Catholics are Christian. Well, maybe not all are practicing Christians (ie, those pushing abortion and the homosexual agenda, etc.), but that would also apply to some protestants.
All:
Discuss the issues all you wish, including debating the pros and cons, dogma, traditions, history, customs, beliefs, etc, of various religions or sects, but do not make it personal.
(per the religion forum rules: http://www.freerepublic.com/~religionmoderator/ )
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Excerpt from from the Religion Moderator’s rules for the Religion Forum page:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~religionmoderator/
The main guideline to posting on the Religion Forum: ”Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.”
Whereas posters may argue vigorously for and against beliefs on “open” Religion Forum threads it is never tolerable to use ad hominems in religious debate because they invariably lead to flame wars when the subject is one’s deeply held religious beliefs.
For something to be “making it personal” it must be speaking to another Freeper, personally.
“Protestants are heretics” is not making it personal. “You are a heretic” is making it personal. “Catholics worship Mary” is not making it personal. “You worship Mary” is making it personal. “Mormons worship many gods” is not making it personal. “You worship many gods” is making it personal.
However, when a poster paints with a brush that accuses an entire religion of criminal behavior - his post will be pulled as flame bait. For example, posts that say “Protestants kill babies” or “Catholics molest children” or “Mormons kill non-Mormons” will be pulled. However, if the post is specific about a non-Freeper, I will not pull it. For example “Rev. Doe says abortion and infanticide are not sin” or “Father Doe was convicted for molesting those kids” or “Mormons killed non-Mormons at Mountain Meadows” would not be pulled.
Statements formed as questions are rarely “making it personal.”
“Are you a heretic” is not making it personal. “You are a heretic” is making it personal.
Forms of “making it personal” include mind reading, attributing motive, accusing another Freeper of telling a lie (because it attributes motive, the intent to deceive) - making the thread “about” individual Freeper(s), following a Freeper from thread to thread and badgering a Freeper over-and-again with the same question.
The words “prevarication” “dishonesty” “slander” “deceit” “calumny” and “subterfuge” are synonymous with “lie” because they entail intent.
Words such as “false” “error” “wrong” “inaccurate” “misstatement” do not attribute motive and are not “making it personal.”
Other words push the envelope of motive but are not synonymous with “lie” for purposes of modding the RF. However, they can be “making it personal” if applied to another Freeper, personally, in such a way the discussion becomes “about” the individual Freeper instead of the issues. Those words include “misrepresentation” “detraction” “disinformation” “distortion” “hyperbole” and “doublespeak.”
Another example, calling a group of Freepers “anti-Mormon” attributes motive to them as a group which is not technically “making it personal” - but saying that another Freeper, personally, is anti-Mormon instead of anti-MormonISM is an ad hominem. It is “making it personal.”
Another example, a poster may say on an “open” RF thread that a particular belief, diety, religious authority, etc. is “Satanic.” But he must not say “You are Satanic.” That would be “making it personal.” The Bible is always a legitimate source on the Religion Forum, so a poster might quote the Bible where Jesus called Peter “Satan.” If a post serves no debate purpose (flame bait or ‘making it personal’ by devious means) - it would be pulled.
When in doubt, avoid the use of the pronoun “you” and Freeper’s names - or put yourself in the other guy’s shoes.