I have chosen to restrict the visibility of comments to registered users. This is, in part, a small measure of protection for them, and partly a small inducement to register. Finally, if you don't care enough to register, why would you care enough to read the comments of those who do?

To comment on a posting, or to see comments, you must be logged in. Unknown users, who have authenticated their registrations by responding to email from Eyes of Faith, may comment. Unknown users' comments will be reviewed before publication. Known users may comment without review.

Although I have the leisure to manage my own blog, I only infrequently have the time to sift through spam comments (typically ads that have nothing to do with what is "commented upon") as well as serious comments that may be offensive. Therefore, I have required users who comment to be authenticated, and even here you must be a known user to be able to enter a comment without review before publication. Given these "hoops" I have chosen not to add the additional hoop of deciphering a non-machine-readable word, as most Blogger blogs require you to do before entering a comment.

There are several reasons a comment may fail to appear on this blog.

• The primary reason a comment will not appear is that it is spam. All blogs get spam, and lots of it. This blog is no exception.
• A comment may be waiting in the approval queue. Unfortunately, comments on this blog are infrequent, and so is comment review. If you have submitted a serious comment, you may simply need to be patient and wait for it to appear.
• A comment may not be an actual comment, yet, technically not be spam, either. An example is a "test" comment whose purpose is to test whether a comment can be submitted.
• A comment may be relevant, serious, and also abusive, either of me or of someone else. I am happy to report that I have encountered no such comments. I will not publish any that are clearly abusive.
• A comment that reveals company trade secrets or other information to which the commenter has no evident fiduciary right will not be published.
• A comment may be unreadable by me, so that I have no way of classifying it as spam, abusive or suitable. In that case, I choose not to publish it. [Cf. 1 Cor 14:9]

Naturally, I would prefer that our discourse be civil. Nevertheless, I may publish a comment that is offensive if it has other redeeming qualities. Please note, however, that in stating a position, you, in a sense, represent like minded people. A comment that is offensive can reflect badly on people who hold views similar to your own.

Obviously that's largely a matter of opinion.  I will say, however, that a comment will be specific about the post it is attached to, indicating approval or disapproval of what has been said (such as accepting or challenging its accuracy, fairness, etc.), or simply supplementing its information in specific ways that indicate the commenter actually read the post.

The best negative comments either point out an error of fact or reasoning, and do so in a way that is well documented, or present an alternative point of view that is generally not considered by the public at large.

The best positive comments present supplemental facts, arguments or perspectives that support or broaden the position taken in the post.

It goes without saying that good comments maintain a civil tone and use careful reasoning and precise phrasing and perhaps even employ an engaging style.