anyone else find it interesting?

Locutus

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My experience is that etiquette rules are common to many forums. You adapt to them for the individual forum - sometimes not so successfully! Having said that, I find forums without etiquette rules are far more interesting and intellectually stimulating. You do tend to see more of the thinking behind a post because those who may have a little more trouble expressing themselves aren't hampered by limitations.

Meantime, I sometimes wonder how those who regard themselves as libertarians feel about it. Would be interesting if some who protest regulations are in approval of forum rules generally. Most amusing!

FTR, I'm not a Christian, but the grey hair suggests I'm a grown up :)
 
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ml5363

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i guess i would expect all to respectable just based on the type of forum we are in...threats of we are gonna close a thread down b/c someone said something that doesn't go with another's beliefs. What!? so childish in my opinion but I guess I am in the few. heres to us being grown ups! :0
 
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Locutus

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i guess i would expect all to respectable just based on the type of forum we are in...threats of we are gonna close a thread down b/c someone said something that doesn't go with another's beliefs. What!? so childish in my opinion but I guess I am in the few. heres to us being grown ups! :0

I guess a lot depends one who decides what's respectable. I take the position that respect outside of that which I'd offer to any random stranger must be earned. Also, I don't view profanity as disrespectful. Obviously, I'd make a very poor moderator!

The upshot is that I agree with you. Being offended is for children (including when I indulge it). It's a 'pout'. I don't like to see it encouraged or enabled in adults. An example is older people who take refuge in delicate sensibilities. It's really a retirement from thought. An abdication of active engagement with human culture and society. "It's all too hard so I'll retreat to the default setting, established when I was 8 years old". I love meeting elder folk who are genuinely mature - well beyond righteous indignation and offense. They're wise and funny and retain all their faculties - because they keep using their faculties!
 
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Dave-W

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i guess i would expect all to respectable just based on the type of forum we are in...t
Every forum site has to have these rules depending on who posts there. On another forum site (that does not allow atheists etc) there is a guy that keeps coming back acting like a troll and PMs the top couple of dozen posters saying they are all going to the devil and burn for eternity. Even if they agree with his rants. So he gets banned. And then comes back under a new name from a new IP address, doing it all again.

I am sure the rules here have developed over time based on the types of problems that show up here.

In this month's edition of the Tikkun Newsletter, Director Dan Juster ThD. is discussing the problem of young believers going off to college and pretty much losing their faith. He writes: "The primary issue of faith abandonment is inadequate discipleship and spiritual formation that must take place before the young person goes to college." I would submit that " inadequate discipleship and spiritual formation" is not just a young person problem; but our churches are filled with undiscipled and therefore spiritually unformed christians. They believe but have never had proper Christian life-training (different from education) so they act like 2 year olds.

Juster continues: "Such formation should be ongoing and tailored to the challenges of each stage of life, and especially requires intense involvement through each year of the college experience. In addition, we should note that the primary model for education in the secular university, many Bible Schools and many seminaries is Greek and not biblical/Hebraic. It educates the brain and not the heart!"

So if you want people here to act like adults, we need to make sure they "grow up." That is not done by education but by life formation (discipleship). If we bring that back into the churches, we would not have the problems you list.

His article can be found here: http://www.tikkuninternational.org/newsletters/004a3b+dj-feb16.php
 
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Locutus

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Once again, it depends who's making the determination.

For me, the grown up is well beyond the self-righteousness of youth. They have reached a place of absolute comfort in their own skin, and with the human condition generally. They understand that they don't have to take every word and action personally. They see that we're deeply hilarious. It's almost impossible to offend such a person.

Youth is the time for self-importance and strict observation of dogmatic mores, not mature adulthood.
 
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LOVEthroughINTELLECT

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That for a christian forum there are so many rules on etiquette? Shouldnt we be all past that? We are grown ups and christian, we should know how to be respectable. Just find it entertaining that a lot of posts are closed to replies. Interesting.




People are not very civil offline, so why would we expect them to be civil online where they are invisible and anonymous?
 
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Locutus

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People are not very civil offline, so why would we expect them to be civil online where they are invisible and anonymous?

what is civil, though? smoking? being massively overweight? being bigoted? being aggressive? poor social skills? killing animals for fun? wilful ignorance? disregard for the planet?

you see how difficult it is to pin these things down? some people think civility is having 1950's manners (I don't, obviously. such 'manners' hid monsterously anti-human incivility), some people think it's ONLY manners - and naturally any given notion of manners will be reflected in a particular period, usually 20thC, sometimes even earlier. they don't care about any barbarity of thought and action underlying this thin veneer of manners, only that the manners are perceived.
 
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Martinius

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true, but i would think we are here for the same purposes. to discuss things we are learning or seeking, to ask questions, and to grow in our faith.
Ah, that this would only be true. Many people come to these forums to push their agendas and condemn anyone who doesn't agree with them. The people who do come here to ask questions and grow their faith are often attacked by the all-knowing and self-righteous members. In summary, this forum is not a place to visit if you are expecting to find people with a true Christian attitude. As I say here periodically, many "Christians" are not Christian.
 
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Cearbhall

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That for a christian forum there are so many rules on etiquette? Shouldnt we be all past that? We are grown ups and christian, we should know how to be respectable. Just find it entertaining that a lot of posts are closed to replies. Interesting.
I would say that the reason for the closed threads is often because it's a Christian forum. The rules are more conservative than what you might see on many other forums. I'm sometimes very surprised when a conversation gets shut down or edited by staff.

And there's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. It's a private site. They have the right to set whatever rules they want and censor content as they please.
 
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Murby

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It's a private site. They have the right to set whatever rules they want and censor content as they please.

Bingo! +1. Its a private site, they can do whatever they want here.
A couple of considerations to aid in your discussion,
1) I'm a newbie but I've already been involved in several "debates" on this site and I'm clearly not into religion in any form. I have not had any problems so far with being censored or anything like that. So, for my own personal experience, I think the forum moderators are doing ok so far. I should also note that while I may be a descenting opinion on certain subjects, and in the company of religiously based opinions, I have so far been treated fairly. (Ya, big surprise to me!)

2) Not all forum moderators believe in "Freedom of speech".. they'd rather have their forum be more of an advertisement for their own opinions and so they ban people who don't fall into their line. I'm not suggesting this site does that (or not), I'm just saying that its sort of a trend in private forums all over the internet. The best thing you can do when you run into a forum that does such things is to just leave and never return.. and never mention the forum anywhere because it would just add to its google rankings.

3) I believe the secret to posting in any thread is to not insult anyone personally. You can attack their opinion, their belief, their idea, but never attack the poster on a personal level. Energetic debates are fine and quite beneficial, but when it turns personal, its a very bad thing.
 
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