Over the past few days, a rather large amount of Christian posters have joined this message board. Apparently, some of them are regulars at the Left Behind message board and learned of the Straight Dope because some of ‘our’ regulars posted over there, as a joke or seriously.
Let me emphasise one thing: although I am not religious myself, I enjoy a good debate about religion. I have read the Bible, I know my stuff somewhat, and I do hope these ‘newcomers’ are an addition to this board.
HOWEVER.
Some of the newcomers (well, the ones I’ve seen anyway) seem to be rather weird in their debating. They think posting a few - possibly out of context - Bible citations without so much as a question or debating topic attached to them is a good example of a Great Debates thread. They think a post that basically just says “I am so glad I am Christian, I could just wet myself” belongs there too.
My point is: are these people for real ? What’s the point guys ? You think you’re gonna convert some atheists over here ? You think shoving your beliefs down other peoples throats is OK ?
Have we just discovered a new type of troll, or do these “Fundies” really think they are on a Mission from God ?
So with all due respect (and we’ll see how much is actually due), please explain why you do this. Personally, I find all this Bible-quoting and Hallelujah-singing not amusing at all. It is disturbing when it is not aimed at starting a serious debate.
For the record, I posted this here NOT because I want to yell at every Christian that responds to this post. I do respect whatever religion a person chooses to follow. I just don’t want it pushed in my face in a place where it is totally unacceptable to do so.
Thank you, Coldfire, for bring back to the top every friggin’ Fundie Spam on the Board.
After the short-lived spamfest of 12-31, the people who have stayed have been polite, followed the rules and otherwise been good contributors. Cut them some slack.
I gotta agreee with Manny. The LBMB’ers who are still posting here are making an honest effort at debate. Which is in sharp contrast to what happened on the afternoon of 12/31/99. I think we will find the number of sarcastic and inflammatory posts (from LBMB’ers and SDMB’ers) will continue to decrease as time progresses. I do feel there will be period of adjustment though as we become acclimated to each other; it’s just gonna take a little time.
I welcome the members who are interested in signficant debates. Religion may not be my cup of tea, but tolerance of personal of personal beliefs is.
Easy one-step assembly instructions.
Pour Beer A in Uncle B.
Again, this post was not aimed at those who are interested in serious debate. And I did not mean to bring “every fundy spam” back to the top: in all honesty manhattan, they were righ there on the first page of Great Debates when I posted in them.
By no means did I intend to disrespect ANYONES personal beliefs. But I suppose that’s clear from the OP. Are you guys saying that none of these “fundy spammers” currently still post ?
And at the risk of being redundant, I too welcome anyone aboard who is interested in a good debate, christian or not.
I’m just curious whether or not some of the posters of the above threads will respond to this.
And this final link is a plea for tolerance and a bit of chastisement of their own members. You will note the originator of this thread is a gentleman calling himself Mike M on the LBMB. He is currently posting on the SDMB (as MKM), as well as a couple others. Like I said previously, the remaining LB’ers seem to be truly interested in a civil theological debate. http://www.leftbehind.com/cgi-bbs/Forum8/HTML/001775.html
I hope this helps, as this it the last I intend to post on the subject.
Cheers!
Easy one-step assembly instructions.
Pour Beer A in Uncle B.
Coldfire, as the dust settles I believe you will se this as a positive event. The Quote-Chuckers were here for a day or two and have listened to their pastor/monitor and left. Discussion of the incidents seem verboten on the Left Behind board so I do not know how they feel about it. They do have a rather draconian standard of “appropriate discussion” and an annoying glitch in their UBB software that causes threads to disappear abruptly.
However, most of the individuals who were actually taking part in the debates our crack team of infiltrators initiated have come over here. The LBBB folk who have stayed through the weekend are (mostly) those who are willing and able to intelligently discuss their beliefs. I am very happy they have joined us, as fresh opinions are always welcome.
For our next excercise, possibly we can find a Fundamentalist Hindu message board and repeat the performance. No, I don’t use “smiley faces” to indicate attempted humour.
Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”
I have kept out of the little war that has been going on. I stay out of great debates execpt to read, because frankly the level of animosity there on issues reguarding religion sickens me.
But I do have one or two or several things to say.
Why is it that if you dare to come out and say you are a Christian, who holds some fundemental beliefs, you are called a fundie ? I have never called anyone on this board any name based on thier religious beliefs.
Many people may not think I’m a “good Christian” because of the way I act on this board, well get over it, I am as G_d made me. Wierdness and all.
To other Christians, let me tell you, you won’t get anywhere coming here and trying to force religion down these folks throats. That never works, it only drives people further away. And it makes people think we (Christians) are all rabid , foaming at the mouth nuts.
Ayesha - Lioness
There are two solutions to every problem : the wrong one, and mine
(Thomas A. Edison)
Thanks for the links and the clarification. As usual, you are more reliable than the Search Engine
DrFidelius: I do see any newcomer with an open mind and wisdom to share as a positive thing. Thanks for explaining - although it startles me a bit that at the command of an administrator, an entire contingent of Christians is mobilised to harrass another board. Frankly, I don’t know who started it (I know regulars like Satan were posting on LBMB for a while: “Stan A.”, gotta love a man with a sense of humour ) and I don’t know what group was the most aggressive, but the little inter-board flame war that was displayed in the links UncleBeer provided was pathetic beyond belief. So far and from what I’ve seen, mostly from the LBMB side, I’m afraid. I just hope not too many of “our” posters made complete asses of themselves over there.
I don’t think the few people that decided to begin the flame war would be considered a ‘whole contingent’ on a membership of 8000+. Maybe a small platoon.
Actually, Ayesha, I use ‘fundy’ because it’s easier to type than ‘fundamentalist’. However, I believe that ‘fundy’ has also become a term associated with the worst of the close-minded aggressive Bible-thumpers that want to ban the teaching of evolution in school, etc. Having some fundamentalist beliefs is not the same as believing that every word is the Bible is directly from God’s mouth to your ear, and whatever interpretation you put on it is the one and only correct interpretation. Oh, and everyone who doesn’t agree with you is going to burn in hell for all eternity.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
Ayesha, I too use “fundie” in a specific context. We have several Fundamentalist Christian posters who have and deserve respect: SoxFan59 (who posts too rarely), orangecakes, perhaps Libertarian (I don’t know how he would characterize himself). I would never characterize any of them as “fundies.” SoxFan and I have disagreed on religious issues on several occasions in these fora. He brings intelligence and thoughtfulness to his position and I attempt to do the same. We will continue to disagree on many issues, but we treat each other with respect.
When I use the word “fundie,” I mean the mind-clamped-shut poster of random Biblical verses who exhibits a God-said-it-I-believe-it-That-settles-it mentality even when it can be shown that God never said it.
I respect Fundamentalist Christians just as I respect Orthodox Jews or anyone else for whom their faith is an integral part of their lives. I have little or no respect for people who can quote the Bible, chapter and verse, at will, and use it (usually quoted out of context) only as a weapon to inflict their own prejudices on others.
Wow. I’ve been travelling & behind in what goes on here. I only read Unclebeer’s first link, but what sadly came to mind was how similar it was to a tribal war. I’m glad that it’s not in physical space with all the permanent damage that usually entails. But laurels go to Unca, Firefly, Tom,& Tris for their lucidity.
I’m Buddhist, but really wish Jesus would come back soon to straighten out the twisted intolerance perpetuated under his guise.
Thanks to both Coldfire for the OP and UncleBeer for the links. I don’t know about others, but something happened on the board and I wasn’t sure what. Probably as with a lot of folks, I pop in here now and then and was puzzled.
So…thanks to Coldfire for the courage to ask the question, and to UncleBeer and others for the explanation.
Anyway, just tacking this in on the side. I couldn’t figure out what the hoopla and balllyhoo was about, but I was too gutless to ask.
