An announcement below the jump about the future of this blog, in the very short term, and beyond:
As longtime readers may recall, I took a job at the Templeton Foundation in January in part to help create and run a new web magazine, Big Questions Online, which we intend to be a thoughtful forum for the presentation and discussion of ideas related to science, religion, economics and morality, and the dynamic interaction of all those areas. Well, we’re getting close to the BQO launch, which means that this Beliefnet blog is drawing to a close. I’m not ending my blogging by any means, only shifting it to BQO. I’m really excited about the line-up we’ve got for BQO, and I really hope all of you will follow me there, not only for the continuation of this blog, but also to meet some other bloggers and writers. I’m incredibly privileged to be in a position now of being able to commission essays that I’d want to read and link to anyway, because I think the ideas — whether I agree with the point of view of the writer or not (and I don’t always) — are well worth considering and discussing.
The comments policy at BQO, including on the blogs, will be more restrictive than what you see here. Commenters will have to register, and comments will go into moderation before appearing. This is not done to make your lives miserable, but rather to help us on the small BQO staff manage the site better — and to keep the threads civil. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve had to spend over these last for years on this blog monitoring the comments threads, and deleting the problematic posts. Because I can’t always be as vigilant as I’d like, some things that ought not to have gotten through did. That shouldn’t be a problem on the new site. You will still be able to comment anonymously, and of course there’s no way we can know if the information you provide to us when you register is truthful. That’s not the point. The point is to be able to identify which commenter is behaving as a troll, and to ban him or her effectively — something I’ve never been able to do here. I wish we didn’t have to be so restrictive, but we really don’t have much choice, I’m afraid.
Anyway, while I’m not exactly sure which date we’ll soft-launch BQO, that day rapidly approaches. I am not too far from the 1,000th post on the Rod Dreher blog, which began in January, the successor to Crunchy Con. For sentimental reasons, I want to cross the 1,000 line before saying goodbye to my Beliefnet friends. But I’ll need to post a lot to make that goal. So, please keep checking in here over the weekend and, well, from now until the end, because I’m going to have more new posts than usual up. I foresee being somewhat more sober on my new blog — less snark and indulgence of my pop-culture weaknesses — so I may need to get all my ya-yas out in these last days.
posted July 17, 2010 at 10:14 am
I look forward to seeing you on your new blog. May it be blessed.
posted July 17, 2010 at 10:18 am
Wasn’t it Babe Ruth who said, ‘Where thou goeth, I shall go’?
posted July 17, 2010 at 10:52 am
Ruth rarely spoke out loud, Rawlins. Usually, he just pointed.
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
“Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”
But, my favorite:
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Saint Yogi of Berra.
posted July 17, 2010 at 10:57 am
Rod, will the new commenting system give readers the option to subscribe to comments by email? Will it also have nested/threaded comments (the ability to reply to a specific comment)? I sure hope so. The commenting system here at Beliefnet has been so primitive and made it difficult to follow comments.
posted July 17, 2010 at 11:10 am
“… a thoughtful forum … related to science, religion, economics, and morality, and the dynamic interaction of all those areas.”
That truly is a noble goal – and you will never run out of work.
In particular, I hope to read explorations of the *interactions* – the relationships among them.
posted July 17, 2010 at 11:15 am
I’m at rdreher (at) templeton.org.
Now I’ve gone and spent about an hour researching and posting something about quantum mechanics and theology. I’ve got to leave and run errands now, so I won’t be able to post something else for a while. I’ve frustrated my own blog marathon goal! Grr…
posted July 17, 2010 at 11:26 am
Generally moderated forums move slower than open ones. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it does change the character of posts considerably. They become less conversational and more like letter writing.
posted July 17, 2010 at 11:57 am
Rod,
Look forward to the new Templeton blog. Just out of curiosity, but what is to stop you from starting your own blog where you write about anything that interests you and an official, institution-affiliated blog/forum you edit professionally. I believe Spencer Ackerman does this with “Attackerman” and “War Room” (affiliated with Wired Magazine).
Obviously, time is one obstacle, but is there a policy at Templeton about this?
posted July 17, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Oh damn! Does that mean I’ll have to be serious all the time because I’m boring as hell when I’m serious.
Oh well, it will be interesting to see where the new blog goes.
posted July 17, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Just helping to boost your post count!
Well, OK, a real post – looking forward to reading the new blog & BQO. I find myself
more and more drawn to the kinds of questions you’ll be discussing therein.
posted July 17, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Hope the new blog goes well, and I will, of course, be there when it launches. Hope you make the 1000-post-goal, and as to the new blog, mnogaya leta!
