Why Write a Controversial SearchWarp Essay?
Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
by Tex Norman
I have recently written some essays for SearchWarp that seem to have upset some readers. Some asked me why I was writing stuff that they found so offensive, and that started me think, "Why did I write stuff that was going to upset a lot of people?" I thought about it off and on today and here is what I came up with:
- Controversy is more interesting than the absence of controversy.
"Why can't you write a story, 39,000 STUDENTS TRANSPORTED HOME AND NO ACCIDENTS!
I could not get the principal to understand that good news is not really news. News is unusual stuff, shocking stuff, stuff that hardly ever happens so when it finally does happen, well, people want to read about it.
We drive by parked cars every day without a second thought but put a burned up, crumpled husk of a car in a parking space, and every driver passing by will slow, and take a good long look.
It is pretty hard to find the right result to a controversial issue. ~ Max Baucus
2. Remember that the only way it can be controversial if you get radical disagreement from your reader.
Stuff that is controversial to one person, or group, may be a yawner to another. This was never clearer to me than this year when I watched the Republican and Democratic conventions. A Republican could get up and say Obama wants to pass National Health Care, and the crowd boos. A Democrat gets up and says, Obama wants to pass National Health Care and the crowd cheers.
Controversy is in the eye, and the ear, and the mind of the beholder.
That's the heart of it: My shows were not that controversial with the American people. They were controversial with the people who think for the American people. ~ Norman Lear
3. To Strike a balance.
I recently wrote some apparently offensive stuff about my thoughts that the Bible maybe isn't as anti-gay as some people think. I claimed then, and claim now, that at least part of my purpose was to present the other side, or an other side. Christians have bulletins, hundreds of magazines, thousands of pro-Christian gay bashing letters to the editor, and I almost never see anything question the conservative Christian position, or advocate for the rights and decent treatment of gay people.
The vast majority of words are against my position. I feel pretty sure I am in the minority. My little essays will make less noise than a rose petals falling into the Grand Canyon , yet it seemed upset some people and was labeled controversial.
I think it is very difficult today to have a reasoned public discourse on any controversial subject. Certainly, election years present a complicating factor. ~ John Poindexter
4. Because you sincerely seek to change other people's mind.
Some people may want to change other people's minds, and they are willing to take an extreme position to move the masses a tiny little bit closer to where they want them to be.
5. For the sheer delight of upsetting others.
Let's be honest, some people just get a kick out of stirring things up. As a former teacher, I often tried to get my kids to think through things, not to just accept the thoughts given to them by their parents, not to just go with the flow, not to just accept a thought, but to think through a position. To do that I sometimes argued against things I supported just to encourage the kids to defend their position.
If your position is strong it can endure challenges, questioning, and even controversial and unfair attacks. This is true of your politics, your science, and even your Bible.
If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention. ~Simon Cowell
6. To increase your internet hits and thereby increasing your SearchWarp popularity score.
Would someone really write stuff that was calculated to upset others just to get more hits from the internet and thereby raising your SearchWarp popularity number?
7. It could be an accident.
It is actually possible to express a position and not realize it was going to cause a hullabaloo. When Joe the Plumber asked Obama a question do you think he had any clue it was going to end up changing his life?
8. You might be mentally ill.
I have suffered from low self-esteem, and profound depression for about 50 years. I continue to wonder why I bother to live another day. I'm not going to kill myself, at least not yet, but I am unhappy, and I am wondering what the point of all this is. So why would I write something controversial, guaranteed to make people mad at me, and dare them to comment on how evil, or stupid I am? If you have low self-esteem, if you are depressed, would you really set things up to trigger criticism that will further wound your mental makeup?
Yes. It sounds crazy, but then, I suppose it is. Having low self-esteem and being depressed can, at least in this one case, cause you to be disagreeable, and unpleasant. This way, when you are rejected, or mocked, or castigated it just confirms that things are as you thought they were: that I am a bad person, and these comments are proof of it.
There are seeds of self-destruction in all of us that will bear only unhappiness if allowed to grow. ~Dorothea Brande
This Article has been viewed 226 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)hi tex,this was an excellent article.i have written several articles on my opinion of the right of gay people to be who they are. it makes me ill to think others dare to judge another human being based on what they do in what is supposed to be the privacy of their own home. there are 2 sexual acts among heterosexuals that i know are against the law in some states, but you never hear about them. i also suffer from depression, and know the toll it takes.i have also written several articles on that subject, from the heart, since i know the symptoms and the heartache well. when you figure you don't want to die, but you don't want to live either, there's quite a problem. and i have crohn's, which depression and lethargy are also symptoms.so, i write. it has literally saved my life over the past couple of years, going through a horriffic and financially crippling divorce, and now, my son joined the air force yesterday!however, i have Faith in God and how he wants me to learn by my experiences, so i keep doing so.thank you for a good article,my best regards,sueI wish your son the best, and, being a parent myself, I know how I would worry if the shoe was on my foot. Thanks for your encouraging comments. Peace tex
The only thing worth being depressed about is writing articles that do NOT make a lot of people angry.Joel, you are cool. Thanks for the kick in the pants. I feel some better. Peace be with you. tex.
