I've been posting like crazy so far to try to generate interesting material, discussion, and readership. I am (unfortunately) not a full-time blogger, and won't be able to sustain this trend. That's either a threat or an assurance, depending on how you feel about this flood of writing from me.
I would still like to have someone else writing.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Comments
It just came to my attention that until now, you had to log in to comment. I have changed that setting, so those of you without Google or OpenID accounts can now go back and make all the comments you wanted to but couldn't.
A Goole account is still required to be added as an author.
A Goole account is still required to be added as an author.
Church attendance through the ages
Okay, this is a deceptive post title, since "through the ages" usually references something historic.
This blog has existed for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 36 hours, and it's already way more successful than my other websites. I got 41 votes on the first poll, "How often do you attend worship," and that prompted me to write about just that.
For the first big chunk of my life, church attendance was mandatory. It was simply what you did on Sunday mornings, and no amount of complaining would get you out of it (there was an eventual compromise on dress code, resulting in my now-ingrained idea that T-shirts and jeans are appropriate church wear). As I got into my later years of high school, it became more of an optional thing for a couple of reasons: first, I was older and my parents were giving me more freedom, and second, I think church attendance in my family as a whole was starting to decline. I still went, now out of choice, and I thought I'd keep going to church once I was in college.
I had it all planned out. I'd go to the Eel River Community Church of the Brethren, since I knew Dan, the pastor. There was even a van to take me from the college and, better, a senior who worshipped there and was willing to drive me.
I went once.
It became just too easy to sleep in on Sunday mornings. Church was too early, ERCCOB was too far away, and I assumed I wouldn't like the North Manchester church because it was too big. Of course, there's another option for worship when you're at Manchester College: chapel!
I went to chapel maybe once or twice my entire first semester of college. Somewhere in the middle of that year, though, Jim, the campus pastor, asked me to do something for chapel. I don't remember what - a reading, a skit, a prayer - but I think his secret motive was to trick me into attendance. It worked, and I've scarcely missed a Wednesday since.
I also later discovered that I am in love with the North Manchester Church of the Brethren.
I still usually miss Sunday mornings, so my poll answer on average as a college student would be that I attend worship once a week. However, I had to vote "almost never," since in Mexico I've been to church twice: once to mass in Cuernavaca (who can say no to a mariache band in a cathedral?), and once to the Good Friday service at my host family's congregation of Jehova's Witnesses.
Thinking about this the other day, I started to wonder about how church attendance changes once we leave our families, go to college, and then leave college. (This also got me curious about the age distribution of this blog's fledgling readership, which is why I added the new poll. Scroll down for the old one.)
I wish I could post data that cross-references these two variables - age and attendance - but for now, please comment with your own stories and observations on the matter.
This blog has existed for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 36 hours, and it's already way more successful than my other websites. I got 41 votes on the first poll, "How often do you attend worship," and that prompted me to write about just that.
For the first big chunk of my life, church attendance was mandatory. It was simply what you did on Sunday mornings, and no amount of complaining would get you out of it (there was an eventual compromise on dress code, resulting in my now-ingrained idea that T-shirts and jeans are appropriate church wear). As I got into my later years of high school, it became more of an optional thing for a couple of reasons: first, I was older and my parents were giving me more freedom, and second, I think church attendance in my family as a whole was starting to decline. I still went, now out of choice, and I thought I'd keep going to church once I was in college.
I had it all planned out. I'd go to the Eel River Community Church of the Brethren, since I knew Dan, the pastor. There was even a van to take me from the college and, better, a senior who worshipped there and was willing to drive me.
I went once.
It became just too easy to sleep in on Sunday mornings. Church was too early, ERCCOB was too far away, and I assumed I wouldn't like the North Manchester church because it was too big. Of course, there's another option for worship when you're at Manchester College: chapel!
I went to chapel maybe once or twice my entire first semester of college. Somewhere in the middle of that year, though, Jim, the campus pastor, asked me to do something for chapel. I don't remember what - a reading, a skit, a prayer - but I think his secret motive was to trick me into attendance. It worked, and I've scarcely missed a Wednesday since.
I also later discovered that I am in love with the North Manchester Church of the Brethren.
