The information in your post bears out my feelings about religious threads on FR.
I'm from the class of '98 and for every year I've been here I've watched with almost hypnotic horror the hate, divisiveness, name-calling, bigotry, ousters, departures and obsessiveness engendered by the religious threads. I have seen with incredulity anti-and pro-Morman threads rage on almost daily during the decade-plus I've been her, threads forever driven by seemingly-obsessed folks on both sides. Pro-and-anti-Catholic threads follow in a close second.
Attack, attack!
A special religion-debate category is the only thing I feel is absolutely out-of-place on FR. I abhor what is does to and by freepers in the name of religious "debate". A couple years ago, a "wolf pack" of adherents actually roamed the religious threads attacking those with a certain view, doing it with impunity, and the "abuse" button became the only recourse.
I'm always a jealous adherent and "protector" of the image of FR. The divisive, obsessive, venom-filled content that fill the religious threads appalls me as a proud freeper. Since continuation of the ugly, never-ending religious skirmishes and battles apparently are permanently established as an integral part of FR under management decision, the venom, fights, ugliness and obsessiveness of those who actually appear to live and thrive on attacking other religions and their adherents will undoubtedly continue to entrance and fascinate readers here, like watching train wrecks.
It also repels others.
Of course, no one has to participate or even read the threads, and I suspect many if not most don't because of the eye-glazing nastiness and snarky babble.
Religious NEWS is an integral part of the world scene today. Such NEWS can and must be disseminated and discussed, of course. Whether or not the subject can be handled in a better, less divisive and fractious way on FR is above my pay grade. There's a distinction between debating religious news and the discussions degenerating into ugly personal attacks on posters and their personal faiths.
But, to further reply to your post, Mark, I suspect that FR's religious battlefields have resulted in not a few wounded and permanently departed like your freeper friend.......casualties of the endless, hateful, divisive religious wars on this forum.
Leni
Agreed, agreed and agreed. I've been able to make personal contact with several individuals who came on as completely hostile to Catholics and we now have a good and understanding relationship off the threads. But only a handful among so many. The religious news on FR is better than most, if not all, large news outlets in the world, thanks to individuals such as Salvation and NYer who bring so much to our community.
But, to further reply to your post, Mark, I suspect that FR's religious battlefields have resulted in not a few wounded and permanently departed like your freeper friend.......casualties of the endless, hateful, divisive religious wars on this forum.
There are a few I could name that fit that. I am sorry to have seen them leave (both Catholic and non Catholic). They, each of them, had their significant contributions to the FR RF.
Thank you Leni, I couldn't agree more. The hateful attacks on other beliefs are beyond ugly.
Correct.
What we see on the Religion Forum is that one man's fact is another man's irritation. You can't please everyone. Some people on this forum see ANY statement of Biblcial truth as "anti-_____ bias."
We're called to study and rightly divide the word of God.
But the bottom line is what the Religion Moderator wrote in POST 342...
"There is no anti-Catholic bias on the Religion Forum. If there were, there would not be more pro-Catholic RF articles than pro-any other belief.
"Posters who are uncomfortable when their beliefs, deities or religious authorities are condemned or ridiculed should clearly IGNORE "open" RF threads and instead post to threads labeled "caucus" "ecumenical" "prayer" or 'devotional.'"
The fact that some people cannot or will not abide by the rules does not bring shame on anyone other than those posters who can't comment without "making it personal."
The sad truth is that many of those who go about attacking Catholic and other freepers are closet leftists. Check out the posts by a poster called HankKerchief. He was later exposed as an anti-Christian leftist who had been on FR for years.
We have other leftists here who only post threads like this one or similar ones (check out the posts attacking Pentecostals or Methodists or Adventists) -- they just want to: