Thanks for the memories, but it's time for Christians to unite not fight

self | 3/2/2015 | two134711

[two134711]

Thank you Free Republic for allowing me to post and vent on this site for over ten years. I am a young, married conservative woman who is trying to raise her daughter to be a fine, upstanding lady, an educated woman and a worthy wife to a decent man. Despite the stupidity of my generation (I am on the cusp of GenX and GenY) there is hope. Many young people are more prolife than ever. And at last, many others are beginning to open their eyes to the lies of socialism.

However recent events on this site like witnessing the discord between fellow believers of Christ and how the Religious moderators have given carte blanche to those who wish to spread hate is not something I want to be part of.

I received this message from the Religion Moderator regarding Key words received 03/02/2015 8:45:19 PM PST

“DO NOT use keywords to snipe at other posters or beliefs. RM”

I certainly did not post key words that sniped at anyone; they were terms such as "enough already,” “Christianity,” “unity” and "peace." Now, yes, the comments I made were invectives thrown at posters. I don't deny that; but they deserved every word directed at them and more. Outside of Caucus threads the religious forum is based on sniping at posters and insulting other's beliefs. Mostly it’s a few alleged “Evangelicals” damning those Papists, pedophiles, pagans, cracker-eaters, cannibals and Mary-worshipping heretics to Hell if they don't convert to the Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism or the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879. Then a very small contingent of Catholics tries to fight back.

These are the kind of comments are allowed on the religious forums without any moderation.

"I believe that Catholicism has caused more people to go to hell then [sic] Islam."
84 posted on 2/23/2015, 2:36:42 PM by CynicalBear (For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus)

AND

**Have you accepted the Catholic Church** "I have accepted Jesus. Not some abomination created by man."
98 posted on 2/23/2015, 2:46:17 PM by Gamecock (Joel Osteen is a minister of the Gospel like Captain Crunch is a Naval line officer.)

I have no skin in this game other than to realize that Christians (and Jews) are not each other’s enemies. There is a much more diabolical force in this world that should be fought. Anti-theists, Islamists, secular amoralists, etc., they're nothing. But, hey, keep going after Catholics and Mormons because they're the ones ruining the world today!

I said those words because it was the truth, (a truth that many others see but do not mention; they merely avoid the conflicts). If the anti-Catholic delusional bigots have a problem with the truth, then a pox on their houses.

I have posted on and off this site for over ten years. Every time I come back here I think to myself, “Wow, FR is one of the only sites telling it like it is when it comes to politics!” But then the OCD religious posters take control over and over again. It’s not just the religious forums, but they’re the worst. In the past the moderation was far more even-handed. Now it’s out of control. Please use more judiciousness in moderating them in the future.

You are losing members left and right and your fundraisers take months to complete. I am aware that the owner of this site, Mr. Robinson, is a Catholic, and I’m sure it breaks his heart to see such infighting amongst fellow Christians. I hope his health betters and that he can continue to fight the goof fight.

Nevertheless, FR's days as a premium conservative site are over. There a quite a few decent folks around here like Mrs. Don-0, xzins, Morgana, miss marmelstein, wardaddy, that fellow named something like yefrugeturbrumuy, and lots of others. There are many good folks with diverse opinions and no malice in their hearts.

But some others seem possessed by other-world forces. Mostly they're old people scared of death, wanting to make sure they get in with God before the end, desperate to hold on to every penny they've ever come across, willing to kvetch about the future and frequently mentioning how glad they'll be when they're dead and won't have to deal with this world, while their children and grandchildren will. Or worse, they actively wish for the world to end today or soon. Sorry, I'm young enough to have a smidgen of hope despite the moral disaster this world is in.

The Apple squabbles, the griping about TV and art, heck even the "my candidate is better than your candidate" bloodletting is nothing compared to the nutters that run rampant on the religion forum.

So Religious moderator, if you thought my key words were examples of “sniping,” then I suppose this post was outright bashing. Every time I come to this site I get angry. Anger opens up the heart to dark forces; it’s best not to be part of that.

Got to go. May peace come to this once wonderful site and make it a place of harmony for future posters.

[daniel1212]

And I don’t belong to any organized religion .

