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>>When there is a plethora of religious threads on FR that are closed to argument FR seems to become an agent of that religious sect.<<

That is my take as well. There is a guy named Vision that posts Joel Olsteen articles every day as “devotional” and he has to include in his first post the “devotional” rules.

They go against the spirit of what this site is. But I now just ignore the threads.

I wonder if I could post muslim tripe under a “devotional” thread. ;)

Religious beliefs are often more deeply held than political ones. And it is also true that conservatives can be in complete agreement on political issues and at the same time, bitterly disagree with each other's religious beliefs.

Also, when one belief spawns from a previous one it is common for each of them to condemn the other in the harshest terms possible, e.g. heretic, anathema, apostate, cult, Satanic.

Those terms often become part of the official doctrines and Freepers' deeply held religious beliefs - and whereas some conservatives take no offense at the use of the terms against their beliefs, others do.

For all these reasons, the Religion Forum approximates the venues available for free religious speech by providing these thread types in the RF:

1. No debate of any kind is tolerable on RF threads tagged "prayer" or "devotional." These are treated as if they were invocations, services or benedictions. For the same reason it is inappropriate to disrupt a funeral service or a prayer in Congress, these threads must not be disrupted.

2. Only members of a specified caucus are to post on RF threads tagged "caucus" - e.g. "Catholic Caucus." These are treated as if they were occurring behind the closed doors of a church. It would be inappropriate to tear down the doors of another's church in order to protest his beliefs. But because a cyber-church is transparent or visible, the beliefs of any non member must not be mentioned in either the article or in the replies. When that happens, the thread must be "opened" so that the non-members can speak for themselves.

3. Antagonism is not allowed on threads labeled "ecumenical." These threads are treated as if they were an open panel among polite academicians. Loud, abusive, antagonistic behavior is inappropriate for that venue and thus disruptors are instructed to leave the thread.

4. All other threads are "open" and are treated like a town square. Antagonistic beliefs can be aired. Posters may argue pro or con. Deities, religious authorities, authors and documents may be cruelly ridiculed. It can become rowdy and contentious. Thick skin is required. Thin skinned posters are the disruptors on open RF threads and they may also be instructed to leave the thread.

In the end, thick skinned or thin skinned, academician or not, reverent or irreverent, every Freeper has a "niche" on the Religion Forum.

Since both of you are "old-timer" Freepers, you may find the open threads more to your liking.