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Locked on 01/26/2004 9:33:25 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
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Posted on 01/22/2004 6:34:29 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator
The bad news is that I am the newly designated moderator of Free Republic's Religion Forum. The good news is that I am the newly designated moderator of Free Republic's Religion Forum.
First, let's discuss why this is bad news.
I have no doubt that everyone who participates in this forum is aware of the general posting guidelines of Free Republic; they've been in effect as long as Free Republic has been in existence. Just for clarity, here they are again: "NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts."
Having spent the better part of a week reading as much as I was able to get to on the Religion Forum, which includes virtually every currently posted thread, I can say that I've seen no profanity (should be a given on a forum devoted to religion), and only one or two posts which could be construed to contain violence. On that score I commend you all.
Unfortunately, however, personal attacks are rampant. Protestants attack Catholics, and vice versa. Within these two major Christian families, Calvinists attack Arminians, and tit-for-tat. Traditional Catholics attack New Age Catholics, and back it comes. Self-professed Christians of all flavors post gratuitous insults and jibes directed toward Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses frequently. Threads are posted for the obvious and sole purpose of flaming "the opposition", whoever that might be in any particular instance. I could go on and on with further examples, but from many of your posted comments it is clear that all of you are aware of these facts, and seemingly, accept them as the order of things.
It is not the order of things, and it will no longer be tolerated.
Sadly, a forum devoted to perhaps the highest endeavor of the human mind and soul, that of the religious expression of faith, has become an embarrassment to Free Republic. All too often the discourse appearing in the Religion Forum resembles that found in those threads devoted to the War on Drugs, less the profanity, of course. Consequently, the question whether the Religion Forum will remain much longer as a feature of Free Republic, at least in its present format, is very much up in the air. How that question is answered depends entirely on the response each and every one of you make to this announcement in the next few weeks.
Therefore, from this time forward, the Free Republic rule of " NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.", will be more strictly enforced. Furthermore, you are all reminded that this is a religion forum; that is, all practitioners of any recognized religion, provided they also follow the rules, are welcome. However, since a large majority of posters to this forum are self-professing Christians, of one flavor or another, some additional rules will be imposed. You should all be quite familiar with them, even though some of you seem to pay them no heed at present.
These rules are:
"The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'." [Mark 12:31 (RSV)]
"But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." [Luke 6:27 (RSV)]
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." [John 13:34 (RSV)]
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." [John 14:15 (RSV)]
Or, if the commandments of our Lord Jesus are insufficient (paraphrasing Paul) speak the truth in love.
For now, enough of the harsh words. There really is good news.
First and foremost, all that has passed prior to today is forgiven. However, my forgiveness, unlike that of God, is continuing but not unlimited. After all, I'm a sinner, too. Transgressions of the rules will be met with three warnings, followed by three progressively lengthy suspensions, after which unrepentant posters will be, shall we say, cast into the outer darkness. Totally outrageous violations, of course, remain subject to the ultimate penalty immediately, as always.
However, I am also aware that love, in the Biblical sense, is not the Hollywood kind of love we hear about all around us these days. Spirited debate is a hallmark of Free Republic, and is welcome. Sometimes the truth (at least as we understand it, through a glass darkly) sounds rather harsh, but even harsh truth can be couched in terms that allow the Christian love of the speaker to come through.
Further, no matter how you read the tenor of this announcement, I am not a martinet. I can be persuaded to change my mind by reasoned discourse. On the other hand, sinful nature that I have, I do not suffer fools gladly. Directing complaints to me over some action I have taken is fine; doing so with insulting language will not achieve the results you desire, and in fact, will probably result in something far worse. And, as always, I am not the ultimate authority regarding any decision I make; anything I do can be appealed to one higher court - Jim Robinson, by whose direction I am here as moderator.
There are some things I will not do. I will not arbitrate theological disputes. I will not resolve questions of church polity. Nor will I render judgment on interpretations of Scripture. Those are all issues for legitimate debate, and I do not propose to take part as just another poster on this forum. Naturally, I have my own opinions on all these issues, but my opinions are my own and I will keep them to myself.
You should also know, I suppose, that I was selected as the moderator of the Religion Forum because no one else wanted to wade into the mess that this forum has become. All too often when abuse reports come into the moderators from the Religion Forum it is discovered that there are no clean hands in the dispute under complaint. More often than not removing the post complained about generates another abuse report asking "why was I punished when he said thus-and-so first". In many cases, removing all of the offending posts makes the thread unreadable. So, whatever you think of me now, or come to think of me in the next few weeks, I'm your last chance. After me comes the abyss.
And do yourself a favor; before you respond to this announcement remember the immortal advice of Jim Croce:
I'm not Jim, but I've got his ear.
One final word. I am not here 24/7. I actually have a life away from Free Republic; consequently your questions/complaints/comments may not be answered immediately. Be patient, they will be answered eventually. In the end, my goal is (our goal should be) that there will come the day when my presence here is unnoticed. That should be attainable if we all act like the Christian brothers and sisters we claim to be.
May God bless you all.
So how do we deal with the menu Catholics that pick and choose what doctrine they like thus forming thousands of Catholic churches ?
Need new glasses I see??:>)
That Night Train is a mean wine.
I should know.
Pleasant dreams. :-)
You have my permission to hit the abuse button and have this post removed. The only problem is that it usually isn't removed from your comment page. So you'll have to post a half dozen comments to move it down the page. Maybe if you posted something really long, like a Jonathan Edwards sermon, it will move down faster.
Sorry. :-)
Some one in one of the above posts doesn't like a smiley face that pretends to make the comment friendly ...so you better keep a straight face or you could get a warning
Could be ..but it does not matter ..the religion forum is not a place where truth come in second to getting along .
Thanks for your post. The difficulty with online message boards is that only the written word is conveyed, perhaps less than half of the information conveyed in a face-to-face conversation.
I think you know, from long experience posting here, the points I am trying to make about dealing with a number of posters at once who make false accusations in nearly every post to me, to whom it does no good to reply, who flame and blame it on the people they are flaming, etc.
You also know why they accuse in nearly every post, because they want to convince people of Total Depravity (really Total Inability), and so they think their false accusations are okay and in the service of God. They are not.
So if you know what I need to say, perhaps you can help me wordsmith it so no one will misunderstand or will think I am baiting the hook. Give it a try, but remember, you have to word it so that no one misunderstands or thinks you are baiting.
>> I believe it is possible to discuss LDS doctrine, Calvinism, Arminianism, Catholicism and every other ism, with a modicrum of respect.
Where there is mutual respect, of course. Where respect is just a one-sided thing, see above.
>> That being said, it seems that your contribution to this thread could be objectively seen overall as an attempt to bait some of your past antagonists into flinging a little mud your way in order to prove your points to the sidebar moderator.
Not so. Suggest some wording changes that will convey my meaning so it will not seem so to you, or to anyone else.
>> Your little stab about other people needing a "life changing experience" or Ca Gal working in "accusations, incite inflame and nasty" are comments which are obviously intended to inflame and bring about the worst in the reader.
Calling people on their inflammatory behavior is not being inflammatory, as you would know from a face-to-face conversation. See above.
>> When they respond ... will you turn the other cheek or push the abuse button?
They have been posting that way without any provocation on my part, though they of course insist otherwise. That is how they operate, and have operated for months and years. Keep throwing mud at the wall and claim that some of it is sticking.
This is not an abuse button thing unless they get worse. This is a call to repentance thing. Help me wordsmith how I should call them to repentance on this misbehavior in an effective manner.
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