Thanks for the link. And,

Free Republic is a pro-God site. The one and only true Judeo-Christian God as taught to us by KJV with no additional editing or books of fiction. I have zero faith in Joseph Smith or his so-called Mormon religion and do not want it taught on FR as gospel. Joe Smith was a false prophet and his book is false gospel (look it up in KJV). Those who cannot live with that are certainly free to post elsewhere.

Doesn't sound very RC to me, but who are Prots to disagree with them? As Rome is an autocratic entity, so many RCs imagine that what they say settles the matter. One RC said that because he was a RC then his views were 100% Scriptural.

[DJ MacWoW]

You’re welcome.

[goodwithagun]

I've never attempted to contradict what you write; indeed, feel free to type whatever contradictions you think you have. I don't care. I'm not going to try to contradict what you believe because I respect your beliefs.

What is unsettling is your post about Islam and Catholicism. It echos obama’s Crusades remark.

When you make comments like that, I will call you out on them.

Peace.

[Resettozero]

Good morning!

I appreciated your coming to the aid of your FRiend yesterday/last night on this thread. In the past, she was almost always FRiendly with me too. And her good work on FReepathons (especially some graphics) has prompted me to increase my giving.

I’m concerned about the apparently recent turn away from accepting that not all FReepers EVER have agreed with each other on politics and/or religion and this sort of conversation has ALWAYS taken place on FR. There’s nothing new under the sun.

[wmfights]

I've posted threads by Tozer, which never made any mention of Catholicism, and yet someone keyworded them with *Catholicbashing*.

Anyone who spend any time on the RF knows the RC's try to suppress any dissenting views. It's a pattern of trying to stop any caucus threads other than a RC thread and once a thread is open the complaints will start about "bashing".

Otherwise, my experience on the RF has been excellent. I've had great years of discussion with Reformed, Dispensationals, and Evangelical Christians. Where it's been rewarding is going through various theological concepts and then seeing how Scripture lines up. For me once I saw how thoroughly discredited Roman Catholicism was I pretty much stopped going to any of their threads. However, there was a time when my sons were younger where I was able to successfully use those threads to show the difference between a works based system of belief vs. The Gospel.

[Resettozero]

When you make comments like that, I will call you out on them.

The poster expressed an opinion, a belief. You did not agree with it. That's the way it's always been. There's nothing new under the sun.

[Lonely Bull]

You posted this also: “One thing that I notice is that Titus was told to “rebuke sharply,” but he was not told to tell everyone in his flock to do the same.”

Are you meaning that the permission/directive of “rebuking sharply” ended with Titus and is no longer in effect?

I mean that, at least in my reading, the part about "rebuking sharply" was directed to Titus--but he is not then told to tell the Cretans in general to do the same as he is supposed to.

(What we know as chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3 are largely Paul telling Titus about what to do with people in general or specific parts of the population. In this part are some commands mainly concerning Titus himself, like what I quoted earlier from chapter 2.)

I've read the letter to Titus before, but I'd never noticed that difference until I read it again in light of certain things in certain threads in the Religion Forum.

My idea, which is still forming, involves recognizing that passages in which someone is called a "fool" do not mean that those of us who identify as Christians should be going around calling other people fools with impunity.

After reading these threads, I noticed what looks like a connection between Matthew 5:22 and James 3:1: calling someone a "fool" would put us at risk, and being a "master" (or teacher, or instructor) also would put us at risk.

Obviously these two states aren't quite parallel in themselves: presumably being a teacher would be a better thing than going around calling people fools.

So these two points are both connected to another observation: it's probably safer for Jesus and Paul (and Titus?) to use certain language, if they truly are wiser and more discerning in the use of language than the average person, or even the average Christian. All this is not to set up any particular distinction between the speech of "teachers" and that of "ordinary Christians," but it's probably wiser not to go around calling others "fools" on a whim. At least you'd be less likely to get punched.

Yes, the Corinthians are told, as I mentioned, to follow or imitate Paul, as he followed Christ. Yet I would argue that this imitation consists of something deeper than repeating phrases without discernment. Should we go around telling people, "before Abraham was, I am"?

