You may or may not realize it, but your e-mail client may very well be sending your e-mail in "chunks" called "attachments". It's common to have e-mail delivered in MIME format. MIME stands for Multipart Internet Message Extension (I think). Also, your e-mail client may also *code* your messages in some kind of cryptography or html enhancements. Or, you may have a really great testimony that's in a MS Word document that you'd like to share with everyone on the list. If any of these are the case, you can be pretty well assured that you're post won't be approved by the moderators.
Why?
Because not everybody on the list has software that will successfuly decode the attachment. A very real situation. Also, realize that if you've attached a word processing document, the listprocessor will often garble the attachment to the point where it'll be completely unusable.
You'll probably be warned from the moderators about attachments before they just start discarding the message from distribution. If there's a setting for your e-mail client, set it to "Plain Text". That is the combination that works best for all.
More often than not, this happens to most "newbies" to the list. What's a newbie? A newbie is someone that's not been around the internet long enough to know and understand the rules and protocols (do and don'ts) of sending e-mail messages.
What do we mean by "unbalanced"? Let's say someone previously posted a post with 57 lines of comments in it. You, in wanting to reply to the post that you've just read, hit the "REPLY" button and the entire previous post (e-mail headers and all) was copied into the outgoing message with some sort of marking on the left-hand side to indicate "previously viewed material". It copies the 57 lines of message, plus the additional 15 lines of e-mail headers, then it copies any signature files that trail on the end of the body of the message (another 4-6 lines) making a total of maybe 78 lines of e-mail "before" you ever add any of your own words. You, not thinking about it, just type your four lines of comments making the post you're about to send in extremely "unbalanced". With a ratio of 4 to 78. Nearly 20 lines of old stuff compared to each line of new stuff. That is not a good situation.
The "old" message can be trimmed down usually very dramatically by putting a [snip] in the part of the text in the left-hand margin where text was cut out of the body to signal that something was there. We, being intelligent human beings, can recognize that when we see a [snip], we can recall back in our memory to what the full-body of the text was that we currently aren't viewing.
Usually a 50-100 line post can be trimmed down to 10-20 lines pretty easily. Only keeping the amount of text to establish a context of reply. Belive us, space can be saved.
Other no-no's along the same lines are e-mail headers and signature files from previous posts. It's o.k. for the original poster to include a signature file in "their" message. It's really not good to "quote" someone else's signature file.
If the first original word of your response isn't on the first page of your post, you've got a problem. Don't quote someone else's entire post to reply to it. Simply copy the relevant parts. Many mailers have a function that will automatically copy the entire post putting in the ">"s for you. Use this function with caution, and if you do use it, delete the irrelevant lines. It's annoying to have to page down about 4 times before you can read any fresh material. It also takes up precious disk space because it makes your post larger.
If not, don't say it on Higher-Fire.
If the primary motivation for the post is vindication or revenge, cool off first. Go kick a file cabinet, bite your dog, grab a hamburger and french fries and chocolate milk shake, eat some ice cream, have a cup of coffee, and pray before you reply.
Even when someone else's argument is stupid, to tell them so rarely causes them to change their mind. Instead, they can often become defensive and flood the list with even more stupid arguments. So don't inflict that on the rest of us. The only thing worse than a stupid argument is the defense of a stupid argument.
Sometimes, the thought-finger coordination doesn't produce perfectly spelled documents sent to the list. We've all endured our share of typographical errors in reading and writing. Is there a spell checking function built into the emailing program? Or could the document be produced and then checked by invoking an spelling utility? It might be in your best interest to find out. Spelling errors imply that the composer may seem to be ... "not smart." I realize, that in all cases this isn't possible. But I can only think that correcting the spelling errors by re-reading the message before resending it can only help. I've heard that a good way to do that is to read the document from bottom to top while reading left to right. That might make you look harder at what was just written so you might not miss anything.
Subject lines like "What?" are cute, but not very helpful to those who have to sort their mail by subject.
One problem that arises here is a matter of taste. Some people want Subject: lines to change as fast as the topic drifts; others complain that when Subject: lines change, they can't follow the discussion.
One good way to handle this is to change the Subject: line when the topic has drifted significantly, but to include a reference to the old Subject: line. This is an old Usenet tradition, and it might look like this:
>Subject: Jesus Name Baptism (was: Re: Baptizing in the Titles of God)
Godwin's Law: When Hitler or Nazis are brought up in a thread, it has been going on too long.
If someone compares you to Nazis, Satanists, or some other repulsive form of human being, you've won the argument, because they have nothing rational left to say. Leave it at that....
Such an action may result in an internalization of directed shame. We're all born in sin. And shaped in iniquity. And saved by grace. We don't need someone else (other than ourselves) heaping words that cause bad feelings. In a world that is constantly picking and tearing down the saint with relentless fervor, do we need brothers and sisters of like faith to do the same?
Does the casting down of another's belief system put you on the pedestal of a prizefighter that's just gone for the kill? If you said it and later realized your error, would you willing and able to gather enough humility to apologize to that person and others on Higher-Fire?
My pastor would quote scripture saying "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." In this case, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the fingers type." A man is defiled by what proceeds out of his mouth. Does the potential poisonous post you're about to submit reveal something that might show an inner condition of the heart that needs more attention than the submission of the post?
Caution should be used when posting in ALL CAPS because it is commonly equated to SHOUTING very loudly. Many folks can be offended by CONSTANT or ABUSE OF CAPITAL LETTERS in a MESSAGE because of its STRONG EMPHASIS.
If you want to emphasize words in a sentence. Maybe you should try using double-quote marks "like this" to draw attention, or maybe asterisks *like this*, or possibly even underscores _like this_.
There are times when writing in a CAPITAL LETTERS may be appropriate. If you need to find out how it would sound, write the message with the choice words in CAPITAL LETTERS. Then read it back to yourself. If the words or phase that is EMPHASIZED by the capital letters sounds a little peculiar when you repeat the CAPITALIZATION at a "shouted level" in your mind, it's probably too strong of an emphasis and you need to choose a different way to *emphasize* words without _shouting_ at the other saints.
Instead of replying at length to each message in a thread, compile your replies into one post. This forces you to think about such things as structure and reasoned argument as you pull together the many lines of thought in a thread. It is also much more pleasant to read.
If the main message of your post is to say "Amen!" or "I agree totally," please send the post privately. Readers don't usually do a tally to see how many people agree with a particular point of view. The point of posting to Higher-Fire is to add to a discussion, blessing people on the list, or other reasons of saint edification. Sending a post that quotes someone else at length and then just saying "Amen" at the bottom does not add to the discussion. It merely adds volume to the list. If you want the person to know you support them, tell them so in private mail.
If you feel an "Amen!" is absolutely necessary, please include something fresh as to how the previous post blessed you, effected you, caused you to think more deeply about something.
Read all the posts from HIGHER-FIRE (at least with the subject you want to reply to) before you reply. It's nice to be the first to offer a suggestion, or make a reply, or ask a question in response to a post, but because we are all from different parts of the world and we don't all get mail at the same time it is impossible to always be first. Make sure someone hasn't beaten you to the punch, and if they have, keep quiet and just follow along in the thread until you CAN add something unique.
As an aside, the H-F archives are kept on the WWW at
Sometimes, a discussion reaches the point where it is clear that neither person is going to convince the other. It is often best, in these instances, to bow out gracefully.
Finally, do not subscribe to the theory that "some things just demand a reply!" Nothing demands a reply. Sometimes it requires restraint to keep from replying, but there's nothing wrong with remaining silent. I only know of one time that Jesus got angry and started shouting, even though there were many provocations. And when he did, he wasn't defending himself, he was defending the sanctity of the house of God.
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