In Response to the Negative

On January 8th I posted an article about what I titled “Imagining Bras – A Facebook Stunt“.  I received a significant number of very positive comments from readers who appreciated, and agreed, with what I had written.  There were also a few individuals who sent negative comments about what I had written.  I responded to these negative comments in another post, titled “In Response – Are You Serious?“.  After posting that article, I received even more negative comments, I’d like to respond to some of that negative feedback here.

Overall, the feeling I sensed from those who commented was that I was pointing a finger at the women who posted their bra colors on Facebook.  This was not my intent, so I apologize for the misunderstanding.  I never intended to point fingers or place blame.  Nor did I ever say that women were bad because of what they were doing, but simply that they probably didn’t know that they may have been leading men into sin by speaking about their bras.  “Leading men into sin” was a major area of contention for some readers.  Some of the comments I received were as follows: “It’s between him and the Lord (if he sins)” and “It’s totally ridiculous to point fingers at us… and to call us bad for causing men to sin”, or this one, “Sin? WTF? Isn’t that just human nature you’re trying to suppress?  We are all just animals at the end of the day.”

I’ll make one thing clear: every person, as an individual, is responsible for his/her choices and actions, whether sinful or not.  This DOES NOT mean that another person isn’t responsible for their part in influencing that person’s choices and/or actions.  Regardless of the philosophy of responsibility, the question that keeps popping into my head when I read these comments is “are you so selfish and self-centered that you have a complete indifference about the salvation of other people?”  This causes me deep anguish, knowing that there are people in the world that think like this.

I’ve really been struggling with just how to answer these comments, and I’ve decided that my answer isn’t going to specifically address each issue individually.  My answer is intended to challenge my readers to think outside themselves.  The more we look beyond our personal desires, the more virtuous we become.  I could have left the Facebook stunt alone and not posted about it, but the tug on my heart was to attempt to show the need to be cognizant of how our part in this world effects others.  None of us are on an island.  Each of us must understand that we contribute (and sometimes, take away) from the welfare of the rest of society.

I know that this post doesn’t completely address the issues of those who made specific comments.  My response may come another day.  In the meantime, I challenge everyone to look at themselves and see where they can improve in behavior, character and attitude.  If we (myself included at the top of that list) work to improve ourselves, and become the best version of ourselves, we will make an incredible change in the world… the world that needs us badly.

Man up!