Posted inComments

Tips for my Typepad blog visitors who are having a problem with comments

Some visitors to this Church of the Churchless blog have problems with leaving a comment on a post. Usually this is due to the comment being identified by Typepad, my blogging service, as "spam." When this happens, I need to approve the comment after checking the spam section of the blog's comment file. I try to remember to do this daily, and when possible, several times a day. Just realize that sometimes I'm away from my computer for quite a while, so I'm unable to check the spam section. And sometimes I forget to do this, being busy with other…
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Posted inComments Religions

“Your mind is the perfect epitome of religious fanaticism”

I admire thoughtful, rational, well-reasoned put-downs of religious fanatics. That's why I'm sharing a marvelous comment on a recent post by "Appreciative Reader" that totally destroys the credibility of another commenter, "D.r."The whole comment is well worth reading as a great example of how to respond to religious bullshit. But my favorite part of Appreciative Reader's comment begins with the one-sentence paragraph, It occurs to me that you may be wondering why I’m wasting so much time with you.I really resonate with the last part of the comment. It makes so much sense, I'll repeat it here: But I come now…
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Posted inComments Open Threads

Open Thread 12 (free speech for comments)

Since preachy comments are continuing to show up on posts I've written that have nothing to do with the topic, on Tuesday I'm going to start deleting those comments if they aren't in an Open Thread -- like this one. Leave a comment on this post about anything you want to talk about. I'll try to remember to always have an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar. If one isn't showing, I've added an Open Threads category in, naturally, the Categories section. So you can always find an Open Thread that way. Starting Tuesday,…
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Posted inComments

Please keep comments on-topic

Reminder: as noted in Open Thread 11, comments on a post need to be related to the topic of a post. Don't veer off into using a comment as a way to preach about how wonderful your chosen faith is, or talking about some other subject. It's irritating for a reader of a blog post to click on comments, then find a bunch of irrelevant comment conversations. Use an Open Thread to talk about whatever you want (there should be an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar). 
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Posted inComments Open Threads

Open Thread 11 (free speech for comments)

It's been a while, but Open Thread has been resurrected. This blog has been getting comments that don't fit with the topic of the post in which the comment was made.

So here's another Open Thread (previous OTs are still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. I'll try to remember to always have an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar.

Comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for pro-religion remarks and whatever. 

No PreachingBack in 2015 I wrote "No preachiness" reminder for commenters. Click on that link to learn what is acceptable as a comment on a post other than an Open Thread. I'll also copy in that post below for easy reading.

 
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Posted inComments

“No preachiness” reminder for commenters

Ah, how soon they forget. Some preachy-prone commenters on this blog have been asking, "Dude, where's my comment?" Unpublished, guy or gal. Guess you've forgotten my post of a few months ago about a new commenting policy. Starting today, I'm going to be less accepting of publishing comments that include a lot of preachy religious dogma. Some people have been using comments on my "churchless" posts as an opportunity to share their irrelevant (to the post) religious beliefs.  They might make a passing brief reference to something I said in the post, then launch into a lengthy description of how…
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Posted inComments

New Church of the Churchless comment policy

Time for an experiment with comments on my blog posts. I'm scientifically minded. I enjoy trying something different and seeing how it works out. Starting today, I'm going to be less accepting of publishing comments that include a lot of preachy religious dogma. Some people have been using comments on my "churchless" posts as an opportunity to share their irrelevant (to the post) religious beliefs.  They might make a passing brief reference to something I said in the post, then launch into a lengthy description of how great this-or-that religious belief system is. From now on, I'd like those commenters…
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Posted inComments Personal/Stories

Can’t resist some churchless thanksgiving’s

OK, I give up. I've tried my best to resist the onslaught of thankiness here in the United States. Today is Thanksgiving, a national holiday. It has something to do with being thankful (obviously), but even Wikipedia can't explain the origins of what often is called Turkey Day. For my wife and me, it's Wheat Gluten Day, as we're about to put a meatless Celebration Roast in the oven. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in a traditional fashion. However, there's nothing wrong with keeping "thanks" part of the day. So, that's what I'll do: say thanks to those who visit this…
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Posted inComments

Must be troll time

Merry Day after December 25. This must be Troll Day in the United Kingdom, where some nameless person (if I didn't name him BleedingObvious), is busily posting childish comments in my name, "Blogger Brian." I've deleted them and have turned on comment moderation. Sorry for the inconvenience. 
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Posted inComments

Commenting policies

I've put together a page describing Church of the Churchless commenting policies. (Link also at left of top bar above). Please read, and have fun in the comment playground -- just obey the rules.
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Posted inComments Religions

With religion and the Internet, be skeptical

Sometimes I wonder whether, as a churchless blogger, it makes sense for me to spend so much time in comment conversations about posts that I've written.Recently I came to a fuller realization that yes, it does make sense, and why this is so.There's an interesting correlation between religion and the Internet: both are full of often-anonymous sources making claims that lack persuasive supporting evidence.So when someone leaves a comment on a web site or blog -- such as this one -- it's an opportunity to practice bullshit detection skills that will come in handy when assessing the validity of a…
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Posted inComments

Open Thread 5

Here's another Open Thread (previous OTs are still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. From now on comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for miscellany and whatever. Feel free. No personal attacks on other commenters (or me), please: criticize a message, not the messenger.
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Posted inComments

Open Thread 4

Here's another Open Thread (previous OTs are still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. From now on comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for miscellany and whatever. Feel free.
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Posted inComments

Jerk leads to temporary comment moderation

I'm temporarily going to comment moderation on this blog, where I approve comments before they are published, because Neut er all (a.k.a. Walker, JAP, etc.) has been posting comments under other people's names -- tAo, Catherine, Robert, others, including me, Blogger Brian.I can tolerate insults and attacks on me, but not when they involve other people. Since I have a life apart from blogging, I can't delete identity theft comments as soon as the jerk posts them.As I've said before, I've been reluctant to go to comment moderation because I want comment conversations on this blog to be as easy…
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Posted inComments

Open Thread 3

Here's another Open Thread (previous OTs are still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. From now on comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for miscellany and whatever. Feel free.
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Posted inComments

Open Thread 2

Here's another Open Thread (previous OT is still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. From now on comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for miscellany and whatever. Feel free.
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Posted inComments

Open thread

Commenting experiment: an Open Thread post. Meaning, leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. From now on comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for miscellany and whatever. Feel free. If this works out, I'll put up a new Open Thread weekly or so.
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Posted inComments

“I Hate Church of the Churchless!” blog

Wow, I"d be really upset with the jerk who just started up an I Hate Church of the Churchless! blog...if that guy wasn't me.I spent as much time, effort, and money on this new anti-blog as it seemed to demand. Namely, about 30 minutes, not much, and zero (respectively).I'm expecting -- no, demanding -- that those who want to rant about the uselessness of churchless discussions, and/or insult me, post their comments over on I Hate Church of the Churchless!There's no reason to clog up comment conversations on this blog with that stuff. I can't understand why someone takes the…
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Posted inComments

Here’s how to follow a comment conversation

Good news from TypePad, the host of this blog: it's now possible to be notified when a new comment has been added to a Church of the Churchless post. I've described this new blog feature here. I've also offered up some tips about Google Reader, which I've found to be a good way of keeping track of web site and blog content, including comments on posts. For quite a while it's bothered me that TypePad only allows bloggers like me (who don't customize their blogs via their own programming) to only show the most recent 10 comments in the sidebar.…
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