I do appreciate your replies (all is helpful), in seeking further clarification as to whether or not a Messianic Gentile Christian displaying a "Christian" icon can participate and post as seemingly one of Oriental Orthodox or Pilgrim/Monastic religion is permitted without displaying a MJ faith icon.
My posts were seeking clarification (not an attack) on what appears be a double standard or at the least representative of certain aspects of any 'religion' that we'll just have to live with--without moaning. My desire was to do whatever is necessary to diminish/avoid any moderator warning. Mainly interested in determining if a Christian Messianic can receive same posting privilege as an Oriental-Orthodox Messianic or Pilgrim/Monastic Messianic. Thought perhaps you might know
some of us are not ‘just’ a Messianic Gentile, but a Christian follower/disciple of the Way. What seems like a perception at this Christian Forums website that a “Christian” is somehow inferior and NOT allowed to offer their take on the difference between Christianity and Messianic Judaism in this thread seems prejudicial. So are you actually saying in so many words that this thread is MJ Only when it comes to a “Christian” (who’s also a Messianic Gentile) from giving their perspective on the difference between Christianity and Messianic Judaism considering the new Keep It Simple SOP to which some Christians can agree.
Is Tishri1 aware that you as a Christian Minister will not permit a person wearing a “Christian” faith icon from offering a ‘balanced’ Christian perspective in this thread. Are you aware that there are “Christians” that agree with the SOPs wording (as I’ve previously stated in another thread). However, in that they are not ashamed to wear a Christian faith icon they chose not to display a MJ(Gentile) faith icon.
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Is it actually possible for someone that's Oriental-Orthodox or Pilgrim/Monastic allowed to post their Messianic perspective on MJ threads without displaying a MJ icon? In light of the new simplier SOP why is it that a “Christian” that agrees with the new simplier SOP may still be endangered and warned if they post their Messianic Christian perspective in a MJ thread? For example I posted a video link to Rabbi Michael Schiffman’s explanation of Messianic Judaism and no one reprimanded me (not yet). In fact Messianic Jewboy checked it out and posted on same thread that Rabbi Schiffman’s explanation of Messianic Judaism was “pretty good.”
Considering the language of the new SOP why is it so impossible for a Messianic Gentile Christian that agrees to it’s language not display a Christian faith icon. Besides, it’s not unheard of for a Messianic Jew to refer to their religious beliefs as being Christian.
If I may say...
Seeing that I was going to respond to someone else but noticed I kept being referenced in 3rd party person by my description, I did want to note some things.
The issue of having Dual Citizenship on forums is NOT a new reality - it has been in practice for over 4yrs now. I found that out directly from other forums - as in the Orthodox forums, not all Orthodox have an Orthodox icon and yet others know who they are, where they stand and its identifiable in their signatures or the body of postings they make.
The same goes for the Anglican Forum and the Lutheran forum and many others - there have actually been a couple of times someone had a Messianic icon in another forum (lets say the Spirit-Filled/Charismatic section) but it was fine since it was noticeable in their signatures, Bios, the body of their writings and other dynamics - and they were simultaneously Charismatic/Spirit-Filled as well. If one was capable of having DUAL icons displayed, it'd make things more simple - but because of that dynamic not being available, self-identification/history is what the mods went by....and still do.
Within THIS forum, it has been the case for 3 years where other posters who were Messianic and yet involved in other parts of the Church didn't need to have a Messianic icon in order to be considered Messianic. People such a Contra Mundum come to mind - Jewish and Christian, yet not needing the icon. Others are people like Daughter of Ararat (who's similar to me in that she attended a Messianic synagogue as a Messianic Gentile but was Armenian Orthodox/OO as well).
You also have people such as
SGM4HIM (who
isn't here as much anymore and missed) and
Yoseft - a
Messianic Jew yet WITHOUT a Messianic icon. The list goes on. And if you go to
UMJC/MJAA-Based Messianic Judaism group, you'll see multiple people who've all participated in the Messianic Forum here - some of them gone due to issues of life they had to take care of, some of them posting in other forums and others who are still here.
