>(Geez, how long-winded can I get?)

You haven't been longer-winded then I've been yet ;-) (See message number 25833 for details; it's a bit outdated but I don't think that anyone has beaten my top two yet. And no, that's not a challenge ;-) / / / )But, on the other hand, you're an awful lot more frequent then I am (espessially considering that I'm STILL in school...and will be until July 2! Bah!).

*Kaz! hands over the "most long posts" trophy to Arthur; he sure has more then 4 very long posts by now!

>I'd *like* people to read my posts rather than give up in disgust, for obvious reasons, and so I appreciate any friendly advice that makes my posts more readable.

Well, here's my own little opinion on the subject. I personally *enjoy* reading your longer-then-normal posts. Of course, since I tend to write longer-then-normal posts myself, if I didn't enjoy reading them I'd be slightly on the hypocritical side. Anyway, as I was saying...

First of all, I will say that it's quite true that reading your posts takes an awful lot of time. This, however, I don't think is a very bad thing. In fact, I like your style very much. I've never given up on any of your posts myself; though it's true that a few were sometimes a bit long to read in one sitting, I always came back to finish reading (yes, reading. Not skimming.) them. And I enjoy it immensely. I never mind reading a long post -- that is, as long as there's actually content in it (for example, those 12 pages of random spam or whatever it was while Sam was gone once was really, REALLY annoying to read though. But I did. And it sucked in that no one even hid anything cool in them!). And yes Arthur, I do indeed find a lot of actual content in your posts rather then just random noise.

Now, the main reason why I happen to like your posts (and, well, most long posts in general on this forum) is that on every single one of the issues that you've covered you've made me *think* about each topic and assess my own beliefs on them, even if your views are like mine (which they usually are). And I like that immensely. I, for one, believe that analyzing ones beliefs and values constantly is important for mental development. And the fact that you back up your arguments with a fairly sizeable amount of evidence I believe serves to enhance the impact of your writing rather then take away from it. And sometime, I'm sure that we'll find a topic where we have radically different yet strong opinions on whatever it is. And when that happens...it'll be something, that's for sure. And it'll require us both to strongly think about or beliefs/values/morals (even though it's probably doubtful that we'd change each others point of view, we'd definatly consider the other side of the argument! Which is something that I really like about this particular forum -- people actually LISTEN to the other side!) And for that, I have no complaint about at all :-)

On a bit of a sidetrack here -- I found it quite interesting that we actually share quite a few beliefs even though you come from a pretty definate Christian perspective and I, well, don't. I mean, there are a few bits here and there that I don't completely agree with; since we are different people it's extremely unlikely that we share the exact same views in everything. And I have to admit that there are also a few bits here and there that are difficult for me to understand, as I am much less knowledgeable about Christianity then you are. But I don't find that these facts serve to detract from your posts; rather, in my mind, they enhance it because it gives me new ways to think of the same issue -- and usually on the same side as my viewpoints too -- that I would have never though of on my own. Actually, I believe that there was only one thing to my recollection that I completely disagreed with: [As an intro into one of your posts, regarding how you thought others would take your post. I think.]"...it annoys the heck out of people who happen not to be Christians or don't take the Bible as a final source of truth." I personally enjoyed it, thank you very much :-)

> How's about I ... shorten my posts, and ... try not to go arrrgggh if I go a little over the twenty-page limit in a weak moment? Fair deal? :)

Well, I guess that tightening your posts could help a little bit, but whatever you do don't sacrifice good content for the sole purpose of keeping the wordcount down! If you do, you could very well end up not saying exactly want you intended to say. Heh, I never worry about trying to keep size down...as some of you may have already noticed....

Then again, I haven't been posting all that frequently either (and I'm blaming it on schoolwork!).

-Ka"And if you didn't think that was a 'little opinion' from me....you don't know me well enough ;-)"z!