I still usually miss Sunday mornings, so my poll answer on average as a college student would be that I attend worship once a week. However, I had to vote "almost never," since in Mexico I've been to church twice: once to mass in Cuernavaca (who can say no to a mariache band in a cathedral?), and once to the Good Friday service at my host family's congregation of Jehova's Witnesses.
Thinking about this the other day, I started to wonder about how church attendance changes once we leave our families, go to college, and then leave college. (This also got me curious about the age distribution of this blog's fledgling readership, which is why I added the new poll. Scroll down for the old one.)
I wish I could post data that cross-references these two variables - age and attendance - but for now, please comment with your own stories and observations on the matter.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The evangelizers
Where I come from, Jehova's Witnesses are people you hear about in anecdotes, but never really actually encounter. "Just tell them you're already saved," my mom jokes.
Living in Mexico with a family of them has been an interesting experience, which can be both interesting and frustrating. In general, they are soft-spoken and willing to listen (not just my family, but the other JW's I've encountered here), and their literature can be impressive in its thoroughness and scientific backing. On the other hand, sometimes I feel like they're trying to gently point me towards their obvious truth, with questions like "do you know about the end times?" or publications that seem to have all of the answers.
From time to time, my host mother mentions that two English-speaking brothers from the church stopped by trying to "give me the good news," but I was away. I am intensely uncomfortable being evangelized to, and I've always been pretty happy that they missed me. "Score one for Team Brethren," I say with a smile, winking upwards.
Perhaps God did not find this amusing. At any rate, this morning they finally caught me. I have to say, their English was astounding, especially if they learned it just to spread the Word. And aside from one awkward moment when they asked me "what I thought of" the Good Friday service I went to at their church (did my host family fail to tell them that I'm already a churchgoer?), it was not a lamentable interruption to my noon breakfast. They'd heard that I was going to be working with incarcerated youth this summer and gave me a handy book about issues youth face, all with a Biblical foundation. I dodged any direct theological talk - while I have many good things to say about Jehova's Witnesses, I find that my family and the literature they give me tends to imply that they have all the answers. I don't always feel it's worth it to tell people with that attitude that I don't agree with them about some given issue, so I tend to keep quiet here.
The book they gave me definitely points to the "right answers." Sometimes it has obvious interpretations of the Bible, but other times it seems to take some larger, though usually common, leaps without providing any sort of argument for these assumptions. At one point, it seemed they couldn't actually find any Bible verse on a particular issue so they went so far as to put in a bracket quote that changed an ambiguous verse into a clear one (I won't provide specific examples, because I'm not trying to talk about these issues at this point).
I won't be using the book this summer - the nonprofit I'm working for is not religious, and my job is to keep kids, Christian or not, out of jail. But this story does bring up some thoughts about evangelism and "right answers."
When a consultant told my church congregation recently that we need a minister of evangelism, someone asked him if he was aware that we would find no such thing in the Church of the Brethren (I'm not up to date on the matter, but I think we hired/are hiring someone from outside the COB). And it's true, many of the Brethren I know get antsy at the idea of evangelism (though I would interject that there are also very strong evangelical strains in the Church - just not so much in Goshen, IN). We focus intensely on service and throw around that old Alexander Mack quote, "they will know us by the manner of our living" (I love that). But I think - and I say think because I'm a far cry from a historian - we're distorting Church history a bit when we use that quote in relation to evangelism.
My understanding is that that quote is in response to the decision of the "brethren" not to take a name, not in defense of a non-evangelical stanse. In fact, from what I read in the introduction to my copy of the 300th anniversary devotion book, it seems like the early Brethren were actually quite evangelial, gaining members even from Mennonite communities (correct me if I have this wrong).
But history aside, what's the right attitude here? My problem with evangelism is that it implies that we're right and other people are wrong. It seems presumptuous to assume that we (as Brethren or as Christians), and no one else, know God's mind. Could people of other religions have discovered the real truth, or (as I prefer to believe), a different truth than ours that is still a perfectly valid understanding of an infinite and undefineable God?
Still, maybe the Brethren do have something to offer. I have met, at college and here in Mexico, plenty of people who have been completely turned off to Christianity, yet are impressed and refreshed by the things I have to say about my faith and about the Church of the Brethren. One friend, Jon, a devout atheist, actually told me "Nick, I've always been pretty against this whole Christianity stuff, but from what you've told me I think the Brethren have some stuff I can really respect and get behind."
Cool.
