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U p F r o n t
By Karl Keating
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 2
 February 1994 
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All right, all right. I admit it. I don't believe
in participatory democracy. I saw too much of it in college, where
the phrase always masked non-benevolent autocracy. Perhaps my real
gripe is that I never got to be the ruler, only the ruled, and I didn't
like that one bit. Why the sham of participation if you don't get
to participate?
Things are different here. We do believe
in participation, and that's why we encourage you to have your
say--in these pages. We invite you to contribute to two sections
of This Rock, "Letters" and "Dragnet."
As the box on page 5 states, letters may comment on
our articles, on apologetics and evangelization, or even on other
letters. Note the usual disclaimer, "All letters are subject
to editing," and its unexpressed corollary, "All letters
are subject to benign neglect." (Translation: A worthless letter
receives precisely the space it deserves.)
What about length? You should follow Samuel Johnson's
dictum: When you find you have composed a sentence you especially
like, strike it out--it's probably a bad sentence. Do that to
every sentence you're pleased with, and then send us what's left.
In grade school neatness counted; with magazine editors shortness
counts, but content counts more.
As for "Dragnet," we welcome any oddities
you may send our way. Already many readers give us material that ends
up in this quasi-editorial department. Books, photos, tracts, brochures,
newspaper articles--we welcome them all.
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