forum motto

You may have noticed that a small change has been made at the top of the forum page. Until now, the forum had no motto, but since this weekend it does: whetstone for the mind. In Proverbs 27:17 it says: “As iron is sharpening iron, so a man is sharpening the face of his associate.” That seems to me a good reflection of what this forum intends to be. Also noteworthy is the disappearance of the amphitheater icon. A brief explanation follows.

The amphitheater icon involuntarily associated the forum with bloody conflict. That is, at least, what an amphitheater makes most people think of. In Roman times, Christians were thrown to the lions and torn apart in such arenas. Was the icon perhaps a reference to the frequently grim tone on the forum? To the fact that Christians too are (so it seems) sometimes “torn apart” here—not by lions this time, but by… fellow Christians? I have no illusion that the disappearance of the icon will ensure that the tone on the forum will always be good from now on. That’s obviously not how it works. I only want to underline that, despite sharp discussion (which I welcome!), we should still respect one another. So: not biting and devouring one another (> Gal.5:15).

Related to this: I have expanded the forum rules to ten. A nice number for rules. ;-). New rule (9) reads:
The reader is the jury.
Discussions often become grim when an “advocate” (or accuser) of a viewpoint takes the seat of the “judge” and starts making final pronouncements about who is right or wrong. That doesn’t help, of course. Anyone who is a party in a confrontation should refrain from doing that. Defend a position, but leave the final judgment of right or wrong to the reader. That keeps the discussion factual and the tone (as far as possible) friendly.

Delen: