I repeat.
Yes. And it appears that discussing any topic Christians may disagree with is persecution unless there is a clear majority of Christians in that discussion.
Best to avoid mentioning any topics that are not accepted Christian doctrine, lest a Christian overhead and be victimized.
I have no problem attacking someone for their actions when such actions cause harm to another person. The motivation behind such actions is irrelevant. Religion cannot have a free pass here no matter how sincerely felt.
If what you do * materially affects another person’s life then it deserves close scrutiny and sanctioning if society in general thinks it necessary.
What you *** think* *is merely open to scrutiny and comment should you choose to share it but no special rules apply here. If what you think is batshit crazy (religious or not) then don’t be surprised if people laugh at you when you try to justify it.
Don’t like it? boo-hoo. No-one forces you to believe what you believe. I treat religious belief with no more and no less respect than I do any other worldview (political or philosophical). Weight of numbers and historically mandated obedience ( and real persecution) tends to give religions undue prominence but it is thankfully losing that over time.
To be honest, there was a period where I felt like all I was doing was rebutting your various posts. I started to feel like a creepy stalker so I resolved to just ignore (but not Ignore) them for the most part. This silence should not be taken as agreement.
No offense intended, man. You know how it is. Plus it’s not just you; there are other posters on both sides of the spectrum I now do this for as well. It saves time and blood pressure medication.
Yes. No.
That is, when people direct harsh remarks towards them, it’s hostility and ill-treatment, which is what the term “persecution” provides.
Proposing raising their taxes? No. That’s not hostility and ill-treatment – that’s the proposal of a social or governmental policy.
Me.
You acknowledge that such behavior would be ideal… but then immediately reject any interest in actually contributing to the ideal.
But I don’t say that you are persecutory when you fail to speak up. You do, however, nothing to undo the persecution offered by others.
No hypocrisy there if we do not see such mundane behavior as persecution in the first place.
By his own admission, it’s less than “ideal.”
Stop persecuting andros.
Just because it is less than ideal does not mean that it is persecution.
Do you think that any of those words I said to him are hostile and constitute ill-treatment?
Absolutely true.
So the only two options available are “ideal” and “persecution”? Not surprising coming from someone who put up Shodan as an example of someone who is persecuted on the SDMB for being a Christian. Face it-the definition of “persecution” you choose to go by is ridiculously broad, and your examples of persecuted people on the SDMB is pathetic.
it’s the violence inherent in the system I’m afraid.
No. Why would you suggest that?
Now you’re persecuting me.:mad:
Okay, so you have all the rights anyone else has. The vast majority of the populace call themselves among your number. Your religion’s rules and regulations form the basis for many of the laws across the country, including and up to deciding which citizens can and can’t marry. You are not kept from worshiping, congregating and visibly wearing symbols that demonstrate your beliefs.
You get your God advocated on this secular country’s money. An oath to your God is sworn by all the children in public schools.
You can freely post anything you’d like on this message board, aren’t singled out by the moderators, and count the majority of members as your allies.
Did I mention that Bricker’s entire premise is asinine?
Of course the obvious difference of anti-christian and racist/homophobic remarks is that Christians are criticized for their beliefs, while those of a particular race or sexuality are criticized for their identity. Since this message board is designed to critically evaluate beliefs, they are fair game. I certainly wouldn’t disagree that this often results in insults, straw men and generalizations that are unfair to Christians. But the same is true of Republicans, conspiracy theorists, gun rights enthusiasts, gun control enthusiasts, and even liberals. The pro-evidence nature of the board has meant that there are far more atheists drawn to the board than there are in the rest of American society, so it is not surprising that Christians may find themselves less routinely accepted here than they are used to, which keeps them away and reinforces the cycle. With a larger population of athiests on the board there will be a larger number of people disagreeing with Christian ideas, which in turn will lead to a relatively more insults, straw men and generalizations being leveled at Christians than at some other groups. But it has more to do with the demographics of the board rather than any structural anti-christian bigotry.
Now suppose Liberals who complained that this board was persecuting them, that there was a strong Anti-Obama bias in the population on the board, and that athiest views were being squashed. As examples they gave the posts of Shodan, Clothahump, and Flyer. You would, correctly, respond that such a claim was ludicrous, as the board clearly skews in favor of such views. You might even go so far as to claim that those liberals must have a persecution complex. You have already admitted above that in American society outside of this board, Christians are far more often the persecutors rather than the persecuted, and yet there is continual complaining (see Flyers posts as an example) that they are the ones being persecuted by society. So getting back to the OP, do you have any thoughts as to why this might be? and why their claims are any less ludicrous than would be the claims of persecution of liberals in this board?
Posts #168 and #169. If people that are more than capable of defending their positions are being challenged, I see no persecution going on. In fact, I do not even see a less than ideal situation going on-just two people having a disagreement. Perhaps if you could show us your best case for there being persecution on this board we might better understand your point, because right now all I can see is special pleading on your part.