Tex,Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God." I believe he was speaking about those who show humility, who don't feel that they know it all - those who may be curious about things and are open to finding the truth. I have heard alot of Bible-thumping on this site about the "abomination of homosexuality" - i.e. the forest fires in California are the result of godless gays; Hurricane Katrina was caused to punish America for that gay parade, etc. I appreciate an opposing opinion on this issue. I am a big boy, I can figure it out. Many "redline" progressive evangelicals such as Tony Compolo, Jim Wallis, Brian McClaren, Jimmy Carter take a different position on gays as those on the Christian right. We never hear those voices here. Thanks for bringing controversy out of the closet so we can start seriously thinking again! Be well and keep the article flowing.Thanks again James. You know, when I was in the pulpit I never pushed my views on the Bible and the potential Christians have to love their gay brothers and sisters. Only one time did I ever teach about these views and that was when the Priest of my church asked me to do so. I think three families left the parish after that class.Anyway, I don't really enjoy upsetting conservitive Christians, but I do feel gay people, especially gay Christians need someone to at least voice some support for their right to take in air and pray to their Lord.Thanks for your words. tex
Great article Tex. I seek out your articles because I learn a lot more reading two sides of an argument. We should be able to process two opposing sides of an argument even if we do not agree with the writer. If someone’s mind can’t contain two opposing thoughts at one time, they should stay away, not try to silence the other voice. Keep them controversies coming, I'll keep reading.
Hi Tex.Just keep writing controversial articles. It helps to keep people thinking and talking. Remember, when some people are loudly disagreeing with your position, there will be those who equally as loudly agree. Controversy is necessary to keep things going. If we all agreedabout everything all of the time, well my goodness, in my opinion that would be boring and the end of everything. There'd be nothing more to do. Nothing more to talk about. Nothing more to learn.All the reasons you presented are very good. You seem to have hit just about every reason for writing a controversial article.DianneDianne,I hope that you understand that there is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to be learned in the Bible. There is a singular Truth that all true Christians understand. To me, this article and others like them, seek to silence this Truth, and it saddens me to hear people cheering this on. God has a wisdom far above our own, and He has his reasons for teaching us what is right, from what is wrong.Peter 1:19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day of dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of private interpretation.For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost"To me, this article and others like them, seek to silence this Truth, and it saddens me to hear people cheering this on."How does presenting a different opinion constitute seeking to silence anything?Presenting thought provoking articles, whether you happen to agree with them or not, should be "cheered on" - it encourages thought and discussion, both of which are positive.As to "There is a singular Truth that all true Christians understand", that isn't really true other than in the most trivial sense.Christians can (and do!) have many different understandings of Truth, that is why there are so many sects (and versions of the Bible!), and so many differences of opinion between individuals. This is not a bad thing!There are Christians who support abortion, there are Christians who don't.There are Christians who deny Jesus performed the "supernatural" miracles described in the Bible, and there are Christians who believe he performed them.There are Christians who accept homosexuals as equal, and there are those that don't.Whatever God's wisdom may be, it is a fact that there are countless differing interpretations of it, and no clear and unambiguous evidence to decide which of those interpretations, if any, is correct.No Christian can truly tell another that they aren't a true Christian just because they disagree with themThanks for the comment.
I hope you do not misunderstand me. I am certainly NOT for silencing the truth. I am not for silencing the lie. I oppose censorship. I believe the proper way to deal with expression I disagree with is to either ignore it, or to put forth my own views.
I am sometimes so hurt by Christians that I have thought I might be an atheist. At other times I feel I am a wounded Christian. I am also someone addicted to writing and I write every day of my life, and I express my thoughts every day, so sometimes my thoughts are controversial or offensive to some.
I agree that no one has the right (other than freedom of expression) to say if another person is a Christian or not. In one of the parables. Jesus tells about a pen filled with co-mingled sheep, and different shepards would come to the pen and call their sheep, and THE SHEEP recognized the voice of the shepherd. If I hear the voice of my master then I hear it. He is my Shepard and I belong to him, and no one else can say I don't hear what I hear and know what I know.
If we all think alike we are not really thinking. Try kick-starting your mind and don't go with the flow. Doubt your indoctrination. Henk
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.