I've yet to bring any converts into our fold (as far as I know), but I feel like I'm on the right track: telling people who we are and learning about who they are, then finding common ground in how we can do God's work here on earth. And I get to express all this enthusiasm I have for the Church of the Brethren while I'm at it!
Of course, Brethren - and Christians - are all over the map with this stuff, and I still haven't figured out exactly how evangelical is too evangelical - or not evangelical enough. Where do you fall on the question of evangelism? I look forward to reading your comments.
PS - Still looking for more authors. Volunteer or you'll just have to keep reading what I think!
Living in Mexico with a family of them has been an interesting experience, which can be both interesting and frustrating. In general, they are soft-spoken and willing to listen (not just my family, but the other JW's I've encountered here), and their literature can be impressive in its thoroughness and scientific backing. On the other hand, sometimes I feel like they're trying to gently point me towards their obvious truth, with questions like "do you know about the end times?" or publications that seem to have all of the answers.
From time to time, my host mother mentions that two English-speaking brothers from the church stopped by trying to "give me the good news," but I was away. I am intensely uncomfortable being evangelized to, and I've always been pretty happy that they missed me. "Score one for Team Brethren," I say with a smile, winking upwards.
Perhaps God did not find this amusing. At any rate, this morning they finally caught me. I have to say, their English was astounding, especially if they learned it just to spread the Word. And aside from one awkward moment when they asked me "what I thought of" the Good Friday service I went to at their church (did my host family fail to tell them that I'm already a churchgoer?), it was not a lamentable interruption to my noon breakfast. They'd heard that I was going to be working with incarcerated youth this summer and gave me a handy book about issues youth face, all with a Biblical foundation. I dodged any direct theological talk - while I have many good things to say about Jehova's Witnesses, I find that my family and the literature they give me tends to imply that they have all the answers. I don't always feel it's worth it to tell people with that attitude that I don't agree with them about some given issue, so I tend to keep quiet here.
The book they gave me definitely points to the "right answers." Sometimes it has obvious interpretations of the Bible, but other times it seems to take some larger, though usually common, leaps without providing any sort of argument for these assumptions. At one point, it seemed they couldn't actually find any Bible verse on a particular issue so they went so far as to put in a bracket quote that changed an ambiguous verse into a clear one (I won't provide specific examples, because I'm not trying to talk about these issues at this point).
I won't be using the book this summer - the nonprofit I'm working for is not religious, and my job is to keep kids, Christian or not, out of jail. But this story does bring up some thoughts about evangelism and "right answers."
When a consultant told my church congregation recently that we need a minister of evangelism, someone asked him if he was aware that we would find no such thing in the Church of the Brethren (I'm not up to date on the matter, but I think we hired/are hiring someone from outside the COB). And it's true, many of the Brethren I know get antsy at the idea of evangelism (though I would interject that there are also very strong evangelical strains in the Church - just not so much in Goshen, IN). We focus intensely on service and throw around that old Alexander Mack quote, "they will know us by the manner of our living" (I love that). But I think - and I say think because I'm a far cry from a historian - we're distorting Church history a bit when we use that quote in relation to evangelism.
My understanding is that that quote is in response to the decision of the "brethren" not to take a name, not in defense of a non-evangelical stanse. In fact, from what I read in the introduction to my copy of the 300th anniversary devotion book, it seems like the early Brethren were actually quite evangelial, gaining members even from Mennonite communities (correct me if I have this wrong).
But history aside, what's the right attitude here? My problem with evangelism is that it implies that we're right and other people are wrong. It seems presumptuous to assume that we (as Brethren or as Christians), and no one else, know God's mind. Could people of other religions have discovered the real truth, or (as I prefer to believe), a different truth than ours that is still a perfectly valid understanding of an infinite and undefineable God?
Still, maybe the Brethren do have something to offer. I have met, at college and here in Mexico, plenty of people who have been completely turned off to Christianity, yet are impressed and refreshed by the things I have to say about my faith and about the Church of the Brethren. One friend, Jon, a devout atheist, actually told me "Nick, I've always been pretty against this whole Christianity stuff, but from what you've told me I think the Brethren have some stuff I can really respect and get behind."
Cool.
I've yet to bring any converts into our fold (as far as I know), but I feel like I'm on the right track: telling people who we are and learning about who they are, then finding common ground in how we can do God's work here on earth. And I get to express all this enthusiasm I have for the Church of the Brethren while I'm at it!
