sorry” were to become one of those phrases.
Trackback by DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS — 05.10.05 @ 9:14 am