Friday, June 08, 2007

In "Honor" of Jim West

On this blog I usually steer clear of personal feuds, but I'm going to make an exception for the spat between Chris Heard and Jim West. I should note that I've met neither of these guys in person, and have enjoyed my blog-interactions with them over the past two years.

It all started when a blogger named Michael Westmoreland-White took a swipe at Jim:
"When is the last time any of us have seen Jim actually make a careful exegetical argument? For a guy who rants about dillentantes constantly, he doesn't show any of the exegetical skills of the scholars he admires."
Jim retorted that Michael "hadn't bothered to read any of his exegetical work", which prompted Chris Heard to ask, "What exegetical work?" He challenged Jim thus:
"Jim, if you want us to balance your 'exegetical work' on the cessationist question against Michael's arguments, where would you like for us to look? As far as I can tell, the only thing you've 'published' that could even be remotely relevant is ... well ... nothing ... So here is my challenge: either show us where you have previously published your 'exegetical work' on the topic at hand (in this case, cessationism, but it could be anything), or stop ranting and start arguing."
Jim responded to Chris as he often does -- with a non-response -- and Chris rightly pointed out how he refused to answer the question. Jim then countered with another non-response, and Chris noted how he simply changed the subject. Readers of this blog know my abiding interest in the debate-strategies used in shame-based cultures, and under Chris' posts I commented that Jim's non-answers are offensively honorable (acceptable) in these societies. To those of us raised in the west, however, they point to a lack of integrity.

Jim's online debate tactics are indeed very similar to those of Jesus. In my art of flaming post (found on the sidebar) I explained:
"Jesus was skilled in the art of challenge-riposte, the game of verbal one-upsmanship played by men in many Mediterranean cultures... Such men don't respond directly to public taunts and challenges. They escalate the conflict by firing back counter-questions, counter-accusations, scriptural one-upsmanship, and insults. The more you can dodge flame and stay on top of your opponent with counter-flame, the more honorable you are."
There are other examples of honorable flaming besides Mediterranean challenge-riposte, such as Norse/Anglo-Saxon flyting and Black American sounding. The fascinating thing is that internet culture mirrors these oral cultures in so many ways, the art of flaming being just one of them.

So in his favor, Jim West appears to have more honor than the rest of us combined! I suppose he could be considered a good Christian in this sense. (Whenever I hear the tiresome interrogative, "WWJD?" -- usually posed by those assuming Jesus was a sweetie-pie -- I give an honest answer: "Probably call you an asshole.") But Jim needs to work on integrity. It's been saddening to watch his online behavior over the past two years: the habitual diatribes, rhetorical evasions, and removing people from his blogroll on a whim. His behavior may also bespeak a level of insecurity.

The problem is that honor and integrity frequently oppose each other. Jim's online persona is very honor-based: he easily takes affront, readily goes on the offensive, and evades challenges in turn. I don't know what he's like in person, but I would guess that he's more western in the flesh. Remember: the internet lends itself to behavior patterns found in oral cultures, even for those raised otherwise. Once offline, people often revert to their western being.

I hope I have played fair ball here. In my sidebar-post I stressed the positive role to flaming: insults and invective can be fun (and safe) alternatives to physical confrontation; and when used judiciously, there's a certain art to diatribe -- not least of which is seen today in Black American sounding ("playing the dozens"). We can learn from Jim West, just as we can learn from Obadiah, Nahum, II Peter, and Jude. The problem is knowing the time and place for it. Academic venues like biblioblogs are probably not the place for too much flame. Rants and evasions simply won't impress for long in this context. That, I think, was the source of Chris Heard's frustration.

UPDATE: On Chris' blog Joe Cathey says in comments:
"What do we know of Jim West?

(1) We know that Jim gets in a snit anytime he is challenged.
(2) We know that he wants more than anything to be academic but does not have the degree to do so.
(3) We know that he is a master of changing the topic in mid-debate."
Again, these are characteristics of someone operating out of an honor-shame code:
(1) The honorable person is particularly concerned about saving face, so any challenge is an affront and will not be appreciated.
(2) When challenged especially about a suspect degree, the honorable person sidesteps the challenge and claims the higher ground by railroading everyone else as amateurs/dilettantes.
(3) In general, the honorable person never allows himself to be put on the defensive; he goes on the offensive, and changing the topic is the best way to do this -- by firing back counter-challenges, counter-questions, counter-accusations, insults, or some kind of clever one-upsmanship.
But this is how someone would operate out of an integrity-guilt code:
(1) The person of integrity is concerned about authenticity and doing the right thing regardless of public perception, and so will generally welcome challenges.
(2) Such a person will be upfront about the nature of his credentials, and likewise will consider it beneath himself to bash amateurs so habitually.
(3) The person of integrity responds directly to questions, on the premise that evasions and counter-questions are the tactics of juveniles.
That's really a good illustration of the difference between the two codes.

11 Comments:

Blogger Christopher Heard said...

