Join the Conversation Today!
What is TOL Connect? What is the goal?
TOL Connect is an online forum where TOL listeners can continue the conversation begun on the podcast. The goal is to engage with serious cultural issues and news items in a manner that’s both civil and rigorous. Please listen to this episode to hear Nathan and Cameron discuss how TOL Connect should be used.
What is it not?
Though we welcome all conversations that relate to the podcast, TOL Connect is not a space for working through personal problems. Instead, TOL Connect is all about exploring ideas together. This is not to say that your prayer requests and personal problems aren’t important. Rather, they are so important that they need to be worked out in your church—not an online forum.
What is the cost?
The cost is a recurring monthly donation of at least $5 a month, or $100 annually. This is a modest fee that supports the broader work of TOL and allows us to keep the lights on while you’re chatting. Please note, current donors have automatic access upon request.
What are the guidelines for participation?
Courtesy: Online spaces are not the same as physical ones, but certain conversational dynamics are constant—namely, the tendency of some people to be more talkative than others. In this case, we ask that you keep your posts at a reasonable level (no more than 2 per day) and allow others to respond before posting again.
Civility: At TOL we are zealous in our commitment to civility. This is a strong way to phrase the matter, but it indicates a robust, non-passive commitment to treating interlocutors with dignity and respect, especially in the midst of serious disagreement.
Listening: Don’t just wait to speak, but demonstrate that you’ve actually listened. Listening also includes the behind-the-scenes activities of researching and writing in order to come to terms with other ideas and perspectives. Listening to others is how we practice “intellectual hospitality,” to borrow a phrase from Holly Ordway.
Separate Ideas from People: This is vital if we want to have serious, grown-up conversations that emulate the fruit of the Spirit. The podcast deals with ideas we believe to be deeply misguided on a regular basis, but our aim is to be rigorous with the ideas themselves and generous with the folks who espouse them. We don’t always get it right, but we do try.
Try to Build Steel Men, Not Straw Men: To the best of your ability, present the best case for ideas you disagree with before you critique them. The attempt to see the legitimacy in other perspectives, especially those that seem most foreign, is part of what makes TOL fun.
Have Fun: Discussing ideas and other perspectives with thoughtful people can be terrifically exhilarating. Just because many of our most esteemed universities are fleeing the joys of serious dialogue doesn’t mean that we can’t recover them in our own lives. Discovering that we’re wrong on a particular issue, rethinking it, and changing your mind—these are all prerequisites to intellectual growth and it’s our prayer that TOL Connect can play a small role here. Talk about serious issues, challenge one another, and have fun!
How do I get kicked out?
Part of the reason we hesitated to set up an online forum for our listeners was the knowledge that we would at some point need to kick someone out. Though we hate the thought of removing members, we’re committed to ensuring TOL Connect’s community guidelines. Nathan and Cameron thus reserve the right to block someone from the group and by participating in TOL Connect you assent to that control. This isn’t about being tyrannical. It is about setting boundaries that make participation God-honoring and productive.
With that said, please refer to the following list of violations that can result in expulsion from TOL Connect:
1. Abusive or profane language
2. Lack of respect toward other community members or slanderous discussion of people outside the group
3. Using the community primarily as a platform to promote your own ideas or services, rather than as a place of conversation
4. Habitually ignoring the requests of the community moderators
How do I join? Just 3 easy steps
If you haven’t already, listen to this episode (click here)
Setup up a recurring donation of at least $5/month, or a yearly gift of $100 or more here (TOL Donation page)
Email info@toltogether.com with a friendly note and “TOL Connect” in the subject line. You should receive an invitation link to TOL Connect within a few days.