Write fewer emails, more blog posts

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After The Mormons aired, I contacted a fellow who had written a lengthy email to PBS complaining about inaccuracies in the show. He regretted sending the hastily written email because it lacked the tact and style that would have been more characteristic of him. But his email already had wings — it was being forwarded to hundreds of people, and in some cases even modified from his original text.

I emailed him, suggesting he start a blog:

I think it would be great if you setup a blog. You could post the original letter and follow-ups and allow people to comment. Let people pass around the address of your blog instead of the text that might get altered. The world needs more blogs from faithful members who defend the Church. I’d be glad to help you set it up if you’re interested.

But he wasn’t interested:

I don’t have an interest in setting up a blog. I do not want to spend time becoming an internet apologist for the Church.

So I tried one last time:

…the Internet needs more faithful voices. With as much effort as you put into your letter, you appear to have the courage and energy to be such a voice. Consider a line from Elder Ballard’s Nov 2005 conference talk: “We call upon Internet providers and Web site creators to become more responsible regarding their potential for influence….”

In President Kimball’s address “When the World Will be Converted” he talked of using radio, TV, and satellite to spread the Gospel and that he believed “the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse.” That was 1974. Could Church members have envisioned an invention that would allow us to connect instantly with billions of people all over the globe? I feel like we have the opportunity to share the Gospel in a completely new way.

While his response was kind, he was still uninterested:

you contend well for a faithful use of the internet. thanks for all you’re doing.

What went wrong?

He can certainly do as he pleases, but if he has the time to publish a lengthy, well-written letter to PBS — and it was well-written — why not publish on a blog? Blogs allow for an open dialog between parties and preserve the history and fidelity of the text. (We believe blogs to be authentic; we believe emails to be authentic, as far as they are forwarded correctly.) Publishing online where everyone would see might have tempered his initial response. It facilitates a gentlemen’s duel — if we must use the word “duel” at all — instead of a drive-by shooting.

My offer to him stands for everyone. If you need help starting a blog so you can share your beliefs and testimony, we’d be glad to help.