Blog Comments

OK gang. I’ve said many times: I appreciate all of the passion that everyone brings to the site. That said, it’s time for a new approach to the comment section; or better stated, a reminder.

I don’t want to police the comments here for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I think having a space for a free exchange among those who love the Catholic faith, wherein each person is accountable for whatever he or she happens to say, is of great value. 

I realize that comments relative to a given blog post will often spark other equally important conversations unrelated to the topic of the post. That, my friends, is why I went to the trouble and expense (and not a little of each) of creating the Forum.

So, from this point forward here’s how we’re going to proceed.

If, in the comment area, you feel moved to initiate a new, even if somewhat related, topic (and let’s be honest, the commenters here are plenty intelligent enough to know what that means) take it to the Forum and invite those who are interested to join you there. You may even choose to start the Forum topic first and then link it in the comment area. I’ve added a link to the Forum in the right hand margin as a reminder and to make it easy to get there.

I’m going to need your help making a go of this. I’m not inclined to create moderators, but I would ask that you please kindly call each other to account when necessary.

Here’s why I think this is important:

In any given month, there are nearly 20,000 unique visitors to this blog, with only a small fraction commenting.

Based on private emails I receive from time to time, I can tell you that some of these visitors are slowly discovering that their inheritance was stolen (and some of them are priests and religious.) I suspect that a decent number of these folks have questions to ask, or even challenges to level to the points being raised, and yet they dare not comment for fear of being shot on sight based on the civil war that often breaks out in the combox on unrelated topics.

These in-family squabbles can be expected to happen; they’re a sign that we’re not lukewarm and they can even bring about some good, but I don’t want them in the comment section on topics unrelated to the post. (To be clear, I don’t mean to imply that the Forum is a free-for-all.)

If we can’t make this “light moderation” approach work, this site will end up being nothing more than a place for the choir to rant, which isn’t worth the effort. In the end, we might find that this simply isn’t feasible, but I still happen to believe it can work if you’re willing. We’ll see.

Thanks in advance for making it happen. I appreciate all of you.

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