One other note here, which I also find interesting, is that the policies of the Religion Moderator also seem to prevent the use of "you fool" as a term of address in the Religion Forum. (Read the parts about "making it personal.") I'm not saying this to ingratiate myself with the Religion Moderators, but I just do not think that the policy interferes with the work of God.

[Resettozero]

For me once I saw how thoroughly discredited Roman Catholicism was I pretty much stopped going to any of their threads.

Recently, some FRoman Catholics have been on an apparent campaign to influence rules changes regarding FR non-Catholic postings to be allowed or disallowed. It's not moderation that is sought by some others; it's Catholic censorship of the RF threads and, by extension, the rest of FR.

[goodwithagun]

A belief shared by obama, parroted on a conservative sight.

Stop, just stop.

[Lonely Bull]

I find DAMN to be quite acceptable.

After all; it's in the bible a lot.

"Jesus Christ" and "my God" are in the Bible a lot too, but not all uses in our world are equally holy.

[Resettozero]

A Christian rebuking an errant person sharply is not synonymous with calling that someone a fool.

How did you think it was?

[DJ MacWoW]

Good morning! :-)

I am leaving the conversation. Neither side has "clean hands" in this and it has caused a lot of anger and angst. It doesn't matter who started it as no one wants to change it.

Thank you for supporting FR and have a blessed day! :-)

[wmfights]

Recently, some FRoman Catholics have been on an apparent campaign to influence rules changes regarding FR non-Catholic postings to be allowed or disallowed. It's not moderation that is sought by some others; it's Catholic censorship of the RF threads and, by extension, the rest of FR.

I agree with you. I've experienced it myself.

FWIW, I don't think it will ever stop. The history of their church is one of oppression of any who would dare to disagree. It started with the Donatists and has never stopped. I think this characteristic of their centralized hierarchy also explains why they tend to be leftists.

[Alex Murphy]

Anyone who spend any time on the RF knows the RC's try to suppress any dissenting views. It's a pattern of trying to stop any caucus threads other than a RC thread and once a thread is open the complaints will start about "bashing".

Years ago, I came across the phrase "The first to take offense is usually the first to offend", and it's proved to be a truism in the Religion Forum. What group repeatedly and openly slanders fellow Christians with the epithet "anti-XXXX bigots" and "heretics", attempts to whip up a pogrom to have these "bigots" and their views removed from FR, attempts to have the forum staff removed and replaced with those sympathetic to these insults, and then (with a straight face) claims that they're the ones being persecuted against?

A man who lies to himself is often the first to take offense. It sometimes feels very good to take offense, doesn't it? And surely he knows that no one has offended him, and that he himself has invented the offense and told lies just for the beauty of it, that he has exaggerated for the sake of effect, that he has picked on a word and made a mountain out of a pea- he knows all of that, and still he is the first to take offense, he likes feeling offended, it gives him great pleasure, and thus he reaches the point of real hostility...
-- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

[Resettozero]

A belief shared by obama, parroted on a conservative sight. Stop, just stop.

What belief I've posted is shared by the President?

You've directed me to stop...what? Posting here? Stop generally what?

[Lonely Bull]

A Christian rebuking an errant person sharply is not synonymous with calling that someone a fool.

How did you think it was?

The two aren't synonymous, and I hadn't considered them synonymous. Any connection here is indirect and involves the overall context of the discussion, like the post to which I was responding (#318, which quotes some instances of "fool"). My mention of "rebuking sharply" happened because I noticed something interesting in Titus that may shed some light on the overall concepts of speech and rebuke; I am not conflating the two things.

[Resettozero]

Thank you for supporting FR and have a blessed day! :-)

Without having inside information, which I don't want, I believe, or at least expect, that EVERY FReeper on this thread regularly supports FR, as they see fit. No thanks desired for doing what I want to do.

[Religion Moderator]

There is no log entry indicating that it was moved here.

[Religion Moderator]

Thank you for your support.

[Resettozero]

Any connection here is indirect and involves the overall context of the discussion, like the post to which I was responding (#318, which quotes some instances of "fool").

Yes, but post #318 was not my post. Now I understand why you went on a tangent ("fool") in your reply to me.