Forum Following and Blog Growth

I recently joined a forum on philosophy as part of a small effort to improve my blogging.  I've not completely given up on my attempt to keep my blogging topics varied but as I'm obviously spending more time on the topic of philosophy I might as well embrace it (at least some).  Well, never mind as I'm writing this I'm looking for a language learning forum also.  Turns out, it's a lot harder to find a forum on language learning than it was for philosophy!  The first few sites I tried were either blocked, suspicious or full.  I did end up finding UniLang.  Hopefully it's active, I used to be an avid forum follower/writer, back in college.

Recently, I've taken to reading and writing blog entries.  I follow several blogs, mostly on running, running barefoot, barefootedness in general, an NPR blog, the resurgence blog, and of course my buddy Will's blog.  This isn't a comprehensive list either, so, obviously I'm a big fan of blog reading!  I use Google reader as my blog reading tool, it's cool because it allows you to keep them all in the same place (trust me I don't visit every one of those pages every day), and you can organize them into folders (sometimes, it's a little glitchy on that part).  All in all I spend about thirty minutes a day reading various blogs and news pages.  One of the pointers I read about improving my blog is to read more and write less, I take it that pointer means that bloggers should concentrate on quality NOT quantity.  I totally understand that, though I'm just proud that I've been able to maintain a regular schedule (sort of).

My next step in this blogging experience is a blog carnival.  I know, new term to me too!  I guess it's a sort of round-table blogging experience where people with similar type blogs all submit entries for each other to read and comment on.  In all my blog entries the only thing that gets me down is the lack of comments on my entries.  I commonly make requests for responses but most often I don't get any...  So, all you out there in the blogosphere (yeah, that's you, if you're reading this) please feel free to comment.

---Update, 13 May 2013---

I follow the stats for my blog and I've noticed this particular entry is my most popular entry and I'd like to put in an update to improve this entry.  First off, all the things I've done to improve my blog have worked, at least I think so.  I concentrate on staying (somewhat) on topic, and I feel that my NOT focusing on timelines allows me to produce better work.  I haven't been all that active on the philosophy forum or the linguistics forum but I have been seeking out various sources of information on that front.  I do regularly frequent the forums on Goodreads.com and I still read several different blogs.  Unfortunately, Google Reader is going away soon and I'm still looking for a replacement, so far I've been using a Mac program Reeder, though it relies on Google Reader so it might stop working when the site stops working.  I've been running a series, which helps keep me on topic and it keeps me somewhat on task and studying the same series of lectures.  One of the most rewarding things I've done through my blog is the blog carnival I host.  I use blogcarnival.com to advertise my carnival and it seems to be doing well.

I still find it ironic that the most viewed entry on my site requests comments and I still don't have any.

Working on my macro photography

Stand Up for What You Believe In (or Don't Believe In)

As I think of this title I'm reminded of the song from a Veggietales movie, Stand Up for What you Believe In.  The reason I chose this topic stems from all the anger and arguments that have been thrown around about a variety of topics lately.  Namely, the Chick-fil-A statements about homosexuality and marriage, gun control or lack thereof, etc.  Especially concerning the Chick-fil-A controversy...

This is not intended to be a post about homosexual marriage; neither for, nor against.  What I'm getting at here is how people should react to statements like the one made by the president of a company as he was standing up for what he/they believe.  Why does one man's statement about what he believes and how he runs his company stir up such hateful protests and responses?  There's NOTHING anti-gay about ANYTHING Mr. Cathy said.  Saying that one believes in the biblical definition of marriage is NOT anti-gay.  That's like saying being pro-milk is the same as being anti-alcohol.  I know it's not a direct parallel, but you get the point.  Also, believing that homosexuality is a sin isn't something one should be defamed for.  Standing up for what one believes is admirable.  If you believe differently, then feel free to share your opinion however you want.  So often the LGBT groups talk about hate and bigotry, but they're often the first to throw the mud and defame people that just believe differently than they.

I was taught a long time ago that the first side in any argument that throws the first personal attack (ad hominem argument) has lost the argument.  Essentially that idea comes from the idea that the first party to run out of real logical arguments and starts 'slinging insults' has lost the argument.  Truthfully, just calling someone "anti-gay" is only slightly insulting, and that article is one of the least insulting responses I've seen.  So, who threw the first insult?  It appears to me, from the articles I searched for on Google, the first article was the one from Baptist Press, and it wasn't rude at all.  A company president just stated his (and his company's) stance that they believe in the biblical definition of marriage.

On this note: I watched a response to Chick-fil-A's statements that also blasted Mr. Cathy as not knowing the biblical idea of marriage.  The video referenced several Old Testament verses that pertain to people being married in a variety of (what is currently viewed as) unsavory conditions (e.g. raped woman must marry rapist, man must marry deceased brother's wife, variety of polygamy and harem examples).  My response to that vlog'er is: If you want to reference the Bible to tear someone down; you should read the whole Bible and understand what's going on in all those situations before casting judgement.  Maybe focus on the parts that talk about NOT casting judgment...

Back to the real topic, if you're pro-homosexuality/homosexual marriage feel free to express yourself and say so, but don't call me (or Mr. Cathy) a bigot (or worse) you're not helping your cause and you're just being intolerant (like so many accuse Christians of being).  Believing the Bible is true and that homosexuality is wrong is not intolerance, hatred, or even judgement.  Don't get me wrong, there are TONS of bigots out there (I can't believe I just linked that horrible 'church' on my blog; I DO NOT recommend you go to that link!  It was just an example).  Please don't lump someone like me, that loves Jesus and accepts everyone as a person that God created and loves, with those that twist the Bible into a message of hate.

Awesome fireworks at the aquarium here on Okinawa, this is NOT the finale, just the end of the first part