Ethical Blogging

EthicsDaily.com has a good article today by Jerrod Hugenot called “Ethics of Blogging.” In it, he reasons that clergy who post blogs should maintain in them the same pastoral integrity they do when they preach, teach and lead.

I’d broaden that reasoning beyond clergy to include all people of faith. “Whatever you do,” 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “do everything for the glory of God.”

Hugunot suggests that “an ethics of blogging” might be in order, and he offers some guidelines. It’s not a bad idea, he says, to let your thoughts simmer awhile, and it ought to go without saying that if we’re going to represent something as factual in a blog posting, we need to make sure we have our facts straight.

“Blogs can be seductive for the ego,” he says, and suggests that “blogging be provisional and humble.” Good point.

He also advises that we remember our “ethical necessity to be collegial. Some bloggers just want to take cheap shots. I would challenge these bloggers to try their best to avoid caricaturing those who differ.”