Of course, Brethren - and Christians - are all over the map with this stuff, and I still haven't figured out exactly how evangelical is too evangelical - or not evangelical enough. Where do you fall on the question of evangelism? I look forward to reading your comments.
PS - Still looking for more authors. Volunteer or you'll just have to keep reading what I think!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
What is idolatry?
Image from www.myconfinedspace.com
It won't come as much surprise to those who know me that I've essentially read everything written about the current U.S. presidential election since before all the candidates had even declared their intentions to run. And I knew Barack Obama - he won a special place in my heart with his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Yet due to my bias (25 points if you guess my original candidate), it wasn't until the night of the Iowa caucuses that I really got a taste of the Democratic nominee-to-be.
That night will be a memory that sticks vividly with me throughout my life. I remember clear as day watching Barack Obama give his victory speech and feeling my stomach flip like it does when I'm about to ask someone out, or am on the verge of beating the next level in a videogame. I turned to Elizabeth, my election-viewing companion, and said out loud, "That's our next president."
Barack Obama isn't just running a campaign for president: he's leading a movement. If you don't believe me, ask an analyst.
I'm a peace studies major at Manchester College, as well as a student of anthropology at la Universidad Veracruzana. We are no stranger to heroes. I can't go to campus without seeing someone wearing a shirt depicting Che Guevarra, whose face can strike courage and purpose into the heart of any hippie. And now, finally, my generation has its hero. I've worked in politics for sixteen years, starting with helping in yard sign making efforts at the age of four, and I've gotten pretty into it - that tends to happen when your dad's job is on the line. But Obama is my generation's Bobby Kennedy. He is inspiring, with a populist message of hope and change that leaves our eyes tearing just like when Shadow limped home at the end of Homeward Bound (well, I cried). His image appears on T-shirts and phone poles. Obama is our hero.But wait a second... are we maybe getting carried away? Is Che such a hero? He was an armed revolutionary, which certainly seems out of keeping with my Brethren pacifism. He accomplished some admirable things, and there's nothing wrong with recognizing that. Likewise, Barack Obama is not my beliefs embodied in a U.S. politician. I disagree with him on issues of great moral consequence, like the use of military force as a foreign policy tool and the legality of gay marriage. And while his overarching message is one I can definitely get on board with - a call to unity among people who do disagree about morality and policy, to work together towards solutions - maybe people are taking this hero thing just a little too far. Could it be bordering on idolatry?
When I think of the word "idolatry," I usually think of someone worshipping a golden calf thousands of years ago. A "false" god, represented by a physical object, and essentially not something to be concerned with in the Christian church today.
But I think, intellectually, we have to accept a broader idea of idolatry. I remember many years ago in Sunday School we talked about how some people worship money instead of God - and that's a very real concern that is very relevant to probably almost everyone that reads this. Yet do we have to stop with the inanimate? Perhaps idolatry should be understood as putting our faith and hope into the earthly instead of in God.
Barack Obama is a man. He is fallible. He is as capable of leading us into a disastrous war, robbing us of our civil liberties and alienating the rest of the world as our current president (if not as likely). And the more power you have, the easier it is to make bad decisions. So should we really be putting him up on this pedestal, trumpeting him as some sort of prophet? In fact, isn’t it dangerous for us to put so much faith in one man?
Hope doesn't belong to one campaign or party, and our faith should be put in God rather than in a human being. We are all flawed, and while it is necessary for us to trust one another and work together, we should be careful about idolizing someone. Biblical implications aside, such hero-worship can blind us to the downside of a candidate - or, indeed, any leader.
As for voting... well, that's a whole different mess.
Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to explore this (I still love the man). Any comments?
Get up and Dance
This was my message when I led chapel at the COB General Offices during my internship with Messenger, Summer 2007. It's not really analytical, but I had to post something.
“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.” - Psalm 150:3-5
“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.” - Dave Barry, Fourteen things that took me 50 years to learn, item six.
Dancing is a subject of some humor in the Church of the Brethren. I’m dubious about the accuracy of this – and part of me is afraid to ask – but rumor has it that back in the day, Bridgewater College used a 100 point system for disciplinary procedures: policy violations would earn you points, and once you reached 100 you were kicked out. Sources say that getting caught engaging in “premarital relations” was worth 99 points: getting caught dancing was an even hundred.
