By: A.B. Timothy

If you are a follower of my X account, you may have seen a drama play out on the TL recently. I had a fellow Author, Ryan Williamson (who you might remember from my back and forth with him about A.I. a few weeks ago), block me. It is always disheartening when someone blocks you who you thought of as a peer.

If you wish to read through it, you can see my thread about the drama here. Ultimately, I believe I won because I supported my side of the argument the best. I gave him evidence and asked him questions, neither of which he could answer, instead resorting to the playground-esque behavior of name-calling and cursing.

In the end, he decided to block me instead of continuing the conversation for reasons I can’t pretend to know. Though I would imagine it had to do with either boredom or wounded pride. This is an issue. While yes, the internet is great because you can pick and choose who you interact with, it shows a lack of character on the part of the blocker to block someone because you got annoyed at their response to you. It is basically plugging your ears and saying “La la la.” Because you are done talking with someone.

Now, I have lost my fair share of internet arguments in my time. I even raised the white flag in the back-and-forth Ryan and I had the other week. But what you don’t do, after losing an argument, if you wish to be seen as mature, is block the interlocutor and ignore them.

I understand that religion is a touchy topic for everyone, and it can make emotions run hot very fast, but part of maturity is your command over your own emotions.

So what do you think? Let me know in a comment below or in a reply on X. Give this page a follow if you are looking for inspiration and fun short stories. Also, check out the Newsletter Page to subscribe to receive this week’s Newsletter, which comes out today!