Radical Transparency

I propose any group or organization, especially the Christian variety, should practice radical transparency. What I mean by this is every teaching should be written, spoken, or otherwise published as if it will be read by anyone interested in the subject.

For Christians especially, this means a radical new sensitivity to the greater church. If you have Catholic members in your organization, it can only be a matter of time before the Catholic church gets interested in what you have to say. If all the teachings are out there, freely available, perhaps even complete with references to Catholic teaching, things will be easier. It's a good idea to work with them to come up with doctrinally sound teachings. Ecumenism is after all, inclusive, not exclusive.

If, however, someone, even a parent of a member, is concerned about the teachings, and we try to keep the teachings out of their hands, we will suffer, for we have created a more adversarial situation. I know many will not understand what we are teaching, but those who can actually cause us trouble will understand our teachings. Admittedly, they may not agree with us, but we are after all teaching for a purpose. This is not doctrine. This is how to live together. An honest dialog will strengthen our teachings. Think of it as being peer reviewed.

In many ways we no longer have a choice. Personal privacy, as well as the more corporate variety, is disappearing. It is easy to find all manner of things on the internet. In fact many put things up on the internet only to realize later that it might cause them trouble

So, as the data gets aggregated, our choice is whether we will choose to accept the new situation and use it to our advantage. We can look like loving Christians who are open to constructive criticism, or we can look like fearful heretics. Either way, we will lose whatever is left of our anonymity soon.