WARNING: Head may explode if an attempt to digest all contents in one sitting is made; but since some of the contents may expire before long: such an attempt may be warranted.
UPDATED LINKS (07.29.08)!!!
NOTE: I found it quite curious that I failed to find any of the articles by Rev. Abanes that Rev. Silva derived quotes from; but this is not to suggest that they may have been already removed, nor that they may have never existed in the first-place.
This Open Letter to Steve Camp outlines my initial thoughts/intentions/motivation for writing to Ken Silva's ISP. It also covers various issues relating to the "Ken Silva vs. Richard Abanes" controversy, including:
ReplyDelete1. Bible Study notes on key passages being discussed,
2. the actual contents of my email to Silva's ISP,
3. observations about the current state of the church,
4. an indictment of today's so-called Online Discernment Ministries, and
5. documentation of Ken Silva’s violation of federal copyright/privacy laws, and other issues.
The open letter should answer most questions and addressed the widely-read article by Steve Camp titled "Battles in the Blogsphere."
This is my final word on the issue. Those who have ears to hear, and eyes to see, will both hear and see the truth.
Richard Abanes
Pop Culture Mix
Thank you for caring enough to call attention unto your response unto Steve Camp, my dear Rev. Abanes. I hope this awful mess that started with the dispute between Rev. Silva and yourself can be resolved soon.
ReplyDeleteBe assured that I can appreciate why you naturally found what Rev. Silva said so offensive. For it was generally rather harsh, and downright hateful at times.
Furthermore, I can also appreciate why you naturally think that your response unto Rev. Silva was appropriate. For unrighteousness in the Body of Christ should always be addressed.
The trouble is that you should not have reacted so "naturally". For you should have reached-out unto Rev. Silva privately, and asked him to tone-down the rhetoric a notch or two if a higher level of Holiness could not be reached.
On the other hand, and in all fairness, our Heavenly Father may have decided against advising you on the proper course of action. Perhaps this is what happened unto Rev. Silva, as well?
Just FYI ---
ReplyDeleteThis post was made by a message board administrator in charge of moderating the forums at crosswalk.com and christianity.com.
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From an Admin stand point I usually encourage people to use the report feature when they see someone violating our Terms of Service. One thing I have found is that the anonymity of the Internet fosters hotheadedness. Therefore, one never knows how terribly the recipient of a warning will respond. This is not to say that Mr. Silva has a tendency to that sort of behavior. (However, his response certainly does seem to indicate that it is in the realm of possibility that it would be so.)
We provide a service with a Terms of Service to which everyone agrees to abide by. Outlined in that service is how we will deal with violations of our Terms of Service. Rather than our members having to deal with this sort of unpleasantness we offer to deal with the situation privately.
In my opinion, a person does the right thing when he/she reports what is perceived to be a violation of our rules so that the situation can be reviewed and the appropriate action taken.
I doubt that the service provider in this case lost any sleep over any perceived threats of a law suit from Mr. Abanes. Such a suit standing up in court would be near impossible.
I believe, rather, that they did much the same thing I do. Look at the content and determine if it violated their rules. They found that it indeed did break their rules and sent a notice to Mr. Silva requesting that the content be removed for violations of the Terms of Service. (This is actually more than what we do in that we remove the content ourselves and notify the offender of the action taken.)
In this Admin's view Mr. Abanes did the right thing. . . .
Mr. Silva should have reviewed the Terms of Service and determined if they were rules by which he wished to be governed. . . . When asked to remove the content for violations of the Terms of Service Mr. Silva should have complied as per his agreement and then considered finding a site more suitable for his style.
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This sums up the incident fairly well. I have nothing to add, except my 100% agreement with this administrator. As I have noted before, those who have ears to hear and eyes to see will both see and hear the truth.
See his full post at my website, under Thoughts of a Web Forum Administrator: A Look At Ken Silva's Actions
R. Abanes
Pop Culture Mix Website
Yes, Rev. Abanes, there is certainly different ways of handling problems. In a legal sense, you took the high road, and it could even be said that you showed great restraint in the eyes of this world.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, would you have taken the same steps if your "attacker" was a member of your immediate family? Therein lies the crux of the issue unto me. After all, are we not all supposed to be as one in Christ, and should we not want to deal with even those who obviously aren't in the same way as our Heavenly Father does?
No, I will not throw a bunch of Bible verses at you. For I am quite sure that you have at least as many that you could throw back.
Nonetheless, it all comes down unto who you want to believe our Heavenly Father is. Far too many want to believe that He is quite eager to punish all transgressions. Would you be as one with them, or would you rather believe that He really doesn't treat us as we deserve?
Hi Fishhawk would like you to take a look at this post don't know if you already but, when I stumbled on it yesterday I wondered if you have seen it
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=1425
things re really heating up on this issue. I just hoped Rev Richard Abanes did not react the way he did, it is like "he has the power to do anything" . . . that's not a Christian behaviour am also sure that Rev Silva may have offended in a way but the punishment was way too harsh and worldly for my liking.
Godbless
Yes, my dear Hannah IJ, it is a mess all the way around. Here is an article that I ran across that counters the Slice article: http://christianresearchnetwork.info/2008/08/06/place-of-grace-an-inside-look-at-the-remnant/
ReplyDeleteAlas, it is nothing new. For law suits have replaced stonings, but the intent remains the same.
The solution is not to block paths of communication (like not allowing for a free-flow of comments) however. For there is a risk of abuse from those who vehemently oppose your point-of-view, but the risk is well worth it when you are given an opportunity to truly help someone and to be helped yourself.