*Note the part in the article about having to sign up to comment has been rescinded as of 2010. Now you just need to get your first comment approved.
There are going to be changes coming on this World and Church Trends and Bible Prophecy Blog.
You might wonder why someone would even start a Christian blog that would allows anyone in the world to make comments? I like writing the articles but the criticism that often comes from Christians with liberal or aberrant views is a pain in the butt and often seems to be a planned disruption or a diversion from the person making the comment.
The facts are that only a small segment of Christians even take Bible prophecy as literal future events on the earth. And there is a segment of Christians that prowl the Internet looking for blogs in order to change every topic to be an argument for their own theology, if you allow them. Of course, the non Christians also want to put in their two cents but why would they have anything to offer on Christian topics? Those who think that non Christians actually come to Christian blogs to find truth or salvation in Jesus Christ are pretty naive.
So today I am wondering why I should even allow comments from anyone out there that I will have to closely monitor. If I am going to allow comments at all it should only be from trusted people.
When I first started blogging I actually thought interaction would bring new information and another dimension to my Blogs but I am actually finding out that it really just wastes much of my time. I know if I were writing articles for my website rather than my Blog I would not be answering comments on them unless someone emailed me and I thought their question or comment merited the time I needed to spend to respond. But on my past Blog comments anyone could say anything at all to all the world and they did. What they said often made it necessary for me to make a response. Then more often than not they wish to turn my response to them into a endless debate on issues often totally unrelated to the post. I do not have the time for that unless one of those thousands of persons that know that Jesus will come back in one to three years is willing to depart from their earthly money that they know they will not need and send me that million bucks so I can hire a staff. 😛
Therefore, I am going to change my commenting policy. As of right now people will have to register and log in to comment on this Blog. The registration and login links are on the bottom of the side bar under the title Meta. First you register with a user name and email address and then after that you get your password and you log in. Then you can comment but your first post will not be posted until I reviewed it. After that they will be posted instantly unless you get caught in a spam or bad behavior filter.
That will eliminate 90 percent of the garbage. The score or two of people that make useful comments and adding good information to the blog topics will still be able to do so if they register. Since most of these people are astute I will not normally have to comment back to them unless they are asking me something or I see things quite differently from what they said.
I did not want to restrict people from making comments on this Blog but I see you must or else you will spend a lot of your time just doing moderation, or if you do not moderate the Blog topics will soon get off track and degenerate. If you ever read the comments on Fox News articles you will see it does not take long for loosely monitored comments to degenerates into endless arguments and mud slinging. I guess you cannot change the nature of the demented human race.
Believe it or not, less comments on this Blog will not hurt the rankings of My Blog or the visits to this Blog one iota. In fact, I suspect that a long comment section dilutes the key words and could make the topic rank worse in the search engine indexes. Some of my visitors come here directly because they put this Blog it in their “favorites” but the vast majority actually come to this Blog through key word searches on Google on specific words in my articles, like “Enoch Bible” or “Muslim Antichrist”. That will continue no matter if I allow comments or not. So I really do not need comments to get more traffic to this Blog. What I really need to get more traffic is to write more good key worded articles but I cannot be writing articles if I am wasting my time on people who make comments on Blogs as their main mission in life.
While I am talking about the changes to my Blog. Your going to see far less links and long articles like the last post, because it is apparent that few people actually follow the links to read the articles. Most people these days do not have a long attention span. So what I post in the future will be more like my other recent posts.
Don, that is a good idea you had to set up your website with a log in. I know because I have lost most of my marbles from being dropped on my head a few, too many, times. I tend to get off track in some discussions.
Joel, your number two signing up. Which proves that it is possible for people to do it if they make a little effort.
By the way, just for the record, this is not my website, it is a sub directory of my website, it is my Blog. People can find my website on the top of the sidebar.
Just so there is no confusion, people can read these blogs and comments without registering and signing in but if they want to comment they will now have to do so.
I do not mind some rabbit trails now and then, I go down them myself, but I am through wasting my time with those that are on some kind of crusade to attack Christianity or premillennial theology or etc. I spent four hours on replies to these types of people yesterday and then ending up banning two people and deleting their increasingly belligerent posts and my replies to their posts. Think about it, I have made about a thousand follow-up comments on this blog this year alone.
Blogs are suppose to be personal journals. If people want to argue go to a debate forum. I world rather have one comment that adds some dimension to what I said, than 200 comments that start arguments that I know almost nobody will ever read anyway. The typical person today has an attention span of seconds to a few minutes. Long comment sections on blogs are nothing but a waste of time.
Good call, Don.
I’m not one who likes to post alot, but I do visit often and enjoy your articles.
Kevneto, When you do post it is always enlightening. Welcome!
By the way, if anyone might be wondering why I did not post anything today and probably won’t tomorrow either is because I did a pretty stupid thing today. On the way back from town I crossed a creek and it was higher than I thought and my truck died in the middle. I did not want to drive the extra 40 miles it would take to get home the other way when I was only one mile from my place.
Heck, the water only looked like it was a foot or two deep and the truck is four wheel drive. But when I got in the middle the wake came up to my hood and water got sucked into the air intake. Well a logger that came along towed it out and he took the spark plugs out. There was water on two plugs. Then with the spark plugs out I blew the water out and got the truck started and home but I might have bent a rod or something since it now taps.
Tomorrow I will be changing and checking the oil for water and checking the truck out. Its an old truck with 175,000 miles so it is not a great loss. But the truck is like an old friend and I just put new tires on it! 🙁
Don, the tapping noise is probably one of the hydraulic lifters, it only takes a drop of water to mess one up. When you change the oil, put 4 quarts of regular motor oil and one quart of Marvel Mystery Oil, the Marvel oil will clean up any residual water in the crankcase and any oil galleries. If you went through enough water to drown the engine you will want to keep an eye on the dip stick to see if water is beading on it. Also, take the distributer cap off and spray with WD40 and wipe it out with a dry rag. You also could have just sprayed the spark plugs with WD40 and put them back in. Living out in the country like this you should have a small tool box in your vehicle with tools, a can of WD40 and a roll of duct tape.
Hi Don
I am not much of one for posting.A case of booking puter time with hubby.
I look at this site most days and am encouraged by your comments. They seem sensible and
well-balanced. I have been a Christian for nearly 50 years.
I think you have made the right decision re changing blog rules, and I wish you every blessing.
Thanks Val
Joel your a wee bit late. I already changed my oil twice today because there was a little water in the oil so I drain it. I could not get my oil filter off without a lift so I drove it 30 miles to the local Walmart and got the oil changed again and also got the fuel injector service. I think all the water is out it looked clear after I drove the 30 miles back home.
I am not sure if the tapping is coming from a lifter or a rod.
I could have used the WD40 in the spark plug after I blew the water out but I did not even think of it. I Don’t even know if I had it in the truck.
Don, I’ve finally made it. Good policy but… makes me wonder though… is this sight subversive??? (insert winking face hear but not sure how to get that) Nevertheless, I’ll continue to visit.
Hi Ken, glad you made it. My sight is submersive and that is why I drowned my truck. 🙂
Here is how smiley faces word in wordpress blogs.
http://txfx.net/2004/08/18/wordpress-smilies/