But Brethren jokes aside, Dave Barry – and the author of Psalm 150 – have an important message for us. God didn’t give us such beauty and creativity and passion and intensity so we could stay seated and keep our talents – or just our enthusiasm – to ourselves. Church is not a middle school dance where the boys and the girls clump together on opposite sides of the room and look awkwardly at each other. Church is a party where we can all dance our hearts out and never worry about looking stupid.
Temptations to treat our faith coolly follow us all our lives. Youth are pressured to be “too cool” to talk about Jesus. Adults who have been raised in the church can be just too used to our faith to get excited about it. And we all know what it’s like to be too busy to be excited about anything except the end of the day. The English department office at my high school has a clock permanently fixed on 5:00 with a sign underneath that reads, “It’s 5 PM somewhere.”
Brothers and sisters, life is better than that! God is too good not to praise. Our work here as Christians is too important not to give it our all. When we hold back due to our fear – of failure, of incompetence, of being overwhelmed, of putting ourselves out there, of looking stupid, of getting turned down by Ashley Brandau when we ask her to dance – we are robbing the world of our gifts and ourselves of the joy of living.
Look around. We're doing amazing things. We're feeding the hungry. We're clothing the naked. We're visiting the sick and imprisoned. We're reaching out our hands to Jesus and no, it’s not enough and it never will be, but it’s something. And that is something to celebrate. God is good, and God is doing good work, and that is all the reason we need to praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, with the harp and lyre, with tambourine and strings and flute and cymbals and yes, even dancing.
Now, go to any dance with me and you’ll find me standing quietly in the corner, explaining to anyone who tries to drag me out onto the floor that I’m Brethren and dancing is sinful. But when it comes to our passion for life, our love for Jesus Christ and our commitment to a better world, we have too much to offer to keep it to ourselves. Like Ken Medema's song from NYC 2006 says, “There’s lots of room out on the dancing floor. There’s no delaying anymore.”
“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.” - Psalm 150:3-5
“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.” - Dave Barry, Fourteen things that took me 50 years to learn, item six.
Dancing is a subject of some humor in the Church of the Brethren. I’m dubious about the accuracy of this – and part of me is afraid to ask – but rumor has it that back in the day, Bridgewater College used a 100 point system for disciplinary procedures: policy violations would earn you points, and once you reached 100 you were kicked out. Sources say that getting caught engaging in “premarital relations” was worth 99 points: getting caught dancing was an even hundred.
But Brethren jokes aside, Dave Barry – and the author of Psalm 150 – have an important message for us. God didn’t give us such beauty and creativity and passion and intensity so we could stay seated and keep our talents – or just our enthusiasm – to ourselves. Church is not a middle school dance where the boys and the girls clump together on opposite sides of the room and look awkwardly at each other. Church is a party where we can all dance our hearts out and never worry about looking stupid.
Temptations to treat our faith coolly follow us all our lives. Youth are pressured to be “too cool” to talk about Jesus. Adults who have been raised in the church can be just too used to our faith to get excited about it. And we all know what it’s like to be too busy to be excited about anything except the end of the day. The English department office at my high school has a clock permanently fixed on 5:00 with a sign underneath that reads, “It’s 5 PM somewhere.”
Brothers and sisters, life is better than that! God is too good not to praise. Our work here as Christians is too important not to give it our all. When we hold back due to our fear – of failure, of incompetence, of being overwhelmed, of putting ourselves out there, of looking stupid, of getting turned down by Ashley Brandau when we ask her to dance – we are robbing the world of our gifts and ourselves of the joy of living.
Look around. We're doing amazing things. We're feeding the hungry. We're clothing the naked. We're visiting the sick and imprisoned. We're reaching out our hands to Jesus and no, it’s not enough and it never will be, but it’s something. And that is something to celebrate. God is good, and God is doing good work, and that is all the reason we need to praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, with the harp and lyre, with tambourine and strings and flute and cymbals and yes, even dancing.
Now, go to any dance with me and you’ll find me standing quietly in the corner, explaining to anyone who tries to drag me out onto the floor that I’m Brethren and dancing is sinful. But when it comes to our passion for life, our love for Jesus Christ and our commitment to a better world, we have too much to offer to keep it to ourselves. Like Ken Medema's song from NYC 2006 says, “There’s lots of room out on the dancing floor. There’s no delaying anymore.”
