When Sheep Bark, Part 2: Anarchy or Authority

It was a perfect storm of self-destruction when Secretary of State Alexander Haig stood in front of the White House press and claimed, "I'm in control here." Haig actually had reason for making the claim in the aftermath of the Reagan assassination attempt, but all most Americans later remembered were tight lips and a martial gleam in the eyes.

Authority insisted on is usually authority lost. This is especially true in the anarchic world of the internet filled with rebellious adolescents who, like Barney Fife with a bullet in his gun, grow by ten inches and a hundred pounds every time they log onto Blogger.

Is there extrinsic authority on the internet--authority derived from position outside the internet, not from Technorati ranking or number of daily visitors?

The reality of external authority on the internet is undeniable. Police arrest for internet crimes, the ICANN governs internet domain numbering, the RIAA sues over use of the internet. Though the interactiveness of the internet seemed amazing ten years ago, it's increasingly clear that the internet fits within established categories rather than upending them. Blogs are revolutionary only in the way talk radio was revolutionary in the 1980s. They don't represent a signal advance in the human condition like the printing press. They're simply mini areopagii for the masses. And authority on the internet is little different from authority in any other realm.

One of the most basic forms of authority is proprietorial--the authority of ownership. Internet property is bought, sold, acknowledged by courts and defined by law. This blog exists as a result of the generosity of WORLD. They own the domain, pay for the servers and own the blog creation software. Tim and I are guests here. If WORLD doesn't like what we do, we submit or leave. Far from unique, what's true of this blog is true ultimately of nearly every blog and site on the internet. A blog does not create authority. A blog begins by the blogger coming under authority--accepting terms and conditions and acknowledging the authority of the host.

Christ the Word runs a server off a static IP rented from an ISP. That's about as independent as you can get on the internet--unless you happen to own fiber personally. But even those who run private servers are subject to higher authority. Terms and conditions are part of every ISP service agreement.

And blogs themselves are private property. This doesn't mean they aren't public forums. Non-owners are often welcome on private property, but they enter as guests with limited rights under the authority of the owner. WalMart does not give carte blanch to guests simply by opening its doors to the public. The person who thinks he can walk out without paying just because WalMart invited him in has confused the status of the guest with that of the owner. An invitation to enter is seldom a license to pillage.

What does this have to do with blogs? It should be obvious that blog participants who defy the owners' rules or seek to subvert the blog's purpose are pillagers rather than owners. They're the internet's equivalent of juveniles who behave decorously enough under their parents' roof but who dance on tables, play loud music, light fires in wastebaskets, throw darts into walls and urinate from the decks of others' homes.

The boorishness of "Christian" commenters on blogs is often startling. Blog owners possess rights and authority on blogs, not commenters. The commenter may indeed be correct and the blog owner wrong, but the blog is private property. Even possession of the truth does not give a commenter the right to enter private property guns blazing.

Simple respect for ownership should cause us to think twice before commenting negatively on others' blogs. Are we participating constructively? Are we respecting the wishes of the owner? Or are we vandalizing private property? I don't have to respect my opponent's position--or even person--to respect his authority over his blog. Even if he sins against me, it's not my right to violate his property in return. I must respect legitimate authority even when it's used sinfully.

Proprietorial rights are perhaps the most basic form of extrinsic authority on the internet. Christians must not fail to show respect for ownership. The military's saying that you don't have to respect the man but you must respect the rank holds true on the internet as well. You don't have to agree with what is said in a forum to respect the authority of those who own the forum.

Next, other forms of extrinsic authority on the internet....