Goodbye to Anonymous Comments

Recently there has been abuse of the anonymous comment facility—nothing that we have posted; it doesn't apply to anything our readers would have seen on the blog.

We have therefore changed, on a provisional basis at least, the blog settings to allow the comments of ‘registered users’ only. This means that to post a comment you have to have a Google ID or else a User ID from another blog host from among a list that Google supports. If you don’t have a Google ID, the comment page automatically gives you a link to Google’s wizard to get one. If you have a User ID from another blog host and want to know whether you can use it, you will see the list that Google supports when you post the comment. This will be a little bit of work for some of our readers but perhaps it will force them to think about their comment a little more deeply. Moreover, comment moderation remains in force, so we will always have vetting rights.

In this regard, three remarks: We have no obligation to post any comment, and then not even in toto. We have complete discretion. Second, we are in general not going to post a comment that contains a link somewhere else. Third, this is a blog not a forum. We view comments as a means to engage in dialogue, not as a venue for gratuitous insult.

With best wishes,

—Orthodox Monk