A New Year, A Renewed Objective

The new year is in full swing and with it a renewed sense of purpose. As has become tradition, the new year tends to bring with it a "clean slate" of sorts in which people assess their lives and evaluate what they did well and could do better. Resolutions are made and goals set to help bring about the desired changes in one's life.

And such is the case with American Creation. Over the past several days, contributors to this blog have shared a variety of opinions and suggestions on things that we could do to improve AC for our readers. The exchange, which will remain private for the most part, has centered on what I would call concerns about civility, especially in our comments section of this blog. I am not going to point anyone out nor are we going to conduct our own witch hunt here, but I do think it is important that we all reevaluate the comments we make to AC. I have myself been a HUGE offender in this regard. There have been several occasions in which I have been less-than-civil in the comments I have made. Some of this has been due to perceived attacks, but the behavior is still not excusable. I commit to do better.

I know that the subject matter of this blog is oftentimes sensitive in nature. Religion and politics inevitably pop up, and with them comes strong opinions and sensitive feelings. These are delicate waters that we sometimes tread here at AC and we need to be mindful of this fact. I'm not suggesting that people set aside their opinions, beliefs or politics. Just be mindful of a couple of things when commenting:

1.) The overall mission of this blog.
2.) The general thesis of a particular blog post.
3.) The feelings of the contributor and fellow commentators.

In short, let's just try and remember the Golden Rule around these parts...all of us! Everyone brings their own skills, education levels, and yes, even biases to this blog. Our job is not to change those things but insted to arrive at a better understanding of religion and the American founding.

This isn't meant to be a lecture or a warning, but rather a renewal of civility. American Creation is meant to be fun, enlightening and engaging. I believe we can (and for the most part have) accomplish this. If we as commentators disagree on particular issues then no big deal. There's nothing wrong with respectful disagreement. Let's just be mindful of the tone we choose to employ.

Again, a special thank you to EVERYONE who has made AC what it is. I for one look forward to this new year and all it brings. God bless and best of luck to you and yours throughout 2012!