Dear Reader,
I have a few guiding principles when I do “public theology” (i.e. when I write for non-academics). The two most relevant for this post are:
- I will avoid controversy for its own sake; I will not make my career by being mean to people.
- I will not avoid controversy out of fear or personal inconvenience; after listening to others, my church, and my conscience, I will (respectfully) speak my mind.
I am willing to take grief from others for what I say. I am less willing for others to take grief because of me. It recently came to my attention that that has happened. I do not know details, and what I do know I will not share. I will only say that nobody came to me. I learned about this on my own, and it disturbed me greatly.
I suspect several of the headaches I might have caused owe less to what I have said than what others have said about what I’ve said. But the distinction is irrelevant! If I get pelted with stones in the public square, I am at least partly to blame if the person next to me gets hit. I am responsible for my words and the way they effect the people I care about.
So I am going to take a breath. A deep breath. This will be a momentary pause, probably only a couple of weeks, at most. A breath is not permanent silence, but a moment to allow me to collect myself before my next utterance. In the meantime, I thank you for your patience. I covet your prayers and counsel as I consider what to say next and how to say it.
Forgive,
David J. Dunn, PhD
I am really sorry to hear that. I hope this hiatus is not for too long. I find inspiration in your writing and because of it I have become an avid follower of the Huff post religion section. I am also Orthodox and agree with you on the gay marriage issue. I know some gay people who have been together for over 22 years (more than many straight couples I know). They love each other and are committed to one another. It is hard for me in good conscience to want to deny them the ability to be married. Thank you again!
Thanks for letting us (your readers) know about this, David, it sounds like a good thing you’re doing. I cannot help but think that doing public theology has got to be extremely frustrating because you have to explain a lot of basic stuff to some people (like me) and this is a difficult format to do it in. I hope that your book is published and that you will be able to refer to it for some things because then people like me can go and read and come to a better understanding of where you’re coming from and what you build your comments on. God bless all you do!