Voice in the Wilderness

As I mentioned earlier, GodBlogCon got a fair amount of MSM play. Even the Guardian Unlimited in the UK ran a piece. Interestingly, the reporter, Jamie Wilson, saw fit to quote two posts from my other blog, www.texastommy.org, in the article.

You can imagine my shock when I checked my latest SiteMeter.com report for that blog, (which usually attracts a measley 2-4 unique visits/day because I haven't posted there in 4 1/2 months) and saw that 359 on October 17. For a moment, I thought I had the Instapundit in my sights!

Alas, all is not tea and crupets with this article from jolly old England.

The story fuses two sections from two separate posts, my bio and a primer on Christian blogging:

An extract from www.texastommy.blogspot.com: Because of the specific language, skills, and mindset of bloggers, they can almost be considered a unique people group, many of whom have never been reached with the redemptive message of Christ crucified and risen. Thus, here is an opportunity for believers to engage the world for the Gospel of Christ ... First, pray. For wisdom, guidance, discernment, clear thinking, and good humour. Pray that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Pray we will proclaim it clearly ... Pray we will be wise in the way we act toward outsiders and make the most of every opportunity. This blog believes in:

· The conservative view of government and politics: limited government, individual freedom and responsibility, free market principles, traditional values;

· God: He is real, interested in the affairs of mankind and individuals, His Word is true and applicable today;

· Engaging people from other faiths but share many of my values;

· Pursuing the truth on items of interest to my readers with integrity, fairness, intellectual rigour, good humour, and high purpose.

The first paragraph, except for the phrase "This blog believes in", is from the Christian blogging primer. The rest is from my bio. Juxtaposing "proclaiming the mystery of Christ" and "This blog believes in the conservative view of government and politics" has the effect of making me, and by association the rest of the God Bloggers, look like we necessarily conflate the Christian faith and conservative politics. This is not at all true! But, I suppose it makes good copy for the Guardian Unlimited's target audience. Other headlines include "Embarrassing Setback for Bush' Nominee", "US fears backlash after TV documentary shows soldiers burning Taliban corpses", and "Spain orders arrest of US soldiers over death".