Many of you are saying exactly the same thing, but none of you are actually talking to each other!

Wouldn't it be neat to actually, you know, make this into a conversation?

Not that I want to be the mediator, I don't want the job and you don't want me mediating here. But maybe we could talk to each other instead of shouting into the ether.

Just a thought.

I do! =) Read some of the posts I mean. I generally read quite a few, then decide if I have anything rational to contribute. If I don't, then I stay quiet.

I couldn't resist shouting across the ether back at you though....

Anna

was toppost worthy because it took a very different view from much of what is being said on the topic.

It just seems to me that folks around here (the Fray in general, not just Faith-Based) really like the sound of their own voices.

They read an article and have a thought, and instead of looking to see if someone else may have already posted that thought, they whack out a toppost that simply reiterates what the previous 10 posters have already said. And we end up with pages and pages of posts with 1 or 2 replies, few of which are very thought provoking.

And if you'll look now, we've been pushed off the front page by still more people saying more of the same.

I'm tellin' you, I could post a couple hundred words of complete gibberish and as long as the subject line was sort of on-topic, nobody would call me on it...I doubt they'd even notice.

Okay, Lono,

I was checking back to one of the posts I had visited, and you left your name, but no comment. Where's the conversation in that? Naw, I really do agree with what you're saying. I think sometimes people find it safer and less confrontational to "shout into the ether." And SOME people don't want anyone to argue back.

Have a good one!

In general, we DO talk with each other and have a pretty active dialog.

Those who post in response to a specific article (as opposed to the more usual free form discussions here) do often seem to post and then not return, however, and many of the regulars stay out of those threads.