Thoughts on Taclink

I recently left Taclink, and at this point, I have no real intention to return, although I do wish that I was still a part of the community. It would be hard to overstate how much I've benefitted from my involvement with Taclink/Opchan. It's because of members of those sites that I'm a student at Tulsa Tech, it's because of members of those sites that I got to build my AR-15, and I've even had meals to eat because of them. I've gone on road trips, hung out in bars, and generally had a fantastic time.

Taclink/Opchan posters are among my best friends.

But I left, and the decision to leave took less than ten minutes.

Here's why:

I'm not allowed to defend my faith, or even to mention it. If the subject of the thread is "How's your day going?", I catch flak from the mods and the admin for mentioning my faith, even if, as in the most recent case, the only thing I mention is "I'm getting ready to debate my pastors".

Other people asked me questions about Christianity, I told them to send me an email. That's against the rules now.

Now, I have no problem with folks giving me all kinds of shit about what I believe. Most of the time, they don't even understand what they're talking about, and I view it as a chance to set the record straight. I generally do this by citing verses that back up my position, or linking a article on the subject. This is against the rules as well.

It was suggested that I should simply stop mentioning my faith. Well, it might be easier for some people, but it's not really possible for me. Let me try to explain that part:

Taclink's admin/owner, BTDT, is a decorated US Army Ranger, and I have a lot of respect for the man. He's retired, but he once lived, breathed, ate, and crapped Ranger. It wasn't an eight-to-five job for the man, it was a lifestyle. He thought like a Ranger, he talked like a Ranger, he acted like a Ranger. He lived a Ranger lifestyle because when it came time for him to fight like a Ranger, he wanted to be at his very best.

Now, if back while he was active duty in the Rangers, someone had asked him about his life, chances are the conversation would have at least brushed upon his status as a Ranger, and would most definitely have mentioned his military service. It would be hard for him to talk about his life without mentioning something he does seven days a week, right?

Makes sense.

Now, take me. I'm a Christian, and I'm training to be a Christian missionary aviator. My job will be to fly and occasionally repair airplanes, and talk to people about God. I'm currently in training for the repair part of it, and I practice the talking part whenever possible. If folks ask me about it, and I mention it frequently because it's who I am, I'm more than happy to spend as much time as they want to explain what it is I believe and why.

Being a Christian is not an eight-to-five thing for me any more than BTDT was only a Ranger while he was actually doing missions in Afghanistan. For me to avoid mentioning my faith would be about as logical, and about as possible, for him to do the same while he was training with his unit.

Now, I know there are people who treat Christianity like a chore to be taken care of Sunday morning. I've also met soldiers who treat their military service like a chore to be taken care of one weekend a month with a two-week camping trip in the summer. Those soldiers don't belong on a Ranger mission any more than a guy who never practices his faith belongs in the mission field.

I train hard for my future career. I train by studying my Bible, spending time in prayer, by talking to everyone I get a chance to, and by studying for whatever class I'm currently in. I train hard because I do not intend to be a half-assed weekend warrior when I get to whatever country I go on a mission to. I want to do the very best work I can for my CO, and to complete my mission, just as BTDT trained extremely hard so that he could do his very best, and complete his missions.

But, as things go, BTDT's not cool with the way I live my life, and has "ordered" me to stop mentioning my faith. It's his website, so he can make whatever rules he decides. As a user of the website, my choices are simply to either play by the rules, or to leave.

Because of the way I treat my faith, as central to my life and career, not as an accessory, I do not feel I can play by his rules in a respectful manner.

So I left.

I wish that it could have gone another way. I tried to keep the debates down, to do things via emails, and by not getting into the specifics of what I was studying, but that wasn't enough, and I was catching flak for it, so I left. I'm not bitter, I'm not pissed off, and I'm hoping this doesn't come across as too disrespectful, but it's simply no longer a place I feel comfortable hanging around.