Dear Readers,

Thank you all for visiting and reading and for sharing your thoughts and opinions!  Due to my inbox getting overwhelmed recently, I wanted to leave a few remarks here about my personal policy concerning discussions.  My work here takes place in the context of a full life, with many responsibilities and personal burdens.  Because of the nature of what I write about, there are many who desire to engage with me in public discourse and debate at any given time.  I certainly understand this, and so I set apart chunks of time for public discourse in places where I believe it will be beneficial, edifying, and constructive for all involved.  Even then, it requires that I make logistical arrangements in my life in order to do so effectively, since such endeavors demand significant spiritual, emotional, and intellectual energy.  I am therefore unable to engage in public or even private discourse with every person who wishes to do this with me.

Philosophically, I do not acknowledge or respond to commenters and critics who choose to remain anonymous.  Criticism is constructive only insofar as the person giving it is willing to own it, and that means putting his or her real name and face on it.  Besides, the essays on this site are meant to spark face-to-face conversation between people who are already in each others’ lives.  In the virtual world, people on all sides tend to get reduced to words on a page, many completely lose their ability to self-regulate because of the false courage that anonymity provides, and “conversations” often resemble a volley of one-sided arguments rather than a true exchange.  As a steward of my limited resources, therefore, I have chosen to have the majority of my conversations about these topics with those whom I know and encounter in real life, where nuance can be felt and each person’s humanity has a chance to be appreciated to its fullest extent.  It is my hope that you will do the same.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
– Numbers 6:24-26

Be blessed,
Judy