Make Discussion of Religion Against Rules

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Can we please make discussion of religion, outside the politics, philosophy and religion bored, against the rules? I am tired of having my faith attacked by these evangelical atheists who are verbose in their (lack-of) belief. I understand I am a sheep and an idiot or something like that, but being reminded the absurdity of my personal belief outside intended forums is annoying.

There are a lot of atheists on this site, and I am in no way attacking their (lack-of) belief. I am a firm believer in the first amendment, especially when it comes to what they are passionate about. That is great. I am just tired of having threads outside of the PPR subboard having anything to do with religion in it.

On the other side, I can understand Atheist getting offended by us inferior Christians talking about our "imaginary dude in the sky". You cannot single out atheism that needs to shut up, so I think extending it to all religions is the right way to go. Anything religious can be said in PMs or PPR.

Pic related

He makes a good point. I'm an atheist but the same happens both ways. A certain member has attacked my view on religion randomly in many threads.

Obviously in PPR you're asking for a debate, but in the rest of the forum you shouldn't have to put up with being attacked over your beliefs.

Last edited by Asp-Z on 13 Jul 2010, 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

Don't post about your religion, and no one will attack your faith.

Don't read posts on religion and you won't see the more general attacks on faith.

I don't really see why you need a new board rule to solve your problem for you. Seems to me you can take care of your issue yourself.

Attacking someone's opinions is not against the rules. If you don't want your religious beliefs to be questioned, either don't talk about them and avoid threads where they are being talked about. Problem solved.

I agree, any topic about faith will always end in an argument.

i times that by 1,0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I strangely agree...

Ferdinand, I strangely lol'ed at this thread.

When a member feels that their beliefs are under attack and it is not a situation in which they feel they have invited debate, then they can ask a moderator to intervene. I totally sympathize with your feelings on this one, Ferdinand, as I've learned to mostly keep my faith to myself, given that many responses seem to strongly suggest I'm either delusional or stupid for having faith. Still, I don't feel that a blanket rule is really appropriate. It's really about learning how what you say comes across to others, and everyone can use to learn more on that end. The occasions of conflict can be turned into growth opportunities. I've had many wonderful discussions on religion in real life, with those of different faiths and those without faith, and no one in real life has ever managed to imply that I'm delusional or stupid; it's all about the words one chooses, and the point of view applied (you v. I, etc.). There are ways for people of different views to be polite with each other, and to help each other understand.

I hate the common atheist. They talk about how much Christians (etc) try to push their religions on everyone else.

Yes, we have God on our money. It's just money. But they're protesting it. Yes, the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses still preach on doorsteps but all you gotta do is cuss them out or not open the door.

That ain't nothing. I heard about a recent incident were apparently a bunch of atheists ran into a Catholic church and started waving hair dryers at the kids who were getting baptized. That is disgusting.

If I was atheist, I'd still be disgusted. I hate hypocrites.

I agree with the OP. Facist atheists are not good. People need to be left alone to figure out their own path. I think discrimination should be stopped here. I do not sgree with fundamentalists but they should be free to believe and investigate withouy insults.

I say keep religious discussions allowed, but have them highly moderated.

The problem with this is that there is always someone who feels the moderation is biased, when it comes to this particular topic. Also, there is the simple issue of coverage; it's a lot to ask the moderators to read every post that might involve religion. Overall, I prefer knowing that at least one member is upset before jumping in; that way I know it isn't just *my* opinion. Hence, asking members to tell a moderator when they feel a discussion is not being carried on fairly.

Some things are easy; it is pretty clearly against the rules to say "all Christians are crazy" or "all atheists are going to hell." But one heck of a lot falls somewhere short of those statements.

Rules against bullying already exist here, and it is up to all of us to speak up whenever anyone does that to anyone.

" it is pretty clearly against the rules to say "all atheists are going to hell."

That is a clear teaching of the bible. If that statement is against the rules, the Bible and Christianity are also against the rules. Not trying to be controversial, just expressing my own frustration at how difficult it is to make religion and religious discussion accpetable in an inclusive society.

I doubt that is literally "against the rules", but neither can I imagine any legitimate need to say such a thing in the first place.

You may post, "I believe that the Bible says all atheists will go to hell" but "all atheists are going to hell" as a solitary sentence is pretty clearly a direct attack, and not an opening for discussion. Yes, we actually do have to split hairs that way around here.