Let me preface this with the obvious: I have no official standing here, and you’re free to ignore this post if you choose. I’m just this guy, you know? But I’ll put my two cents in, and people can follow or ignore it as they see fit. But there are some obvious differences between this board and the LB Message Board, and it’s worth noting and respecting them, IMO.
One difference is that, on this board, most Christians have a clear sense of boundary between fact, and that which we accept as fact due to our faith. So we don’t get all huffy with atheists who don’t accept our faith-based premises. In order to have a specifically Christian discussion, if we so desire, we can state that assumption up front in the OP. But otherwise, nobody’s going to give much weight to it when we quote II Hezekiah 7:16 on an issue.
A second difference is that we Christians on the SDMB acknowledge and respect a wide range of differing beliefs amongst ourselves. We don’t start off with a whole bunch of implicit assumptions about everything from inerrancy to political and social issues; there is no ‘evangelical correctness’ operating here. Christians who feel they know the ‘right’ way to practice Christianity, and know the ‘true’ interpretations of Scriptures over which there is disagreement, won’t find many friends on the SDMB.
A third factor (I don’t know if it’s a ‘difference’ or not, but based on my experience on the LBMB, it may well be) is that we try to maintain the distinction between strong disagreement with a person’s ideas, and slams on the person him/herself. This goes both ways: one’s objection to the ideas of an ideological adversary shouldn’t cause one to insult him personally, or question his faith, integrity, parentage, or whatever; and on the flip side, one shouldn’t interpret attacks, no matter how intense, on one’s ideas as an attack on oneself. It usually isn’t - frequently, your adversary in one debate is your ally in another.
May I add, RT, that there is a difference between honest discussion (designed to exchange ideas in a spirit of free thought and free speech) and preaching (designed to hammer one’s own beliefs into the thick skulls of the other person.)
We are happy here to have discussion, of a wide range, from “Here’s What I Believe” to “What’s the archaeological setting for this particular Biblical verse.” But we don’t take kindly to being preached to, regardless of whether the subject of the sermon is God’s Love or Darwin’s Statistics.
I, for one, am revolted by the great influx of these bible-thumping, content-free, contemptuous postings that sprang up, seemingly overnight, like some poisoned-root fell weed in an otherwise healthy garden.
I’m trying real hard to ignore them, but if these newcomers continue to pester the posters here, there’ll be hell to pay in the Pit.
The legend of poor, put-upon Joshua Bar-Joseph may even come under attack.
Lib, you’re getting almost as bad as the “Help, help, I’m being repressed, come see the violence inherent in the system” guy in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Seriously, I do apologize if posting this link offends anyone. I am really, honestly, curious about the motives of these people. Call me crazy all you want.
Coldfire is a bit confused by these fundies and he has every right to be: his ancestors were smart enough to push them right of the continent into the ocean.
