Maybe what we need is for the OP to be given one or two days to respond to debate or information requests, and if it turns into “I don’t want to debate, I only want to witness. Jesus loves me, the bible told me so”, then it gets locked so we can move on to the next argument/debate.
Witnessing really needs something special to show what it is so it can be more easily avoided. Once you think it is a debate some people feel compelled to debate after clicking into it. Put a flag on it and we can just never click into it.
I’m not arguing that the rules say it’s the right place for witnessing – I’m arguing that the rules are wrong and GD is the wrong place for witnessing. If I were God Emperor Cecil, I would put witnessing threads in MPSIMS, where most of our pointless bullshit ideas get kicked around without the pretense that they have any genuine importance.
How is religion and its influence on our lives any less important a topic than politics and its influence on our lives?
Arguably, it’s not. But witnessing is not intended for debate, it’s more a “Hey, this is what I think”. Usually the author doesn’t care whether anyone else agrees or not, and especially has no interest the kind of dissection of the origins of those beliefs that a debate invites.
I think either MPSIMS or IMHO is far better suited to witnessing, unless the OP genuinely intends to put forward their ideas and conclusions as a proscription for society and is willing and interested in a debate about their worth.
Maybe a Witnessing forum of its own, complete with tumble weeds rolling across the top banner?
We’ve had political threads and even science threads of that same nature, though-should they be treated the same way you want religious witnessing threads to be treated?
I think that if people don’t want to talk about what they post, they should go start a blog elsewhere.
Sure, if they’re witnessing about … whatever, and not putting forth ideas as a subject for debate. Maybe they’re witnessing that Lauren Bacall is the most gorgeous woman in world history, or that pan-fried semen is yummy, or that Allah is the One True God. No difference.
It’s not necessarily that they don’t want to talk about it, or even talk to others about it, but they don’t want to debate it. These threads are the very essence of Mundane Pointless Stuff That I Must Share.
What do you mean by “debate”-stating an opposing viewpoint? I don’t think any forum restricts you from doing that.
I dunno – then why isn’t there just one giant forum for everything? There is a debate forum and there is an MPSIMS forum, and if there’s no difference between them maybe we oughtta have a Mundane Pointless Debate forum, which now that I think about it isn’t far from reality anyway. 
I think that, implied in the definition of “witnessing” is that the ideas being expressed do have genuine importance to the person expressing them. Whether or not they’re important to anyone else—well, that’s part of what the debate is.
There isn’t a “Debate” forum-there is a “Great Debate” forum. The difference between that and the other forums is spelled out in its description, and religion falls under that description, in my opinion.
Clearly my opinion is a minority one, perhaps a minority of one. That’s ok with me, but I think further discussion is going to be fruitless.
I will just reiterate that the debate forum is perfectly appropriate for those interested in debating their ideas, religious or otherwise. I see witnessing as something entirely different, and better suited elsewhere, even though the rules say otherwise.
Give witnessing its own forum.
What would the rule be: “Say anything you want, but no one gets to respond”?
I always thought the “great” part of the forum name was somewhat facetious. My debates are of world-shaking importance but *yours *are merely frivolous.
You have that backwards. MY debates are of world-shaking importance. Yours have less significance than a flea fart. 
Do you honestly think this is what he means?