This PPR forum could be enjoyable, but it's oten not.

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Anytime an interesting discussion between believers begins, someone that doesn't believe drops in to tell us how stupid and backward we are, and if our god did exist, they would want to know him anyway.

Just let us have our discussion, without telling us how you can see there is nothing there, and we are fools.

Just stop it please.

I didn't tell ragtime that he's stupid and backward and that his God is a jerk until he made it clear that he wasn't interested in discussing religion with me.

Y'all act like atheists were all raised that way. I used to be religious. I just came to my senses is all.

I was, and am, perfectly willing to discuss the finer points of his proposed query, but he wasn't interested.

shrox I have great esteem for your Quaker faith and your personal quietism
but some other "people of faith" are belligerent, offensive and easily offended.
I find my simple un-pointed questions being greeted as personal attacks.

I expect such an attack to follow this post.

No.

This is a public place for autistic people. It is not a christian forum by christians for christians, if it was you would have a point.

These forums exist and I do not visit them and post my opinion there, to do so would be rude and trollish.

There are tons of places, like churches, that you can go to for christian only conversation but you don't get to censor people with a different view that you don't like in a public unrelated space.

Freedom of speech 101.

There it is, we believers must then be delusional if you came to your senses...

Blau is just stating his experience not attacking yours
I am confused why you read it as a personal attack.

If it said "I used to be gay. I just came to my senses is all." it would not be acceptable.

If that was your experience it would be acceptable although the anti-ex-gay folks would have something
to say about it. This is called dialogue. disagreement is not attack.

Well, I am going to smile and walk away from this particular forum section.

Why not? Because a gay person might be offended? What if someone thought they were gay, and acted as such, then discovered through self reflection that they were not? Would their self discovery be offensive to those that are gay?

I used to be straight. I just came to my senses is all. <- is this offensive to heterosexuals?
I used to be a vegetarian. i just came to my senses is all. <- is this offensive to vegetarians?
I used to be homophobic. I just came to my senses is all. <- is this offensive to homophobes?

I used to be an atheist. I just came to my senses is all. <- is this offensive to atheists?

You should stay shrox.

I react to these debates in the mocking and abrupt manner because the public voice of christianity has been hijacked by fundamenalist extremists spreading lies and in my opinion, very unchristian attitudes.

If there were more moderate christian voices speaking up drowning out the lunatics, we would have far more pleasant conversations.

Are you thinking of the likes of Stephen Green? Nasty little turd he is.

That is the nature of an open or public forum

ruveyn

If you wanted, you could try requesting at the beginning of your thread, or in the title, that only people of certain outlooks participate, or that non-Christians or non-Fundies stay away.

Can't guarantee that your request would be honored, though, although you would have the option of reporting anyone you want to a moderator, and getting anyone you want in trouble.

I try to focus on the issues themselves, and I try to stay away from ad hominem statements.
We all slip up from time to time, but examine my record: When have I called someone a name within the past year on this forum?
Or said someone is stupid? Or lobbed any other personal insult whatsoever at someone?
I do not do that because I am not here to do that. I am here to have serious discussions with other intelligent people.

It's the back-and-forth disrespectful jeering that is done to me which I do not do.
True, arguing about one's personal beliefs does get somewhat personal by definition, but it need not descend to the level of pointless mockery of the individual, which only serves to end the ideas exchange.

Also, I get a lot of responses at once sometimes, and in order to keep my feedback at a certain standard of quality, in some cases I will not address every single reply I get.
Sometimes when I do not reply, it is because I respect how vast an answer would be required to do justice to the particular question -- too vast for a forum discussion.
In some of those cases I provide links instead. They are ignored, and/or dissed.

In addition, disrespectful tones may not receive a reply. The reason is that either the anger level in that person is too high for them to think and reply clearly and honestly about the subject,
or the person may simply be trolling. Also, I sense on a regular basis members asking me to do a lot of explaining just to spin my wheels and waste my time. My father used to call this, somewhat glibly, "the ministry of distraction". When I believe this is the case, I reply only in brief or not at all.

Blau mentioned that he threw all kinds of disrespect at me for ignoring his religious question. He admits that is how he treats someone, just for not responding? Call names, etc?

I've seen theology-based threads discussed pretty civilly and without the kind of "interruptions" that Ragtime.. rags on about. Most of the threads that get flak from atheists or agnostics seem to be the ones that make controversial claims. If you're going to actually talk about your religion, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that, but generally all of the complaints that religious users seem to make are mostly based on controversial threads they, or atheists, started.

You have insulted me within the past few weeks so... wrong. No hard feelings though



Why make claims that you have no intention of "wasting time" to back up?