Completely toxic and detrimental to conservatism. Conservative leaning people shouldn't be tearing each other apart over religious minutia.
Should we just completely ignore the "minutiae", and just be happy with the kind of fuzzy, non-denominational, theologically ignorant religion that liberals love? Make Christianity Stupid Again?
I've been here since 1998 and we've had plenty of knock-down-dragouts as well as fantastic discussions where both sides had to hone and refine their arguments. I've learned an immense amount. I've enjoyed ragging on Calvinists on one thread and then tag-teaming with them against the anti-Creedalists on others. I'd argue with the Eastern Orthodox on misunderstanding the filioque then happily call them in whenever somebody claimed to know Greek better than the Greeks. I've had to figure out what a Noahide is and then how to answer his objections against everyone else. I've had it out with a range of my own fellow Catholics--sedevacantists, SSPX folks, Novus Ordo types. I dearly miss the great old traditional Anglican posters that alerted me to what was going on the Episcopal Church in the leadup to the formation of the Ordinariate.
We are discussing ideas....and since politics is downstream of culture, most of us understand that what happens in the religious world will eventually affect what happens everywhere.
Jim--God bless him--has given us a forum here to hash those issues out--better by leaps and bounds than any forum out there. He has always stepped in when things got out of hand, but he has always allocated us the space to have our arguments.
Best to just stay out of the theology threads if you have the attitude that the arguments are "sickening" and "toxic". Many of us who frequent the Religion Forum don't share it, and it doesn't seem Jim does either.
I’ve long said that it’s the sound of free speech, freedom of religion and the free exchange of ideas. I don’t want to see it shut down at all, however bleeding over into News/Activism creates a problem because not all enjoy the debate and can become offended. It should remain in the RF, so those who want to read and participate can do so, and those who do not can do so as well.
This is true, partly because it largely excludes liberals because it has wise rules and overall superior mods, versus such forums as http://www.christianforums.com with its snowflake mods, or Catholic Answers forums with its anti-Prot., wannabe inquisitor mods.
And to exclude such debate is inconsistent with Christian and American values, though turning FR into a Catholic news and provocative propaganda service invites debate RCs want censored, and the secular parties complain about.
bene dictum Claud
(Apologies to those soft souls offended by Latin)