** For example, a Catholic should be able to discuss aspects of veneration of a particular saint without having to field basic questions about veneration of saints in general, that are certain to come form the Protestants. Likewise, a Protestant should be able to post something about a Protestant thinker, or Protestant eschatology without others piling on Protestantism in general. What would be your recommendation? I see three possibilities about such "threads of limited debate"? **
Excellent question. It seems to me that Catholics take more bashings on threads than Protestants do. Is my observation mistaken?
And then I must ask myself -- What difference does it make in the end? Will I hurt or hinder the other poster, or help or have mercy on them and cease posting?
**or help or have mercy on them and cease posting?**
Rephrase and clarify -----
Or will I help or have mercy on another poster and cease posting to that thread.
But any confession or belief system is subject to "bashing" on open threads. That is why we should all be prepared to "give reason for the hope that is within us" when we venture into the open threads.
Posters, however, are never to be personally bashed.
I'm sure that we all believe our own particular theological bent "takes more bashings" than the other person's - especially since (what a coincidence), we believe our own particular theological bent is right, and the other person's is in need of correction. If Catholics suffer bashing more than others, one explanation might be because most threads are Catholic threads! Until restornu began her LDS devotional threads, I doubt you find a single LDS thread on FR in the last four years that didn't see some form of "Mormon bashing" within the first twenty posts (and I'm not even counting doctrinal challenges). And proportionally, more Calvinists have been banned than members of any other theological group. Everyone claims their own group is being singled out, trust me! Each group has their own cross to bear, justly or unjustly. It's how each of us reacts to the perceived slight that marks our actions as "Christian" or not, IMO, and marks our posts (and our FR posting privileges) for removal when they're not.
Proverbs 25:15 tells us that "By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded, And a soft tongue breaks the bone.". And Proverbs 27:6 says "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy."
IMO "bashing" occurs when we use others (and their beliefs) as target practice for our threads and posts, not really giving a thought personally towards them or their belief systems. We defend our actions by claiming that we're using FR as a mission field, when what we really do is behave like it's our private shooting range. That, IMO, is what "bashing" is. I should know - I've done it myself.
Everyone seems to feel that his sector of faith is being attacked the most. I would say from my own perspective, the pre-trib dispensational Bible-believing Christians seem to get the flanks from everyone: Catholics (whether SSPX, Traditionalist, Conservative Catholics, or semi-moderate "Catholics"), Orthodox, doctrinally conservative mainline Protestants including Reformed Calvinists/Presbyterians, conservative Lutherans and Episcopalians, and Wesleyans/Mathodist Arminians, and even many post-trib leaning evangelicals.
Perhaps not more than 3 or 4 of us are active on this sub-forum, and each time we post something attacks start to spring up almost immediately.
My observation is that Protestants debate and "bash" each other more than they do Catholics. Sometimes people cry "bashing" because they have no response to the issues raised and they want to silence the debate.