LibertarianChristians.com is one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Blogging Scholarship Contest! It’s a big prize ($10k) and would be wonderful to win it. I hope you’ll consider voting for me in this contest. Here was my 300-word essay entry, answering the question: Why did you start blogging, and what does blogging mean to you?

I started blogging because I believe in the power of ideas. Good ideas fuel the engine of human progress. LibertarianChristians.com was established because I saw a lack of well-reasoned, just, and equitable political theory in the modern church, both Protestant and Catholic. American Christians in particular seem to be fixated on the two-party system, and they frequently possess no consistent philosophy for dealing with complicated yet critical subjects such as war, natural law, social ethics, and political economy.

Libertarianism provides a framework of ideas that explains how the world works and what the bounds of government truly should be. Moreover, libertarian philosophy is quite consistent with Christian theology. For example, libertarianism states that peaceful coexistence and freedom from aggression are the essence of civilization. Jesus’ injunction to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” proclaims a similar message, one that Christians could and should remember in the political realm. Both groups believe morality does not change once someone takes a public office or puts on a uniform. We are all accountable to the same standard.

Blogging allows one to enter the virtual world dialogue of ideas and make one’s voice heard. By speaking up just a little, I have put forward a clear message, engaged the world, and encouraged others to join the conversation. It is time for Christians outside the left-right paradigm to tell fellow believers that there is another way to look at politics. “Conservatives” cheapen the lives of innocents in war while supposedly valuing the life of the unborn. “Liberals” believe that more control over individuals’ lives will solve the problems we face. Libertarians say otherwise. Liberty has been and always will be the prime organizational principle of society, and Christians should be the first to understand its benefits and herald its triumphs.

So give a shout out to liberty and the Christian faith, vote for me (Norman Horn) in the 2010 Blogging Scholarship Contest!

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Vote for Me (Norman Horn) in the 2010 Blogging Scholarship

1. Make your main point clear. A letter to the editor is meant to inform and clarify, not sermonize or prove how smart you are. You need to make no more than one or two points and state them in your first paragraph. Use the rest of the space to support those points.

2. Keep it short and stay on topic. “Brevity is the soul of wit,” said Shakespeare in Hamlet. Newspapers are generally tight on space, so you absolutely must economize on words. You can expect to have whatever you have written trimmed down, especially if you are over 250 words.

3. Support your facts, but be judicious. It’s great to have data to back up your points, but don’t go overboard with citations and lists. Sometimes these are worth including at the very end after your signature so the editor can know where to follow up with your sources.

4. Never write personal attacks. Doing so is rude and counter-productive. A libertarian’s argument should be able to stand on its own merit. While it’s good to poke fun and show how ridiculous things really are, be careful. You don’t want to lose the debate before it starts.

You could sum all of this up with one sentence: be clear, be brief, be kind. Do this and you are sure to win.

Finally, here are some really cool tools for distributing your letter quickly and easily (HT John Roland).

Publish-A-Letter – Sign up for this website, and it will help you to send a letter to almost any newspaper, and will also publish your letter on their site. They have an RSS feed for the letters as well. However, each letter can only be sent to one paper at a time (so no option for bulk send).

Life, Liberty, Freedom – This free service can send a letter to the top 100 newspapers in the USA, or up to 50 newspapers in your state. However, John says it should be used only for smaller outlets that don’t check with others to see if they are duplicating a previously published letter.

Good luck as you write for liberty!

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

How to Write a Letter to the Editor

Previously, in order to leave a comment you needed to “register” on LCC and I needed to moderate your first comment. After one successfully moderated comment, you could comment anywhere just by logging in, no moderation needed.

The change to Disqus makes it a lot easier to comment in general. You can login using Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, or a Disqus account (which I highly recommend since it is becoming a very useful service). From there, you can leave a comment and have the option of posting to Twitter or Facebook about the post. I hope you’ll utilize this feature, since it will help spread the word about what’s going on at LCC on a regular basis.

If you already have a Disqus account, be sure to claim any comments you’ve already made by clicking on your name in a comment and going through a few easy steps. The plugin will search for any comments associated with your email address and apply them to your Disqus profile.

Disqus also has the interesting feature of “liking” comments as well, kind of like Digg or Reddit. “Likes” are applied to the commenter’s profile and are pretty fun to use.

The comment CSS styling within posts is a bit off of the native styling, which is a bit annoying but I’ll fix it over the next week or two. For now, I’m just glad the system works fine and the comment migration worked without a problem.

So, all ye stupendous thinkers and readers, comment away! Let nothing stop you! Make some noise!!!

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Disqus Comment Management is Live

LCC has gone from just a few readers in late 2008 to over 400 now (depending on how Feedburner feels at the given moment), and the interactivity has definitely picked up as we have grown. I love hearing your comments, questions, feedback, and especially disagreements. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Your contribution to this site means a lot – to everyone. Let’s keep building this community!

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I will be making a transition to the Disqus comment management system in the next week. Disqus will make it even easier to submit, share, and manage comments, and hopefully it will encourage even more participation from all of us!

