If you haven’t checked out my discussion forum
recently (or not at all), please stop by and check it out. It has been a little slow there recently (due to everyone being extremely busy lately), but I’d love to see a little more activity there again. There are some new and interesting discussions, and more participants generally make for better discussions. So, go and give it a look-see!
Tags: discussion-forum, open-dialogue
In addition to running Open Dialogue, I’m also a moderator on another forum. Occasionally, my duties involve resolving various bits of unpleasantness, and today was just such a day. Ultimately, I ended up locking a thread due to some nasty flaming between a handful of members and sending private messages (PMs) to said individuals cautioning against further behavior of the kind they displayed today. The fellow who instigated the whole fiasco responded saying that people just “don’t know when it is a joke.”
This incident got me thinking anew about the nature of joking and when joking might be pushing things too far. I realized that I had essentially already written
about this last night, voicing the general principle that should probably apply here, as well. In my opinion, a joke is only a joke when all parties involved can enjoy it and have fun with it. When even one individual finds the joke offensive or is uncomfortable as a result of the joke, then joke ceases to be a joke because it ceases to be completely funny. If everyone involved cannot enjoy the joke, then it probably should not be told or enacted. It seems unfair to force someone to endure something that they do not find funny or humorous.
Some guidelines that I myself use (or at least try to) when determining whether or not to follow through with a joke:
There are biblical principles for this, foremost seeking to avoid causing others to stumble:
Romans 14:19-21
19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33
31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own
good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Sometimes I wish everyone would look out for the best interests of everyone else. It sure would make the world a better place.
Tags: attitude, bible, discussion-forum, joking, open-dialogue
Well, it doesn’t look like I’m going to have much time to write as much as I wanted to today, so, since I’ve gained several new subscribers the last couple of weeks, let me take the time to once again formally invite everyone to join my new forum at http://www.open-dialogue.com and add their bit to the numerous discussions there. Essentially, Open Dialogue is a forum geared toward Christian discussion of a wide variety of topics, all with the goal of (hopefully) shaping our thoughts more toward Christ. My hope is to share what we know and what we’re learning with one another,
exchange opinions, and just generally have a good time ‘talking’ and discussing. We could always use a few more voices, especially since it’s kind of difficult for me to discuss with myself (though I do try). So, hop on over for a chat. I’ll put the pot on to boil, and we can sit down over some tea and scones.
And hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll have a new thought or two to share.
Tags: discussion-forum, open-dialogue, Writing
For anyone who might be trying to access my site (http://www.open-dialogue.com/forum/index.php) without success right now, try this one: http://open-dialogue.com/forum/index.php. It’s the same, just without the www. prefix. For some reason the www. isn’t working, and I’ve emailed tech support to find out why. I’ll let you know when you can go back to using the www. prefix (if you want to).
[Edit] Huh…. it seems as though the problem may be an issue inside Mozilla Firefox because I just tapped the whole address into IE and it loaded with no problems. I’m still waiting to hear back from tech support, but dang if I’m not stupefied by that one.
[Edit-2] Yup, I heard back from tech support. Ironically enough, I was the only one having trouble accessing my own forum this afternoon, and it had nothing to do with the servers. As much as I love Mozilla Firefox, sometimes it can get real cranky. Turns out, all I had to do was close the browser and reopen it to clear up the problem. I still don’t know why it didn’t like the www. prefix. Either way, the forum is running smoothly, so c’mon over for a chat!
Tags: discussion-forum, open-dialogue
A brand new online discussion forum geared toward Christian discussion of relevant issues! Go check it out! It should be a whole lot of fun!
Tags: christianity, discussion-forum, open-dialogue, philosophy, theology
“Rise, forum! Arise!”
A dreamchild of mine for several years now has been an online discussion forum geared primarily toward Christians. I’ve had a number of excellent discussions with fellow believers via email, Xanga, and other discussion forums around the Web. The trouble is that doing so often means spending a significant portion of time traversing the Web, logging into and out of different sites, and so on. I keep thinking somehow that creating a specific forum designed to consolidate a number of these discussions would be useful. My intent would not be to take away from the traffic of these various other sites; rather, my intent would be to make it more convenient for
any and all interested in such discussions on philosophy, theology, ethics, and various other issues by adding to these discussions in a central location.
I’ve already begun testing the waters via email with a few select people as to what sort of interest there would be in such a discussion venue. I will further test the waters by asking how many of you who read my periodic posts what interest you would have in this forum. I would appreciate any feedback you give on what your level of interest is as well as what sorts of things you would enjoy discussing (to help me with the design of the forum should there be
enough interest for me actually start work on it).
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Oh, and believe it or not, I actually have four or five new posts floating around in my head, so hopefully I will get around to writing those up soon and putting them up for your consideration.
Tags: discussion-forum, ethics, philosophy, theology
I know there are at least a few of you who enjoy good theological and philosophical discussions. For those who do, I encourage you go to:
http://www.forums4free.net/thinkings/index.php?
and register. This is a forum set up by a friend of mine (I think he has to approve all new registrations, so once registered, it might take a few hours to actually gain access), and it is a pretty good place to go for some interactive discussions. And if you know of others who enjoy such discussions, share the link with them. I’d love to see the forum come alive with good discussions.
Tags: discussion-forum, philosophy, theology
