Site Policies

It is my habit to consider the way things are done; specifically, how things ought to be done. Simply grabbing the first available option may be perfectly suitable for some situations, and as a general habit for some callings in the Lord. Not everyone is directed by God to worry about such things. Thus, the majority of websites out there are composed using whatever appears to work. The emphasis is on getting the message out.

In times past, that ethic has caused me much grief. I concluded some time ago that such was inconsistent with my calling in Christ. Given the declared purpose of this site, consistency requires that I give attention to motives and methods. How could I not link the two? It is the "Why?" and "How?" questions of serving Christ the Lord that are the purpose for what is written here. It would be pointless to tell you what you should do in His service if I fail to inform you of the ends and means so richly provided in Scripture. Given that all things are to be done as worship of Him, I present an outline of the policies underlying what you see here.

  1. The pages will be simple, and generally devoid of graphics and excessive coloring. First, I want to make it accessible for as many different web browsers as possible. To do that requires that these pages be coded by hand, and that I eschew window-dressing. A third concern is both space and load times. Simple pages load faster, and take up less room on the servers -- room that costs money.
  2. Proper grammar will be an issue. As the Roman Empire, with its massive network of paved roads, eased the way for Paul's Missionary Journeys, so it is that good, solid English grammar will provide enduring paths for communicating the Gospel today. Not that I make any claim to perfection, only a strong attention to what is proper. It is one thing to use the lingo of the streets when witnessing in the streets, but quite another to so limit ourselves for God's use by never bothering to know our own language well enough to communicate with the full spectrum of those who use it. When you know what's proper, it's far easier to make necessary adjustments for all audiences. One need not live in the swamps to know how to walk through mud.
  3. The best Internet Etiquette will be observed. This is an extension of the preceding item. God's wonderful gift of computer technology can scarcely serve His purposes if we know next to nothing of how things work. I make no demand here that we all obtain a technician's training to simply make use of what the Internet provides. Rather, I believe that we cannot hope to portray the love of Christ without taking the time to learn the most basic skills in using the Internet. Long before the general public could access the Information Highway, proper operation of the "cars" -- individual computers -- for running up and down this highway was established by those who ran the whole thing. If they went to all the trouble to determine the best way to do things, the least we can do is make a reasonable attempt to adhere to the guidelines. The alternative would lead to chaos pleasing only to Satan. I promise not to nit-pick, but when you send me e-mail, expect me to comment if you make a serious error.
  4. E-mail addresses will be masked. Nobody I know likes to get "spam" -- useless junk e-mail. With their aggressive tactics, such as scanning websites for e-mail addresses formatted in the webpages, it becomes an open invitation to receive spam. Thus, the e-mail addresses on this website will be written in a format that humans can read, but not by the scanners used by spammers. While it makes it inconvenient for the reader, because there are no easy links to pop open your e-mail program, you can still figure out how to send mail: the "@" symbol is replaced by the word "at" and the "dot" will simply be spelled out, too.
  5. Electronic Freedom is preferred. By this, I am referring to liberty in choosing within the accepted boundaries. Specifically, I mean freedom of choice among computer systems and software. While we may debate the relative merits of various computer operating systems and programs, no one should have the power to compel you to choose any one of them, unless your choice creates a hazard for others. Most of my readers will be visiting with a computer running some version of Microsoft Windows. If that works best for you, give thanks to God. Such a choice is not open to me, as a matter of conscience and technical experience. Know that there are many other options out there, and that I specifically endorse some of them.

This list in not exhaustive, and is likely to be edited from time to time. You will find pages here dealing with these issues in detail, as well as links to other sites that cover them. For some of you, it's best if you think of me as a grumpy curmudgeon, as long as you realize I still love you with His love. You are encouraged to ask questions about all of this, and just about anything else for that matter. E-mail me at <softedges at softhome dot net>

Ed Hurst
13 September 2003, revised 21 September 2003