Taking God's Name in Vain Part 2: Why Are You Yelling at Me?

I recently watched a top ten list of popular videos on the internet. Somewhere on the list was a message by a well-known preacher on abortion. The video showed text corresponding with his message. As he began to increase in volume, the text got bigger. By the end the whole video was pretty much screaming.

Since the list site was secular, I scrolled curiously through the comments. Some were uncalled for, but one jumped out at me. The gist was, yeah, the "shrill yelling" approach should work.

Snarkey commenter had a point. Am I pro-life? Yes. Do I think yelling is a good way to make a point? Less than ever.

I'm searching through convictions and scripture and finding that many of the preachers I railed against had some good points. Why did I argue in the first place? Because they were yelling at me.

Another comment said, "Preachers like him are the reason I stopped going to church." Why does this turn off so many people, including me? It's all in the tone.

"Why are you mad at me? I'm just telling the truth." I've said this to my wife in moments of spectacular foolishness. The moment I "speak the truth" by blurting it out like machine gun bullets, I'm wrong. As a friend likes to say, "You can be right but be wrong at the top of your voice." Am I making this some sort of competion to see who's right? Then I'm wrong.

Some would argue that's just a style of effective speaking. Don't get me started on that one. In interest of keeping on topic, I'll just say style aside, shrill yelling may not be the best approach. It tends to drown out the truth when you bellow it out.

Let's stand up for what's right. Speak up on life-and-death issues, but let's do it the right way. Support adoption as able. Sign petitions that back up your convictions. Speak up when appropriate. But don't yell at people, especially when they're not present to answer. That's cowardice.