On what my experience is, I had talked to the mods years ago when I had the Messianic Icon but was involved in the Orthodox forum too - they knew where I stood and noted that as long as you verified with mods BEFORE doing things, it was fine. And the people in the Orthodox Forum were well aware of my background in the Messianic world (as all it took was using the search engine to see my postings in the forum on Torah, Biblical Festivals/Feasts, Sabbath, etc.) - I was very open to others on the matter as I am here and they knew how I worked with Jewish people often and attended a Messianic Jewish Synagogue, even though our leaning was toward that in the Church which was Eastern Christian, Middle-Eastern or focused on Jews expressing Messianic Jewish culture in Liturgical/Apostolic Christianity. And last April, I changed my icon to Oriental Orthodox - but kept the term "Messianic" in my signature alongside my Bio (which always identified me as OO and Messianic - as Oriental Orthodoxy has the best expression of Jewish heritage, I felt comfortable doing so ...as
shared here.
As others chose to make it an issue at one point, Tishri came in last year officially note what was already in practice for multiple others on THIS forum - as well as requesting for me to put "MJ Synagogue" in the signature for others who either didn't understand or chose not to read it. But as far as having dual identification, it should be noted that i
t was NEVER a random ad-hoc rule change since several mods noted the same thing years before.
Messianics have always been those who also identify with those in the Christian world as well - we even have a forum for that purpose known as
Bridge Builders - a
"place of acceptance and fellowship for folks who are seeking to be that bridge between the Church and the Jewish Nation, or who may be seeking help in building a bridge within their own family , struggling to live between a chasm of two faiths." The Messianic Movement in many places has never advocated that one cannot identify as a Christian if they are Messianic - and part of the ongoing battle the movement has is that there are elements within it that are devoted to being against any/every thing that is Christian and those doing so feel that they alone are what defines "Messianic Judaism".....
But here, the focus is not meant to be that. The forum itself - being a Faith Group at Christian Forums - was never designed nor meant to be divorced from anything labeled "Christian" - and this is something the Messianic Jewish movement has noted for ages as well as CF when it came to the umbrella of Christianity that all faith groups are unde
People coming here do so because they value the Jewish people/seek to reach out to them (as the SOP noted more explictly when it was the stance of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America - back when I first came around 4-5yrs ago - more discussed in
#15and
#48 or
#69and #48 or /
here in
#586 ) - and they are here because they value honoring/celebrating God's Torah as it concerns Torah Observant Jews and Gentiles together. Some here are under the impression (sadly) that a disagreement with their preference for Torah Observance/where they are at means others don't do Torah Observance - but Messianic Judaism has always understood how there are differing levels of observance (the heart/motives above all being what God looks at) - and thus, the goal has been to be as flexible as possible with the wide range of expressions in Messianic Judaism when here.
All of that is said to again make the point that there has never been double-standard...AND for your own review, you can investigate the threads addressing it such as
Is This Forum Closed To Christians? on the issue of identification or the thread entitled
Icons and the last few years on CF which is where Tishri actually noted what she did to clarify for others not aware of what was practiced throughout CF..... or
here among other places.
All that is to say is that it's only a Double-Standard if you claim to be a Christian but have ZERO VALUE for the Messianic Community - or have chosen to be against it. But if you're a Christian who also is involved in a Messianic fellowship or have consistently identified with Messianic Jewish culture, all one needs to do is give verification of it.....and that's that.
Sometimes, if a person had a Messianic Icon but said they valued the Catholic Church/worked in it, there were moments other Messianics claimed they couldn't post - and that was also addressed due to the fact that Messianic Judaism itself was never just
Hope that helps clarify and I pray that what I said isn't taken the wrong way. I simply felt I needed to share in light of how it seemed you were exclusively focusing on me as if I was the ONLY ONE somehow given special privileges when it was never the case. I don't have "free passes" on anything nor am I anymore "special" than you are - I just happen to know what the rules are and took time to ask as well as keep them in mind whenever others may have chosen to speak on them without knowing fully.
I just happen to be very prolific and here more so than the many others who've been here over the years like myself.
Shalom