Posted on 04/08/2003 10:29:25 AM PDT by drstevej
OBSERVATIONS:
[1] There seems to be a significantly reduced number of Protestant Threads (KJV Only being the exception for sure) in the FR Religion Forum.
[2] There seems to be a reduced number of FR Protestant posts in the Religion Forum.
This thread is a place to discuss these observations.
That was in reference to my post asking about facts being considered bashing. So I think it means posting verifiable facts is NOT considered bashing.
With the exception of my time in the Calvin/Arminius wars, which I've stayed away from (for the most part) for the better part of a year, I am not one who has participated in "outright bashing." I've made a couple of digs (don't we all). And on occassion, when asked directly I've said "Yes, I think Mormonism a cult." OR "Yes, I think Calvinism is bad theology."
OUR PROBLEM Jim, is that we don't see that "Give and take in the general debate is fine."
I know that's your intent. But it is NOT playing out that way.
Asking for other people’s money implies some ethical responsibilities to the donors. It isn’t enough to glibly say, “there’s the door.” If it’s fully your house, fully paid for by you, then you have every right to tell your visiting friends to “hit the door.” But…if your visiting friends help you pay your rent, you owe them more than a “get the hell out.” Sure…sure….you can call the cops, and since your name is on the deed, the cops will kick your friends out. But what you’ve just done is violate the good faith your friends had placed in you.Legally, you owe them nothing; but ethically, you owe them a lot.
At a minimum, you owe them a hearing and an explanation.
-xzins.
BTW, I have not contributed to FR so this is not to be taken as a threat to withhold funds.
Oh, so posting verifiable facts IS considered bashing?
Now I'm confused.
Ok, just a few facts. The posters on this forum, be they Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, Protestant (with it's variations), or the few Jewish posters, "ain't your average bear". These are articulate, informed persons who document their propositions, and intelligently present their arguments. Some of these guys are bloody tough!
The result is that all of us gain in dealing with them and each other. We learn to spot legitimate argument from "Bluster and B/S".
i say this as a preliminary for this comment intended as a respectful prod mano e mano...Cut the crap! It ain't playin in Peoria, we all have seen it before from other posters.
If somebody can document what they are saying, How is that bashing? If their documentation is bad, these people (all the above mentioned faiths), are more than capable of spotting and countering it, i've seen it happen, and i've had my butt kicked because my "facts" were not as factual as i thought they were. You didn't see me pressing the abuse button because of it.
If somebody is long on accusation and short on documentation, That is bashing, and "The Wrath of God" in the form of Jim Robinson and/or His mods should descend on the offender with both feet! We don't need that kind of person around...well and good.
You lost the argument when your people pulled a thread that had posts that were nothing more than the official public statements of a certain religious body posted without editorial comment.
This kind of nonsense hurts only your credibility. If you can't follow the logic on that, i am certain that there are a multitude of posters here that can talk you through it. Pick any one of them.
You want to get rid of the religion forum, fine, it's your bandwidth, but let me tell you this: i am not going to Pay for the privilege of being censured every time i type the word "Mormon" in a sentence. All of us work hard for our money (especially these days!), and have to be real discriminating about how and where we spend it. In the Three+ months i've been here i've seen a change from open, challenging discussion, to something like the Soviet Union must have been like under Stalin and Beria on this forum. i quit living in fear when i was 5, and ain't about to start again.
As regards my moderator status, the answer is no. Not one now and never have been. Why would you ask?
But I do protest all the time and therefore consider myself a very good political protestant.
We are all in this fight ... both for liberty and for right ... together.
In other words we are allowed to discuss religious topics so long as we never make any statements that anyone might disagree with????
Are you serious???
I assume you actually mean that POSTING unapproved thoughts is bashing, not just THINKING them. You have a site dedicated to "free" and open discussion so long as there is no disagreement!
We had a post from the Congressional Record pulled.
Granted, we all probably agree about Congress, but c'mon.
Well I suppose that's where the debate would come in. Follow the link drsteve gave earlier and you can see for yourself the kind of facts that are objected to by the Mormons.
I've not been one to bash anyone or their religion. Sure, I've made some comments in the heat of battle I was sorry for, but I've come back and apologized. I don't like feeling that I can't debate those of the Mormon persuasion without fearing getting a time out.
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