I'm starting to think the blogosphere is off its meds. Either that, or it's spring, pheromones are raging, and people are becoming more primate in anticipation of the summer. I've seen two people get slammed by the Catholic Moral Majority--generally twentysomethings--because the blogger dared to contradict what they think the Church is.

I'm not tolerating such behavior here. I've had anonymous commenting turned off for awhile. If you're going to say something, you have to own up for it. Also, this is not a democracy. This is my personal sandbox, and if you're going to pee in it, you get kicked out. Discussion of ideas is allowed and encouraged. Ranting your personal flavor of "orthodoxy" is not.

It's easy for people to behave online in ways they never would in a face-to-face encounter. There's no accountability, and really if you slam some faceless blog, there's no direct consequence of your action. But for every person someone disses, there's a face behind the computer screen. I'm thinking of Antony's blog. I loved it. By necessity I'm isolated from other oblates, so to connect with a like-minded individual was a wonderful experience.

I'm not letting the bullies drive me away. I moderate a few livejournal communities, and I have no qualms about deleting comments. You can call me anything you want. I'm not going anywhere. And I'm every bit as much a part of the Church as you are.