Monday, January 07, 2008

Blogging, Dialogue, and Idiots

It has been a while since this blog has been active so I thought it might be helpful to review a few of my operating assumptions.

I began this endeavor primarily as a way of disciplining myself to write on a regular basis. That goal has obviously been an abject failure, although I'm giving it one more chance.

Secondly, I really didn't want to focus on any particular subject, but just to let that whimsically unfold according to whatever interests me at the time. You will note a predilection on my part to write about faith, culture, and politics--a result of my own education and profession. But there will be a wide variety of issues here, some of them serious and others not so much so.

Thirdly, I had hoped that we could foster some meaningful dialogue. Blogger, which is the progam I use, has many virtues, the most appreciated being its relative simplicity of use. It does have some limitations in fostering dialogue, however, and that is something I will address should there be sufficient interest to do so. In the meantime, please use the "Comments" section appearing at the bottom of each post. Your thoughts and observations are welcomed.

Finally, I would like to explain why I use moderated posting. This simply means that I must approve each comment before it appears on the public list. Please be assured that I do not use that to censor or screen ideas. I welcome those, whether agreeable to me or not. Unfortunately, I found previously that automated "bots" were finding the blog and posting seemingly innocuous entries but often with links to malicious or objectionable contact. I chose the moderation approach to filter out that junk and thereby protect all of us from idiots, unfortunately not including the elected variety. I can access the blog remotely as well as from home so in most cases your comments will be posted very promptly.

So, with housekeeping and explanations out of the way let's see where this takes us, eh?

3 comments:

  1. I am so happy to see you blogging again, Grant. I always enjoy what you have to say and your remarks make me think deeper myself.
    Margie

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  2. That's very nice of you to say, Margie. It's a good discipline for me to keep writing and I particularly enjoy the interactive part of it. Dialogue is so important these days.

    I always appreciate your thoughtful participation as well.

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