by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Maybe HE likes all the hubbub. But will you? The calm of my Cambridge, Massachusetts neighborhoodwas punctuated the other day by student protestors outsideHarvard University's Science Center. There 1960's wannabeeschanted "Harvard, Harvard, shame on you, honoring aracist fool." The cause of this mayhem was Professor Martin Peretzand his latest blog post on his The New Republic website:"But, frankly Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims."It was more than enough to stir up a reaction from thepolitically correct, who live to chant and picket. They shouted... they taunted... they heckled... and HE, ownerof The New Republic, the subject of so much fuss, got valuable, eye-catching full-page publicity in The Boston Globe, New England'spaper of record. Bingo! One of America's most experienced provocateurshad succeeded, yet again, in using his blog to geteven more publicity for his "take no prisoners"opinions. Martin Peretz' blog had done its work and doneit well. Will yours? It most assuredly will... if you understandthe true purpose of a blog, run it accordingly, andlearn to be a responsible blog publisher and blogreader. Here are recommendations to assist you. Bogs MUST be honest. The purpose of a blog is to give ANYONE ANYWHEREin the world, whatever creed, class, station, nationality,or political position, the opportunity to be heard on any subjectwhatsoever. Thus, your task as a blogger is to open yourself up...to tell the truth, straightforwardly, honestly, bluntly. Theblog is, first and foremost, about you, its publisher andfocus. To write anything other than the whole truth, so helpyou God, is to demean the medium -- and yourself. If you are new to blogging, you'll find this kind ofopenness difficult, challenging. Most people grow upadept at masking their true opinions. For fear of whatthe listener may say or do, we moderate and waterdown the way we really feel and what we say. That will never do on a blog where truth is calledfor at all times. Now, you may think you are a straightforward,honest person but blogging will show you soonenough that you, like all social beings, are considerablymore adept at masking how we feel, our true views,rather than telling them. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", for instance,there is an incident that makes this point lucidly,succinctly. Atticus Finch is walking with his childrenpast Miss DuBois' home. She is a notorious termagantand scold. Does he say that to her? Certainly not.He lifts his hat cordially, saying "Good afternoon, MissDuBois.You look pretty as a picture." Scout, his young daughter,says just loud enough "You notice he don't say a pictureof what." Miss DuBois just catches a few words andwants to know what the impish Scout has said... butAtticus Finch is a wise man, a gentleman and knowsthe value of good relations, over the strict, unyieldingtruth. He lifts his hat again and moves his childrenalong. Most of us would do the same. But bloggers cannot. Bloggers must opt for candor,honesty at all times. The more honest YOU are, the more reactions youwill get. Take Professor Peretz, for example. Giventhat he is an experienced blogger, I take him at hisword, when he writes his latest anti-Muslim diatribe. Others, who feel differently, will abhor and detestwhat he has written... and propose such sanctionsas having a speaking engagement at Harvard cancelled. But this is wrong. Voltaire, that very clever fellow, said it best: "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Unfortunately, sanctimonious members of theAcademy (usually the least intelligent on campus) have forgotten their true calling: facilitatingfree speech, not suffocating and penalizing it. Blogs, then, do the work academicians should do (the reason theyare given tenure to do), but are now too often emasculated, self-protecting and lazy to do. Thus, when you write, the objective is always to achieve Harvard'sultra clear motto: "Veritas", the pure and always unsimpletruth. Write regularly,consistently. One of the major problems with most blogs is thatthey are not regularly produced. Remember, whateverelse a blog may be it is also and always the storyof your life. It is a window into your thoughts andoccupations. Blogs must therefore be regularlyundertaken. Don't start it.... unless you mean to do it. Write regularly and consistently, being always awarethat the first day you do not feel like writing your blogis the very day you must be sure to write it... or riskthe ending of your blog altogether. The more honest you are, the more and strongerreader reaction you should expect. When Professor Peretz posted his incendiaryopinions about Moslims (a subject on which he writesoften), I suspect he knew that tea cups in Cambridgeand beyond would be rattled. What's more, being atrue provocateur,he probably relishes the instant,insistent responses of those he has provoked. Hemight not like being followed through Harvard Yard byhecklers... but he cannot truly have been awfullysurprised by such a response. Relish, rather thanalarm, was most probably his reaction. You, too, need to reach this level of reaction andresponse as you achieve greater candor and honestyin your bog. Because as my grandfather used to say, somedamned idiot is sure to protest; the stronger the opinionsrendered, the stronger the response from those disagreeing. (He would have been a great blogger, grandfather Walt would have been.) Prepare for the reaction... expect it... ignore it. Blogging is one of the jewels of the Internet... treat itwith care and consideration. Millions and millions of folks have come and goneon this planet without leaving even a foot print in thedust. To our chagrin and detriment, we do not knowthem in any way at all. But blogging has changed all that,not merely for the potent and celebrated... but evenunto the lowest among us. At last they have a placefor their opinions...not matter how alarming, uninformed,and (to the rest of us) silly they may be. And this is a verygood thing... for our job is to cherish the bloggers, protecting anddefending them, even at their most reprehensible andloathsome. And that includes you, too, Professor Peretz,as you sit in comfort and security here in Cambridge, spewingvenom. I defend to the death your right to say it... and blog itworldwide. Defending you, I have done the right thing, while taking joy from the fact that every hostile word you blog drives down thecertified circulation figures of your moribund rag, TheNew Republic. In the end the marketplace, not censorship,will determine your fate. So blog on....
Richard Penny
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