An introduction
I should probably start this blog off by explaining exactly what this blog is going to be. And to explain what this blog is going to be, I should explain who this blog is to be about: youth and young adults in the Church of the Brethren. What I want to do is examine the relevant issues we face in the world today, from religion and morality to news and politics, all through the lens of Brethren and youth identity.
This blog does not need to be exclusively Brethren. In fact, I'd say "exclusively Brethren" is probably an oxymoron. Don't flee if you aren't a member of or don't identify with our church; there might be something for you here, as many of these themes are universal, both within our generation (I'm 21) and beyond. However, I feel the need to ground these themes in a shared identity, which for me is going to be Brethren.
I also want to put out a call for other authors. While I see the value of coherency and consistency of thought, I do want to imply that I am the voice of Brethren youth. I don't want to wind up with a forum of several dozen writers (see young.anabaptistradicals.org), but I very much want some other people who are willing to contribute to this blog (anyone is, of course, both welcome and encouraged to comment). If you like thinking about religion, politics, life and Brethrenness, and feel you can contribute thoughtful posts with some reasonable regularity (nothing crazy, just one every week or two), please contact me at nmkauffman (at) spartans (dot) manchester (dot) edu and I'll look into adding you to the authors list. Note that you'll need a gmail account and the ability to use blogspot's interface (it isn't hard :-).
One more thing: I do not want this to turn into a political forum or a hotspot for debate. Yes, controversial issues tend to be among the most relevant, and I want to address them. But this is a site for examination, not arguing. There can be a fine line, but some general guidelines (off the top of my head) could be:
For posting: Pretend you're giving a sermon. Use open and accepting language. Be affirming of the humanity and the Christ in all your readers. But also remember that you don't have to write some big long thing: anything we can share in is good (e.g. - famous quotes from Walt Wiltschek ;-).
For commenting: See above. Be respectful of the thought and searching that went into the post. Try to ask questions rather than provide "answers." Look for common ground. Be challenging, but only in a way as to open up more ideas and thoughts, rather than in a way that discourages or closes them off.
I'm sitting on a few articles that I'll try to throw up sometime in the next couple of days. In the meantime, if you happen to stumble upon this site and want to do some writing, let me know.
-Nick Miller Kauffman
This blog does not need to be exclusively Brethren. In fact, I'd say "exclusively Brethren" is probably an oxymoron. Don't flee if you aren't a member of or don't identify with our church; there might be something for you here, as many of these themes are universal, both within our generation (I'm 21) and beyond. However, I feel the need to ground these themes in a shared identity, which for me is going to be Brethren.
I also want to put out a call for other authors. While I see the value of coherency and consistency of thought, I do want to imply that I am the voice of Brethren youth. I don't want to wind up with a forum of several dozen writers (see young.anabaptistradicals.org), but I very much want some other people who are willing to contribute to this blog (anyone is, of course, both welcome and encouraged to comment). If you like thinking about religion, politics, life and Brethrenness, and feel you can contribute thoughtful posts with some reasonable regularity (nothing crazy, just one every week or two), please contact me at nmkauffman (at) spartans (dot) manchester (dot) edu and I'll look into adding you to the authors list. Note that you'll need a gmail account and the ability to use blogspot's interface (it isn't hard :-).
One more thing: I do not want this to turn into a political forum or a hotspot for debate. Yes, controversial issues tend to be among the most relevant, and I want to address them. But this is a site for examination, not arguing. There can be a fine line, but some general guidelines (off the top of my head) could be:
For posting: Pretend you're giving a sermon. Use open and accepting language. Be affirming of the humanity and the Christ in all your readers. But also remember that you don't have to write some big long thing: anything we can share in is good (e.g. - famous quotes from Walt Wiltschek ;-).
For commenting: See above. Be respectful of the thought and searching that went into the post. Try to ask questions rather than provide "answers." Look for common ground. Be challenging, but only in a way as to open up more ideas and thoughts, rather than in a way that discourages or closes them off.
I'm sitting on a few articles that I'll try to throw up sometime in the next couple of days. In the meantime, if you happen to stumble upon this site and want to do some writing, let me know.
-Nick Miller Kauffman
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