The Fearsome Pirate's Final Bow

Josh has kindly given permission to post his "Blog Obit" explaining why he has taken down his blog:

So you’re wondering why I took down the blog and deleted everything pertaining to it. Well, there are a lot of reasons. I’ve been seriously mulling this over since I was involved in a very ugly online incident primarily because people were so offended by things I never said and things I do not believe, yet somehow I was continually accused of saying and believing. At that time, it became apparent to me that my diction and grammar matter far less than how people feel when they read what I write—they react to the feeling, not the propositions. Further, they construct opinions and views which they ascribe to me based on this nebulous “feeling” they get from my blog (or comments), then persist in demanding that I explain why I believe such-and-so even after I’ve pointed out several times that I believe quite the opposite (such as being repeatedly accused of believing that salvation is found only in the LCMS, an absurd idea I have vehemently rejected in public and private discussion numerous times). Such has been experienced by me over e-mail, in comments, and on others’ blogs.

Explaining what I say consumes enough time without being demanded to explain what I don’t say. I have grown weary of continually having to turn to Merriam-Webster to prove to people that I really mean what I said I meant when I made a given statement. The appalling antipathy toward grammatical precision, mastery of the English language, logically supported claims, and consistent reasoning has driven me from the blogosphere, which revolves around pejoratives, slander, misrepresentation, straw men, emotions, and false witness. I see no point in speaking if the hearer is incapable of hearing anything other than what he has decided beforehand I ought to say. Communication is a completely dead art. Rather than perpetually engage the masses of self-wise illiterates, I prefer instead to interact only with those capable of choosing their words carefully and expressing exactly what they mean, whether they lived in the 16th century or the 20th.

A lesser reason is that blogging has become an addiction for me; I spend hours and hours each day doing it when I should be using my day more fruitfully. Of course, spending two hours writing something to have it completely distorted and ripped apart by undiscerning readers is hardly a rewarding experience, which led me to question why I constantly did it. Spending as much time as I do blogging has resulted in a noticeable decrease in opportunities to actually live life, so it’s time to stop.

I also was uncomfortable with the high profile. I’m not a spokesman for the Missouri Synod, Lutheranism, or anything else. I’m only 22 as of this writing (I’ll turn 23 in July) and nowhere near being established in life. I’m far, far away from having career, home, or wife, and consequently am not really in a position in life where I can engage in doctrinal battles and not have it adversely affect the attainment of those goals. I’ve lost a lot of sleep and have been in seemingly perpetual bad moods because of things people have said either to me, about me, or about the confession of my church, and frankly, I was a grumpy insomniac before I ever knew what a “blog” was, so this wasn’t helping me any. The longer my blog was around and the more people that read it, the higher their expectations were, the more sleep I lost, the crankier I got, and the less I got done.

Also, I really didn’t like the person I was becoming via the blog. Blogging makes my disposition increasinlgy negative, in part because there are so many idiots on the Internet, and in part because you increase your readership by grandstanding and baiting people into arguments. It’s a sick pleasure to troll on someone else’s blog and do all the things I just complained about, and I’m not innocent of it. People have said I come of as arrogant on my blog with good reason. I can be a pretty arrogant guy, and blogging just feeds that (however, what people call “arrogance” is often no more than believing that what the Evangelical Lutheran Church confesses is true. I wish more people were “arrogant” in such a way). People say things on the Internet that they never would have said in real life, and the last time I checked, “people” included me.

And let’s not forget the endless hatred I incurred for, you know, actually believing all that stuff we confess in the Book of Concord! Somehow, people constantly expected that true Christian charity would compel me to either flatly reject or apologize for Article VII of the Augsburg Confession. Hence, my repeated assertion that Article VII is a most true and Christian article, rejection of which compromises the integrity of the church in a given location and the pure proclamation of the Gospel was met with endless hatred of my person. God help me, I cannot confess otherwise. The Church lives by Christ alone, who is present among us in the Gospel and Sacraments, not by pious sentiments, edifying feelings, or sincere commitments to justice and morality. Hence there is no room in the Church to compromise the Gospel for the sake of “love” or “brotherhood.” I can only say what Martin Luther said over 400 years ago: “Do not speak to me of any love and friendship where one would demolish faith or the Word. For not love but the Word brings everlasting life, God’s grace, and all heavenly treasures.” It is not the business of a Christian to apologize for the Gospel or to compromise it for the sake of “peace.” Christ asks us the same question he asked his disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” and we must answer with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” because it is upon this confession that Christ said “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” Woe to those who would turn that rock from Peter’s “You are the Christ” to “Love your neighbor,” because then the Gospel is changed into the Law and the Church no longer has anything to confess before the world. Indeed, where the Gospel is not confessed or preached, there is no Church at all, but only an association of people united by a common pious affection.

What else? Oh yeah. I get really, really, really sick of people acting like because they know my opinions on Baptism (it saves), taxes (too high), and soccer (it sucks), they’re qualified to make character judgments about me. A blog is not a window into the soul. There’s lots of me and my life that I don’t put on the blog, so quit acting like your in a place to make a comment on the “fruit” displayed in my “life.”

Finally, nothing good can come of a woman I’m interested in reading my blog. I’d like to not be single for the rest of my life, and my public rantings on the Internet weren’t helping a bit. If I meet someone, I’d rather her get her impressions of me by spending time with me, not by reading my scathing criticisms of Reformed doctrine or the Purpose-Driven Life. My blog was hardly of the sort to leave a favorable impression on the opposite sex.

So that’s it. Over 2 years and 279,173 words later, it’s over. I’m done. You may see me in the comments now and then, but my blogging days are over. If you’re offended by anything I’ve written here, tough crap. Don’t bother writing to me, because you’re probably one of the reasons I quit blogging. For everyone else, I’m still fishstik45atgoeshereyahoodotgoesherecom.

It's a shame to lose you, Josh, but I'm sure everyone'll agree that what you say above makes sense. All the best for the future - look forward to your continuing presence in people's comments sections!