Christianity Forum vs. Religion & Philosphy Forum (Buddha, America, church)
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Well, when we all first voted on whether or not to have a Christianity forum I voted "No" and my reasoning was that I enjoyed the discussion amongst everyone and I felt that it would turn into a "Christians only post on the Christianity forum; all others would post on the R&P forum."
I'm happy to say that that has not happened, and I'm glad that many of the Christians come over to "this side" to post their thoughts as well. In all, I realize that with the sheer amount of "Christianity Posts" that the R&P forum would have, it'd be hard to keep track of just about anything. So I think, in the end, it was a good idea.
Now... with all of that being said... I dropped by the Christianity forum tonight, as is a bit unusual of me to do, and attempted to start what I thought was a rather cordial, open, and honest conversation. I'll be quite honest, that I never thought that that "side" of this forum could be so pervertedly bigoted. Granted, most people carried the conversation on rather well and were equally as reciprocative. However, I think it was also the first time I have ever truly been offended by posting on City Data, whether this forum or another. To be quite honest, it was a very good reminder of exactly why I think religion can be such a dangerous thing and exactly why I turned away from Christianity and anything to do with religion or god in the first place. It seems that perhaps there is a "force" behind religion. This "force" seemingly has the power to turn otherwise intelligent, loving, thoughtful people into bigoted, biased, uncaring people who isolate themselves from all others "unlike" them in order to find solace and self-comfort in their own misery. That force is not Satan, the devil, or anything "spiritual", it just seems it is a product of immaturity and ignorance.
I think I am rapidly changing my stance based on what I saw on the Christianity forum tonight. Apparently, we haven't come a very long way as a society as to how we view one another and are willing to accept one another for our differences. I suppose that that is partly my fault for being blind to the fact that there are still people out there who revel in not only trying to persuade you to join their religion, but do not hesitate to insult you, embarass you, or belittle you in order to make you convert. I do say, not in politics, not in business, not in any other form of what we might call "competition" have I ever seen such a thing so vile, wicked, and repulsive as religion and right now, it seems, Christianity is at the forethought of my mind.
Outside of one or two brief comments I've steered clear of the Christianity forum because I don't really think I belong there. I really don't want Christians or any one else for that matter to feel like they don't belong on the religion and philosophy forum and not everyone feels like having a constant debate about these issues so I think a Christianity forum is a good solution. I'm sorry to see that one of my favorite posters, GCSTroop, had bad experiences in the Christianity forum. For myself, I'm going to stick to this forum where my friends like Troop, June and other like minded people as well as Alpha and Blue who are believers can express themselves in a generally friendly atmosphere.
Since christians have their own forum, why do so many insist on taking their campaign to the R & P forum? It appears that they are not content with discussion, even debate, in their own forum but insist that everyone else visualize and proclaim the same beliefs.
I am wondering how the two forums differ and if folks make clear distinctions where they post and what they post in one or both forums.
This question has been on my mind for some time, but when I see threads that appear to erupt on Christian vs. non-Christian issues in the Christianity forum, I am particularly miffed.
Any thoughts?
Here is the post from Markablue explaining the sub.
Thanks, bigthirsty, but Marka(blue) and the Administrator are not one and the same (to the best of my knowledge):
Here's the text:
The sub-forum has been added. This sub-forum should simply contain topics that would be less interesting to people of other faiths who are not specifically researching Christianity. Everybody is welcome to post in it, however debating the merits of Christianity should be reserved for the main forum. Please take a look at the threads that were moved to this sub-forum as a guide to what topics should be posted. Sub-forums for other religions and worldviews will be added based on the activity level. We own Religious Education - Discuss, Compare and Debate Religions in Our Online Community where you can find forums for almost all religions and worldviews.
Now... with all of that being said... I dropped by the Christianity forum tonight, as is a bit unusual of me to do, and attempted to start what I thought was a rather cordial, open, and honest conversation. I'll be quite honest, that I never thought that that "side" of this forum could be so pervertedly bigoted. Granted, most people carried the conversation on rather well and were equally as reciprocative. However, I think it was also the first time I have ever truly been offended by posting on City Data, whether this forum or another. To be quite honest, it was a very good reminder of exactly why I think religion can be such a dangerous thing and exactly why I turned away from Christianity and anything to do with religion or god in the first place. It seems that perhaps there is a "force" behind religion. This "force" seemingly has the power to turn otherwise intelligent, loving, thoughtful people into bigoted, biased, uncaring people who isolate themselves from all others "unlike" them in order to find solace and self-comfort in their own misery. That force is not Satan, the devil, or anything "spiritual", it just seems it is a product of immaturity and ignorance.
