Internet Anonymity

I don't think I have anything more to say about the Internet and anonymity, pseudo-anonymity, etc. Here's an index of what we had:

• Introduction
• Separating the person from the words
• Accountability
• The Bible wants Christians to display their weakness
• Fear God, then you won't fear man (there is no anonymity)
  
• Speaking openly and directly, a Christian grace

To be anonymous on the Internet means not to be identifiable as the person who you are when not on the Internet. It's possible to give your full name, and still be anonymous, because even if "Bob Smith" says outrageous things in his own name, nobody actually knows where to find him, what he looks like or who (if he's a Christian) the elders that he's accountable to are.

I hope I've made a strong case that if you must say something without being identifiable, you should have a pretty good reason. "I can't take the heat", "I want people to focus on my words and not me", "I would be a distraction", "I'm not ready to be an online person" and "I don't want there to be a permanent record of things I said years earlier" are, as I hope I've shown, not good reasons. Posting in your own name keeps you honest. If you're worried about your fellow men knowing who said that, perhaps you have even more reason to be worried about God knowing you said it - and he does!