The problem of written statements

[lawrenceofisrael]

May peace be upon my brothers and sisters in Yeshua,

what i want to state here is a single aspect that came to my mind five minutes ago and i think it could help us all have better discussions.
There is one problem that came to my mind. When talking on this forum we don´t see each other and the expression on each others face and the level and tone of one´s voice, we just write down our statements. So each time one reads a brothers/sisters post we automatically interpret it´s meaning, perhaps also due to the mood we are in right now. And maybe sometimes we see in another post an intention which the author didn´t really have and misunderstand it and feel insulted. I know that from my personal experience not only on this forum but also when talking via email etc..

Please let us all think about that and when this happens not just assume that the author had a bad intention or whatever but rather ask him/her about it.

And i personally apologize to everyone if i made a post that caused such misunderstanding cause i do not intend to do so.

May peace and blessings be upon you b´shem Yeshua melech hamoshiach.

[tonga]

This is a common problem with forums. I personally try to use
"emoticons" to indicate my intention, if I think there is going
to be any confusion. Or make it obvious I'm joking, being
sarcastic, or whatever. However, it doesn't always work so
I hope if any one takes offense at a perceived tone, they PM
the poster to discuss it rather than make a wrong assumption.

[David Ben Yosef]

I think we have all run into this problem at one time or another. Having been posting on theology forums for over a decade now, I've personally experienced this many, many times. And for as many reasons. You could be catching someone who's having a bad day due to a certain life situation, or any number of reasons. I have a general rule I like to follow. If someone really upsets you for one reason or another....take a time-out! Try not to post something from a knee-jerk reaction that you might regret later. Seriously, this works. Try to leave the forum for a bit, or do something to calm you down before you post. Prayer is a great idea, but it's not always easy to do when your upset (let's be real).

Misunderstandings are going to happen in a forum setting. Their unavoidable. The best we can do is try to calm down first, then attempt some open and candid dialogue. At least that's what I try to do.


Shalom