Without FReedom of the press, here on FRee Republic and elsewhere, we are being robbed of some of our most important surgical instruments needed to remove this deeply imbedded toothpick and all the pus and fever surrounding it.
Please do not criticize the laity who are trying to open the abscess and drain it.
It might look like we intend to hurt the patient. But this is the only thing that will save it.
I, for one, hope you won't do that, Jim. I think it is more likely that one can carry on an intelligent and undisrupted discussion on these issues if there is a separate forum. Flame wars, particularly religious flame wars, do no credit to their participants, nor to FR. Those who feel that threads in the Religion Forum are not getting enough exposure can always post links in the News forum to threads in the Religion forum. Would it be possible to implement a "Religion" sidebar, similar to the "News/Activism" sidebar, which those who are interested can turn on?
I hope that my fellow Catholics would realize that the moderators may not be aware of our concerns and priorities, and must make decisions based upon their own personal experience. They may not have religious convictions at all, and may have a different opinion of what constitutes "news", what constitutes "doctrine", what constitutes legitimate differences of opinion, and what constitutes bashing. I very much appreciate Mr. Robinson's statement that he opposes the gratuitous denegration of the Catholic Church, and thank him for giving us a place where we can discuss our faith, and the crisis we are presently facing.
Well, this is at least a start at a clarification.
But which is it you do not want,
1)Religious discussions,
2)discussion of news articles regarding the scandals in the RCC, or
3) Both?
My suggestions only...
If you do not want any Religious discussions, that is fine. Its your forum. Remove that option.
If you only do not want news threads regarding the crisis in the Church, fine. Delete them all (but don't exile them to the Religion Forum, that's a double standard. If they're not good enough for the News Forum, they don't belong in the Religion Forum.)
If its both, then remove the Religion Forum, and ban all threads from the News Forum in any way related not only to the scandal but to religion in general.
But no one wants any of these options.
So all that is left is a humble appeal for a more even handed and just application of standards regarding WHY and WHEN threads are pulled from the News Forum, and placed in the Religion Forum.
Some explanations and guidelines would help.
You would certainly be justified in doing so. The behavior of some on this forum is decidedly un-Christian.
I happen to like a seperate forum for religion. The main forum of FreeRepublic is not a place to evangelize, which seems to be the objection that some have to a seperate forum. If you want to evangelize do it here. If God wants people to come to him, then a seperate forum isn't going to stop them. He parted the Red Sea, a mouse click isn't going to phase him.
I have found the religious forum a great help in my life. It's nice to be able to explore doctrine and beliefs without having to deal with the attacks of people who don't really care anyways.
Everyone knows who the most vocal and strident participants in this forum are. It's often difficult to answer them without feelings of anger creeping in. But we should think of it as a test of our spirituality and try to exhibit fruits of the spirit instead of answering in kind:
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.