There is a change in the virtual air here at Faith on View.
In the Beginning
Several years back I, Rondall, had the idea of starting a blog. The first article on this site was published on December 23, 2011. That first blog post was basically just announcing the birth of this blog. In that article, I wrote:
It is my hope that this blog will be a place for me to talk about the the things that are important to me. Weighty subjects like art, faith, culture, politics, kids, nerdy games, books, and silly ideas. Okay, so maybe not all of those are weighty. I’m okay with that too. I guess I just want to share myself and what I think is important. So, feel free to read along, if you like my thoughts, and to argue with me, if you don’t. I’m cool with that. I enjoy the dialogue. In fact, I think one of the problems in our world is that we try to avoid talking about things like religion and politics. I’d much rather talk about either of those than Jersey Shore (if that show is even still on).
That is largely what this blog has been, though I admit it has leaned heavily toward the weightier subjects. I’ve spent far too little time on this blog talking about my love of Heroscape, Palladium, Legendary, Cribbage, or the World Basketball Association. Even my more acceptable distractions such as Lord of the Rings, Marvel, DC, and Star Wars have gotten too little attention. By the way, don’t believe the haters, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was great!
Transparency
Maybe, the most important part of this blog has been the priority placed on transparency. I think there is too little of that in this world. We all want to project the perfect life on social media. It has been important for me to share who I am, what I love, and my struggles. Honestly, one of those struggles has been to post here regularly. I have posted as much as 100+ times in a year to as few as 10 times last year. Though with my cross country move & homelessness (you can read about both here), I may have a pretty good excuse.
A Little History
2013 brought the addition of resources to this site. First, we published the Faith on View Christian College Rankings. This was a good addition to the site which even got mentioned in The Atlantic. We have put out three more updates of the rankings since that first time. There is still a lot more that we want to do to improve the rankings and make it a serious resource for families looking at Christian Colleges. But, that will take more of our most precious commodity…time. Our very popular Art & Faith Resources were added in 2016. As with everything, this is a work in progress but it is a good resource. We also have plans to add more resources with time; I know you are waiting with bated breath.
My wife, Pamela, joined the fray in 2015 as a writer here at Faith on View. She brought a nice diversity not just because she is a female. She is also much shorter than I am, 5′ vs. 6’5″. So, she sees the world from a very different perspective. It hurts my pride a little, but she has written some of our most enduring articles.
A New Story
You may not believe this, but I hold strong opinions and can, at times, have a lively Facebook wall. I have a wide range of friends from varied backgrounds and perspectives. I don’t shy away from postings that are political or religious in nature. Those topics can receive quite a varied response as we’ve seen on the Faith on View Facebook Page in recent months when articles like “Poll: Christianity Today and Removing Trump- Do you agree?” and “Why I Hate Evangelicals” were posted.
Recently, on one of those long comment threads on my personal Facebook wall, a friend quipped, “I feel like we should have a blog. The three of us. Maybe more.” That led to a discussion. Which has led to an announcement…
The Family is Growing
We have decided to add four contributing authors to the Faith on View family: Paul Hand, Vershal Hogan, Scott Culpepper, and Scot Loyd. We will be introducing them over the next month or so. Oddly, these friendships grew out of a very hard time in my life. Scott and Scot were fellow faculty members when I was at Louisiana College. Paul and Vershal were alumni. I connected with Paul when I was writing a lot about the situation at Louisiana College. Vershal I had a lot of contact with over the years on different threads. Honestly, I thought we had been friends for years on Facebook. But, I just looked at the history and we weren’t even Facebook friends until March 2019…social media can be so weird.
A Fundamental Change and a Commitment to the Essence
A transition from an individual blog, to a husband and wife blog, to now a group blog obviously is a fundamental change in the nature of this blog. But at the same time, we are committed to consistency in the nature of this blog. We will continue to be personal and transparent. We will definitely continue to struggle with weighty issues and hopefully, we can find a little time to look at our less serious obsessions.
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