(And for any WordPress users out there… Akismet has blocked over 7500 spam comments. Crazy! Gotta love Akismet…)

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LCC Quietly Hits 1000 Comments

Dear LCC Readers,

I’m sure that I am much to blame for this, but I would love to see even more comments on LibertarianChristians.com. Have you noticed that LCC recently surpassed FOUR HUNDRED subscribers? That’s incredible! We need to have a better way of interacting with each other. So, I have been considering upgrading the WordPress comment system for LCC to a 3rd party software solution, but before I do so I’d like to get your input on the topic. After all, you are the folks who ultimately drive the discussion forward here! So, help me figure out what would work best for this blog:

The two competing services I am considering are Disqus (pronounced "discuss") and IntenseDebate. If you have had significant experience with either please speak up! There are some neat features to each one; let me outline some of them for you, most of the advantages have to do with social networking…

Disqus – http://disqus.com

• Login with Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, a Disqus account, or comment as a Guest
• You can use Facebook Connect to make your comment appear your Facebook wall.
• You can send your comment to other social networking services, such as Friendfeed.
• Real-time updating (no more comment moderation!)
• Track your commenting history with a Disqus account (free, of course)

IntenseDebate – http://intensedebate.com

• Login with Facebook, Twitter, and OpenID, ID account or comment as a guest
• Better comment threading
• Better email notifications (even reply by email)
• Comment voting and reputation points
• Keep your Gravatar
• Track your history with an IntenseDebate account (free)

I must admit, in the past I have been very much annoyed by both solutions, but with the recent improvements to each service I’m ready to make the switch if it seems like a good idea to many people. In particular, the ability to comment with Twitter and FacebookConnect is a major selling point (to me at least). This will allow new readers to comment more easily and you can share your thoughts with others via social networking websites. Pretty cool!

So, please comment with your opinion especially if you have experience with either of these services – you have my complete attention! I’m particularly interested in WordPress integration, loadtimes and server load, and ease of use for commenters. Should I just try one and see how it goes?

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Would you rather have Disqus-sion or IntenseDebate?

Why Might This Page Not Exist?

• Baptist explanation: There must be sin in your life, Everyone else opened it fine.
• Presbyterian explanation: It’s not Gods will for you to open this link.
• Word of Faith explanation: You lack the faith to open this link. Your negative words have prevented you from realizing this link’s fulfillment.
• Charismatic explanation: Thou art loosed! Be commanded to OPEN!
• Unitarian explanation: All links are equal, so if this link doesn’t work for you, feel free to experiment with other links that might bring you Joy and fulfillment.
• Buddhist explanation: ……………………………………………..
• Episcopalian explanation: Are you saying you have something against homosexuals?
• Christian science explanation: There really is no link.
• Atheist explanation: The only reason you think this link exists is because you needed to invent it.
• Church counselor’s explanation: And what did you feel when the link would not open?

I can’t remember where I picked this up, but I thought it was pretty hilarious. Here’s to hoping you never have to experience the dreaded 404 page for real…

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New 404 Page (Monday Silliness)

RefTagger sees Bible verse references in your posts and automatically converts them to hyperlinks to bible.logos.com, and if you hover over the link with your mouse a tooltip window will appear with the full text quote.

Here’s an example: John 3:16

How cool is that?

See more examples in Josephus on the Origin of the State.

Now, existing hyperlinked Scriptures will not be re-linked, so some of my earlier articles (like my New Testament Theology of the State series) will still keep their links to SearchGodsWord.com. But that’s ok. RefTagger will make life a lot easier.

Other bloggers who read LCC: You can use RefTagger on a variety of platforms, including Blogspot, Movable Type, and different types of forums. Check out their website for more details.

All in all, I think I can recommend the RefTagger software very highly. Well done, Logos!

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

RefTagger

It’s very simple to get started blogging, but to be successful requires significant effort. Gideon Shalwick and Yaro Starak have put together an excellent program, simply called Become a Blogger, that can send anyone on the right path towards successful blogging. Their 70-page Roadmap Report is definitely worth perusing if you’ve ever thought about blogging before.

Many people resort to blogging with a service such as Blogger or LiveJournal simply because they do not know how to start their own website. Well, Gideon and Yaro have put together a free 10-video series on building your own website from scratch, including purchasing a domain name, obtaining hosting services, and installing WordPress.

Watching these videos will give you a feel for the rest of the premium course. The B.A.B. program is primarily video-based (and also includes a closed forum) and progresses through a series of 9 modules over six months (every month you will get at least 7 or 8 videos):

1. Get Your Blog Up And Running Fast And FREE
2. How To Optimize Your Blog For Maximum Search Engine Performance
3. How To Use Images On Your Blog To Make You Stand Out From The Crowd
4. How To Create A Different Dimension To Your Blog By Adding Audio
5. How To Breathe Life Into Your Blog Using Online Video
6. How To Create Powerful Content For Your Blog, Consistently and Without Fail
7. How To Create Multiple Streams of High Quality Traffic To Your Blog
8. How To Use The “X-Factor” Strategies To Put Your Blog Into Super Drive!
9. How To Make Money From Your Blog

I highly recommend the Become a Blogger Program for aspiring bloggers, even if you have been blogging for a while, because it will help to give you an idea of where you ultimately want to go with your blog. I started my first blog way back in 2001, and I have learned a massive amount from the program.

I know that much of this information can be found for free in various places online, but you will inevitably spend a TON of time searching out these sources. Considering that our time is a scarce resource, I consider it a great investment to have purchased this program. It got me moving from just thinking about blogging to finally moving forward in constructing LibertarianChristians.com.

Finally, the reason I’m saying all this is that they are about to close their doors to new recruits on February 6, 2009. So if blogging has sounded interesting to you but you didn’t know where to start – I’d recommend you check this out soon. Still unsure? No worries, you have a 60-day money-back guarantee if you don’t like it or decide it isn’t for you. But I’m telling you, if you’re serious about blogging you will not regret joining up with Become a Blogger.

So take a look, but don’t forget you only have until February 6th.

10 Easy To Follow Videos Showing You How To Create Your Blog From Scratch!

FREE: Discover The Time Tested And Proven Roadmap To Blogging Success…

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Becoming a Blogger