You understand me well, Loren.

6/08/2007  
Blogger Stephen C. Carlson said...

An interesting take on Imitatio Christi.

6/08/2007  
Blogger Angela Roskop Erisman said...

I've noticed that we accomplish more, have more meaningful relationships with colleagues, and are generally happy when we play by the integrity model... What does that say?

Great insights! Thanks!

6/09/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting stuff Loren. Thanks for it. I think I'd rather be in the company of Obadiah than Chris or Joe Cathey. And as to Joe's opinion of me or his attempted "dr phil' psychoanalysis (what is it with people from Texas anyway?)- he clearly doesn't know a thing about me. His supposition that I yearn for academic recognition is just as wrong as it can be. If I desired to have academic recognition I would have shut down my blog (like Joe did) so that no one could really know what I thought and thus preserve my hopes for an academic position. Or, in other words, Joe is projecting his own insecurities on me.

As to Chris's criticisms of me- again, I just don't care what he (or anyone, come to think of it) thinks of me. I'm not an approval junkie like some of our friends.

I write what I think and I think that THAT is what bothers Chris and Joe and whoever other out there finds me distasteful. So I have a suggestion for Joe and Chris and anyone else who doesn't like what I have to say: STOP reading it!!!!!!

Isn't that a simple solution? You'd think that the both of them, being so smart, would have figured that one out for themselves.

And I offer the same advice to any and all. If you don't like it on my little blog, just say no to the temptation to visit!

6/09/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Jim needs to work on integrity. It's been saddening to watch his online behavior over the past two years: the habitual diatribes, rhetorical evasions, and removing people from his blogroll on a whim. His behavior may also bespeak a level of insecurity...he easily takes affront, readily goes on the offensive, and evades challenges in turn."

Amen to that.

6/09/2007  
Blogger Danny Zacharias said...

I would take issue with Joe Cathey's second point — it really smacks of elitism. Are the only people who can be academic those with a PhD? Publications and teaching ought to be judged on the merit of their arguments and data, not the credentials of the author. And Jim has earned a ThD for goodness sake, is that nothing?!? I would say it is quite an accomplishment and he has proven that he is well informed in biblical studies and theology.

I'm certainly glad that credentials aren't the plumb line for publications, otherwise we wouldn't have Carlson's great book on Secret Mark!

6/09/2007  
Blogger Christopher Heard said...

Jim wrote, "I write what I think and I think that THAT is what bothers Chris …"

But no, Jim, you have completely missed the point (perhaps willfully). Sometimes I disagree with you, and sometimes I agree with you. In fact, on the glossolalia issue—the parade example in the recent kerfuffle—I am theologically much closer to you than to MWW. I actually agree with your cessationist outlook—but not with the vitriol with which you blast away at those who have a different outlook.

What bothers me (I cannot speak for Joe or anyone else, of course), is that you (a) say what you think using insults instead of arguments, (b) refuse to explain why you think what you think, when questioned, and (c) in the current case, suggested that we (well, MWW) should read non-existent publications to find out why you think what you think.

Why all the evasion? When asked why you think what you think, why not just answer? Constructive dialogue on any topic can only occur when the discussants dig beneath the conclusion (which, often, is all you present) to the reasons behind the conclusion.

6/09/2007  
Blogger Loren Rosson III said...

Danny wrote:

I would take issue with Joe Cathey's second point... Are the only people who can be academic those with a PhD? Publications and teaching ought to be judged on the merit of their arguments and data, not the credentials of the author.

Danny, this is exactly what Jim needs to realize, not Joe. It is Jim who rails against people who lack credentials, not Joe.

And Jim has earned a ThD for goodness sake, is that nothing?!?

There is nothing wrong with Jim's degree itself. But the fact that it's highly suspect (he claims to have received it from an accredited institution which no longer exists, and which no one else seems to have heard of) puts him on the spot when he rants about amateurs/dilettantes.

I'm certainly glad that credentials aren't the plumb line for publications, otherwise we wouldn't have Carlson's great book on Secret Mark!

Of course. As an amateur myself, how could I believe otherwise? But if I were to start posting tirades against dilettantes, what would you think of me? That I was perhaps projecting my own problems onto others out of insecurity?

6/10/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Loren,

Well said indeed. I cannot add to what you and Chris have written here. Especially your last comment - it has summed up the situation very nicely.

Thanks for including my comment from Chris's blog.

Best Wishes
Joe Cathey

6/10/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its all so silly, sad and bitchy. Why are xtians so nasty to each other? Or is it just Baptists? Or bloggers? I read it because it amuses me. They're all so self righteous.

6/10/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I have often had fun reading Jim´s tirades on this or that matter. But his reflexive defense of biblical minimalists like Lemche and Thompson often verges on the ridiculous.
And a man who puts composers like Michael Haydn and Christian Bach on the same exalted level as Mozart or Brahms is always a bit suspect -:)

6/11/2007  

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