Well, Troy, in response to your inquiry as to why Thumper's Corner is on life support, I believe the reason has to do with the bulk of its membership being composed of lurkers who apparently don’t like to debate. They, perhaps, want to express an opinion but not to argue with someone who challenges it because this takes them out of their comfort zone. Re-hashing the same ol boring issues also probably figures into the ongoing malaise. And instigating crazy, funny, threads also seems to have lost its effectiveness because having a sense of humor is no longer a trait that can be taken for granted when it comes to posters.

A forum is, after all, an arena for an exchange of ideas, but the average black person nowadays doesn’t seem to have a lot of ideas. The exceptions to this, now populate the blog communities.

Reacting to how increasingly stressful life has become, many Blacks are simply placing their trust in the Lord, ambiguous about what is the cause of “the black problem” even as they blame white racism for most of their troubles. Reading is not one of their favorite pass-times, with the females very much into expensive shoes and purses, and the males into sports, especially those of the bedroom variety. And, like everybody else, Blacks have become electrified by gadgets that are stealing their humanity, insidiously programming their minds for an alternate form of communication. Even laughter has been replaced by a three-letter "LOL".

And so as the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, the black state of the union is reduced to its constituency helplessly identifying with a black president who is struggling with doing the best he can.

I enjoyed my tenure here at Thumper's corner, but the handwriting does seem to be on the wall and - all good things must come to an end. Lately, this is the case with so much in my life as it becomes obvious to me that I am fast becoming an anachronism. You could say that “I am history”. But, guess what? That ain’t such a bad fate.

I've been a lurker for a while and recently joined this forum. This is as good as any thread to jump in. Debating is not the primary reason why I come to this board. I enjoy reading and like to read what others say about books they know about. I have a sense of humor and enjoy a good natured joke or sarcasm. I avoid ill will and mean-spiritedness.

Ideas abound in my head, but typically only the well formed make it to the keyboard. The socioeconomic state of america, specifically the black subset, is diverse and evolving so I try not to encapsulate too much.

So there you have the initial input of someone stepping off the sidelines.

breathebooks! How ya doing! Thanks for stepping out of the shadows!

While "lurkers" are good for business (by generating traffic), the board is nothing without posts. I hope you continue to contribute.