I think I am rapidly changing my stance based on what I saw on the Christianity forum tonight. Apparently, we haven't come a very long way as a society as to how we view one another and are willing to accept one another for our differences. I suppose that that is partly my fault for being blind to the fact that there are still people out there who revel in not only trying to persuade you to join their religion, but do not hesitate to insult you, embarass you, or belittle you in order to make you convert. I do say, not in politics, not in business, not in any other form of what we might call "competition" have I ever seen such a thing so vile, wicked, and repulsive as religion and right now, it seems, Christianity is at the forethought of my mind
I hear what you are saying...writing..troop but in all honesty, I could go to an atheist forum or any other religion forum and get ripped for my beliefs if they are opposed to what the people there espouse. It really isn`t just chrisitanity,it`s atheist,agnostic,muslim,or any religion. You are always going to have people attack your beliefs if they differ from their own. Just like you stated about the christianity forum, not every post was bad..maybe one or possibly two. I mean I see nastiness on this forum from atheist sometimes. Even I got a little ripped by an atheist on the christian forum for calling it a site instead of forum...go figure. Then another atheist gets on there and tries to come to the defense of their buddy and it turns into a bunch of misquotes and taking things out of context etc. I guess what I`m saying is if I went to an atheist site and said..I just want you to accept me and my beliefs but tell them how I think they are wrong but they have a right to believe it...I`m sure there would be some on there who would rip me for it. I appreciate your post and think we had a polite exchange of thought. But just from your posting there were other atheist who jumped in on the christian forum and were trying to argue with me,when you and I had a polite conversation..again...go figure.But again, I appreciate your post and look forward to other postings with you.
I am wondering how the two forums differ and if folks make clear distinctions where they post and what they post in one or both forums.
This question has been on my mind for some time, but when I see threads that appear to erupt on Christian vs. non-Christian issues in the Christianity forum, I am particularly miffed.
Any thoughts?
Good question!
And one I've been asking myself too.
I think some of this may have been errors in my job of moderation. Threads started solely for the purpose of challenging Christianity should probably have been moved to R&P. (But what is to be included in the 'Challenging the merits of Christianity'? My opinion and yours(general yours, not yours otr), is not going to be the same. I promise. See comments following...)
For the most part, we tried to clear up some of this in the link in my signature. Apparently, we haven't done a good job.
You also have the issue of what "What is Christian?" Many Christian forums have a policy of restricitng post of some subjects.
Here's an example of some ToS from a true Christian-only forum:
Quote:
Unorthodox teachings or discussing specific doctrines of ANY of these religions will be moved to
the "World Religions" Forum:
Teachings of ANY of these religions and discussion of specific doctrines may be discussed only in the World Religions forum
in the interest of seeking factual representation and refuting any doctrinal differences from mainstream Protestantism:
1. Seventh Day Adventist (SDA)
2. Jehovah's Witnesses (JW)
3. Latter Day Saints (LDS)
4. ANY non-Christian religion, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, etc.
5. Roman Catholicism.
6. ONENESS (DENIAL OF THE TRINITY/DEITY of Christ)
7. Universalism of any sort to include Universal Reconciliation
This is not just for posting messages on the open board. If you use the various systems on the message board to promote these doctrines (such as Private Messaging or Rep system etc.) then we will take appropriate action.
We, however, have no such guidelines, nor do I think we want them. There's forums for strictly Christian opinions. But now we have this.....so there's no end to what can be considered Christian and what can not at CD.
It's this confusion that led me to vote "No" to the original creation of the subforum. And that was before I was a moderator!
Now the moderation only makes it harder.
I think we need one R&P forum. Now if we wanted a forum titled "R&P general chat and happy threads, no debating allowed!" I'd all ALL FOR THAT!
I hope this post makes some sense.....it's questionable as I re-read it.
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