You have surely noticed that gratuitous insult is coin of the realm on the RF, haven't you? It's permitted, if it is slyly disguised to circumvent the "don't make it personal" dictum.
People who take their faith seriously are personally attacked when their beliefs are insulted - not challenged - but made fun of by "comedians" and other wannabe wits.
We are told to "grow a thick skin" in the public square. Well, if I go to a place where I can regularly expect bad treatment for simply engaging in conversation; where my arguments are ignored or misrepresented and half the participants seem to be present just to "pile on"...well, I'm not likely to be found in such a place very often
“We are told to ‘grow a thick skin’ in the public square. Well, if I go to a place where I can regularly expect bad treatment for simply engaging in conversation; where my arguments are ignored or misrepresented and half the participants seem to be present just to ‘pile on’...well, I’m not likely to be found in such a place very often.”
This is so true. I have gradually stepped away from the Religion Forum in recent months because much of the time it was a public square that was openly hostile to all I hold sacred, and just perceiving it that way, I would be “thin-skinned”, or partitioned off to devotional threads.
I can think of dozens of screen names I haven’t seen on this forum in quite some time. I guess they got the message, too.
I just wish that this were the genre of thread that the ubiquitous “pile-on” posters would be reading; they are the ones who should see the common sense of what you have said.