CAPTCHA: fungals said Interesting…I’m not sure if (assuming the new blog has no CAPTCHA, which as a registration-only blog it probably won’t) I’ll miss CAPTCHA or not….
posted July 17, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Best of luck!
posted July 17, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Looking forward to the new site–well, mostly. As MH points out, moderated comments are…different. To be honest, I rarely if ever comment on a “moderated comments” blog, precisely because of what MH points out–each “comment” is more like a letter or a mini blog post of its own, and conversation among commenters is almost nonexistent. Still, the new blog sounds interesting!
posted July 17, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Another trait of blogs with registration is that the registrant’s parameters are stored in a cookie. If one deletes cookies often, then it becomes necessary to login again to the blog after each deletion. Along with moderation and its attendant delays, registration impedes the chief purpose of a blog, i.e. to encourage conversation. I think it is not the best way to stimulate traffic.
But I have no doubt that Rod’s new blogposts will be worth reading even if commenting proves cumbersome.
posted July 17, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Comments at the new blog, fewer in number, delayed in their appearance and posted under protocols more discriminating, cannot be other than of markedly higher median caliber, both in the much-needed backstage weeding by the grown-ups and in the necessary prod to more thoughtful postings that will entail. The fact that there will be fewer comments and fewer commenters alike is not a side effect – it is a dividend.
Currently, this blog stands at 907 posts, with 93 to go till 1000.
Captcha: effect superbas. As I noted above.
posted July 17, 2010 at 5:58 pm
92 now – LOL – best of luck with the new blog – it does sound like it will be very interesting although I will miss the “conversational” tone of this blog
posted July 17, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I may be able to join in commenting on the new blog some time down the road. Not initially due to several factors. The forthcoming change in my job situation that I mentioned under another blog post today. The switch hits within the next couple of weeks. More work in the start-up period for me, some probably at home, so less surf time in the evenings. Some developments in the family area will be affecting some of my free time somewhat too. And finally, one of those fed friends I’ve mentioned in past posting is involved in some stuff which links to me so I wouldn’t want to register under my own name until he leaves federal service (he is submitting retirement papers soon.) What can I say, dudes have to look out for their buds. Maybe I can encourage him and some of my other retired fed friends to comment at the new blog, as appropriate. Just to balance some of the mix of comments.
I do agree with the posters who say the convos will change and become more like letters exchanged. Less free flowing. But the burden on Rod has been great in terms of policing comments. I don’t think we always recognize how much he has had to along those lines, since we’re not reading the blog constantly and don’t see each post he has to take down.
Thanks for posting your addy, Rod. I’ll send you an email today or tomorrow.
posted July 17, 2010 at 7:18 pm
I apologize if you have already addressed this question elsewhere, but will Beliefnet maintain access to the archives of this and the Crunchy Con blog, or will you be able to move them to your new site, or will they disappear?
Captcha: see dribbler
posted July 18, 2010 at 5:28 pm
“I foresee being somewhat more sober on my new blog — less snark and indulgence of my pop-culture weaknesses — so I may need to get all my ya-yas out in these last days.”
Well, I hope you don’t get too sober — I think your humor and quirkiness is part of what helps a wide range of people to take you seriously. Love your work …
posted July 19, 2010 at 2:07 am
YAAAAYYYY! NO MORE POPUP ADS! THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about.
The moderated-comment policy sounds like a great thing. If it makes people think twice before commenting, so much the better. We all have a tendency to shoot from the hip online, and that’s probably the main reason tempers flare so easily.
And, really? Sober? I don’t think you have it in you, my friend.
posted July 19, 2010 at 8:10 am
Looking forward to your “new” endeavor; sounds very interesting if not quite as conversational, but still worthwhile. D. J. White asks a pertinent question: How will we all log onto the new site?
And what about the captchas???
posted July 20, 2010 at 4:45 am
I’m an ex-Dallasite (Lakewood, even…I lived on Vickery) expat living in Japan, who’s followed you for a while. I’m libertarian leaning, economically conservative and pretty socially liberal. I could not care less what gay people do in the privacy of their homes, I think small government rocks and prayer in schools is annoying but ok, although I’m an atheist (small A). So I don’t really fit anywhere, which is why moving to another country was less of a sacrifice than it seems. I’ve followed you since NRO, and have felt myself at a distance from them as well, although they still have some good people. You often piss me off by taking the “wrong” position on something completely obvious. I should just stop reading you.
And yet…you always make me think. I look forward to the new blog, and the moderation. I expect some good discussion and shall certainly register.