Comment moderation on...

You know what happens when you take an extended vacation from your blog? It becomes inundated with spam comments. So now we have comment moderation turned on to stem that ever-widening tide. Worry not! I will not censor comments beyond the elimination of junk and spam. Human beings making posts relevant to the discussions here that don't include links to irrelevant content will be let through without modification or delay.

Now I need to get posting again, eh? :)

The Unicorn Museum & Intolerance - Learning to Breathe

So I recently visited a site mentioned on BoingBoing.net that was created in response to the Creationist Museum. It's the Unicorn Museum and it's worth a look. I found it kinda boring in its one-note sarcasm, but I'm probably not the intended audience.

Then I looked at the comments and (not surprisingly) found quite a bit of "back and forth" between people with differing views on religion. Of particular interest to me was a post by someone clarifying the nature of the passage in the Bible mentioning unicorns and a response by someone dismissing the clarification as merely a crutch to help someone grapple with the inconsistencies of their source of faith. I wanted to respond, but instead I decided to post my initial response here to allow it to mellow like I do when I have an emotional reaction to such things. So here, for your edification, is my initial response:

Especially when viewed from a scientific standpoint, understanding the history of the words in any particular translation of any book is important regardless of whether it is religious in nature. Of the dozen or so most popular Biblical translations currently available in English, the word "Unicorn" is only used in the one most poetic of all - the King James Version.

It's honestly not a matter of sleeping well at all (I have Sonata to help me with that). I welcome open discourse on religion and faith, but if we do so assuming we are undeniably correct and everyone else is hopelessly wrong, the only result can be to thoughtlessly gainsay ideas you didn't bring to the table. This helps nobody.

The bottom line for me is that this site is funny, but it's also pretty juvenile. Literalism in any discipline deserves a healthy dose of humor, but belligerent ignorance can be ugly when professed in public regardless of spiritual inclination. I get it - you think people with religious faith are stoopid. Unfortunately, this site responds to someone else's ridiculousness (i.e. the Creationist Museum) with their own wrapped in the convenient, flame-resistant robe of satire. Like so much humor in that vein, this ends up just sounding shrill and smug rather than truly funny.

Now I will take a few deep breaths and see if I want to post this to their comments section later today.

Comments are Encouraged & New Section: Twitter

Just in case it wasn't apparent to anyone who drops by this site, I heartily encourage comments. In fact, there are days where I don't create any new posts because I'm more directly involved in talking with other people who comment here. In fact, I anticipate a good discussion will ensue in the BBS: Parable of the Wicked Tenants post below and it would be great if you would chime in!

I've also added a relatively new section to this site: Twitter. What the heck is that? We'll, without getting too deep into it, Twitter is an easy way for me to tell you what I'm doing related to this blog. I update my Twitter status multiple times a day which can be good if you're wondering whether I've fallen off the face of the earth or I'm just working on a new post.

FYI: For those wondering, I fell off the face of the earth a long time ago.

What happened to all the "challenging" posts?

I admit, I've fallen away from the big, somewhat argumentative, challenging posts. Does that mean there will never be another one? Hell no. In fact, I know there will be more. But life isn't about long, tedious platitudes. It's the small details where true wisdom and enlightenment lies (or is it lays?).

I also think a blog clogged with longer posts tends to wear out the author and alienate the reader. It seems the discussions in the comments have been more stimulating than anything else going on here. I love that people are participating and thank everyone for reading and chiming in!

So, in summation, the State of the Blog is strong and growing. ;)