Christians, your feelings about non-Christians on CF?

Robban · Apr 17, 2019

cloudyday2 said:
There are some non-Christians members on CF who have no interest in converting to Christianity but enjoy the conversations here. As a non-Christian member, I sometimes feel that the many moderators and members would like me to go away. I bought a lifetime membership several years ago, but I wouldn't want to hang around at CF thinking I am adding value to the conversations when maybe I am only an irritant. It is easy to misunderstand or overlook the feelings of others when typing on keyboards.

The forums where non-Christians can participate are called "outreach" forums, and I suppose that "outreach" might not include conversations with people who have shown no interest in conversion over years of membership.

So I was curious what Christians members honestly feel about that.

Rubbish cloudy, you are a thread maker, you have the nack.

Myself I would not convert to anything.

I am often on a website that deals with boats, engines and parts, though very tempted at times,

I have to remember, I already have a boat,

So why visit often that website?

Intresting, that,s about it.

Nearest I can come.

RichardY · Apr 17, 2019

@Robban You're going to need a bigger boat?

Robban · Apr 17, 2019

RichardY said:
@Robban You're going to need a bigger boat?

No,funny you should ask that though,

just last week was a certain boat that I would always loved to own, for sale, I know the seller, boy was it difficult to get it out of my head.

"Nope, you have a boat."

And it keeps me out of mischief.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

As long as people are honest about their views and beliefs, and abide by rules for each sub-division, it's all good to me.

RichardY · Apr 17, 2019

@Robban
I suppose if things are going well, best to keep with what you have, although might be the wrong way of looking at things. The curses in Deuteronomy are pretty extreme . After the verse about "blessed be the increase of your cattle". Things go the way of, towards the ending of "The Raiders of the Lost Ark". I've heard that the God in the Old Testament is different from The New.

bekkilyn · Apr 17, 2019

cloudyday2 said:
There are some non-Christians members on CF who have no interest in converting to Christianity but enjoy the conversations here. As a non-Christian member, I sometimes feel that the many moderators and members would like me to go away. I bought a lifetime membership several years ago, but I wouldn't want to hang around at CF thinking I am adding value to the conversations when maybe I am only an irritant. It is easy to misunderstand or overlook the feelings of others when typing on keyboards.

The forums where non-Christians can participate are called "outreach" forums, and I suppose that "outreach" might not include conversations with people who have shown no interest in conversion over years of membership.

So I was curious what Christians members honestly feel about that.

Sometimes the non-Christians provide the only sanity to be found on these forums, so my vote is for "stay".

Robban · Apr 17, 2019

RichardY said:
@Robban
I suppose if things are going well, best to keep with what you have, although might be the wrong way of looking at things. The curses in Deuteronomy are pretty extreme . After the verse about "blessed be the increase of your cattle". Things go the way of, towards the ending of "The Raiders of the Lost Ark". I've heard that the God in the Old Testament is different from The New.

Is that a film you are referring to?

I don,t know much about films, I don,t even have a TV.

RichardY · Apr 17, 2019

@Robban
Indiana Jones "Raiders of the lost ark". A Steven Spielberg film, part where they open the ark of the covenant and all melt. Seemed a bit like some of the curses from the Bible for deviating, from the commandments.

Deuteronomy
28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

Starts off fairly pleasantly.

cloudyday2 · Apr 17, 2019

Apologetic_Warrior said:
As long as people are honest about their views and beliefs, and abide by rules for each sub-division, it's all good to me.

The rules of CF are another important issue. You probably don't pay attention to the rules constraining non-Christians, because they don't affect you, but they have become stricter and stricter just in the past year. A year or two ago, I could click the "Like" or "Agree" or "Prayers" button on posts in sub-forums where I could not otherwise express my support. Then CF took away that capability. I was also allowed to post questions in the denominational sub-forums as long as I was respectful. So if I had a question about Catholicism, I could ask that question in the Catholic sub-forum. But CF took that capability away now. Just yesterday I saw a new member introduction thread, and I posted my welcome. The moderator deleted my posts and moved the thread to a Christians-only sub-forum without any explanation. I know the moderators have a difficult job, and I try not to take these incidents personally.

Are non-Christian members actually causing enough trouble to justify this ever-stricter regulation?

Robban · Apr 17, 2019

RichardY said:
@Robban
Indiana Jones "Raiders of the lost ark". A Steven Spielberg film, part where they open the ark of the covenant and all melt. Seemed a bit like some of the curses from the Bible for deviating, from the commandments.

Deuteronomy
28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

Starts off fairly pleasantly.

Well, so here 77years later with ups and downs,

What is there to say?

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

cloudyday2 said:
The rules of CF are another important issue. You probably don't pay attention to the rules constraining non-Christians, because they don't affect you, but they have become stricter and stricter just in the past year. A year or two ago, I could click the "Like" or "Agree" or "Prayers" button on posts in sub-forums where I could not otherwise express my support. Then CF took away that capability. I was also allowed to post questions in the denominational sub-forums as long as I was respectful. So if I had a question about Catholicism, I could ask that question in the Catholic sub-forum. But CF took that capability away now. Just yesterday I saw a new member introduction thread, and I posted my welcome. The moderator deleted my posts and moved the thread to a Christians-only sub-forum without any explanation. I know the moderators have a difficult job, and I try not to take these incidents personally.

Are non-Christian members actually causing enough trouble to justify this ever-stricter regulation?

Sorry, but I am not permitted to make public mention of these things. Trust me, it's not as one-sided as you might think.

cloudyday2 · Apr 17, 2019

Apologetic_Warrior said:
Sorry, but I am not permitted to make public mention of these things. Trust me, it's not as one-sided as you might think.

O.k. I feel a better knowing that these changes are not an expression of generalized hostility towards non-Christians even if I don't know the actual reasons.

Occams Barber · Apr 17, 2019

Albion said:
My feeling is that it is fine so long as the people who are here only to attack Christianity do not post in forums for people who are seriously interested in the faith and might, if questions were answered to their satisfaction, consider Christianity for themselves or at least have doubts about some belief or practice resolved.

You may not be aware of it but there are now very few forums where non-Christians can actually post on CF- the system won't allow it. There is now, for instance, a separate Christians Only Discussion/Debate Forum apart from the general access version where non-Christians can post.

While non-Christian access has always been restricted, it was dramatically reduced a few months back when access to denominational forums was blocked to non-Christians. I found this a little amusing since the major problem in the denominational forums seemed to be coming from other Christian posters.

Overall I think you'll find that non-Christian traffic on CF is very low and concentrated around the open access versions of the Science type forums.
OB

mark kennedy · Apr 17, 2019

cloudyday2 said:
There are some non-Christians members on CF who have no interest in converting to Christianity but enjoy the conversations here. As a non-Christian member, I sometimes feel that the many moderators and members would like me to go away. I bought a lifetime membership several years ago, but I wouldn't want to hang around at CF thinking I am adding value to the conversations when maybe I am only an irritant. It is easy to misunderstand or overlook the feelings of others when typing on keyboards.

The forums where non-Christians can participate are called "outreach" forums, and I suppose that "outreach" might not include conversations with people who have shown no interest in conversion over years of membership.

So I was curious what Christians members honestly feel about that.

I spent a great deal of time on common forums, creation/evolution specifically. It's a troller magnet, casual discussion focused on deriding anything remotely creationist. Apologetics thread have always dodge city at high noon and rarely do formal Christian apologetics see the light of day. I have always liked having an opportunity to discuss those things with more secular orientated people but the comments get increasingly derogatory. For Christians interested in such conversation I say enter at your own risk.

bekkilyn · Apr 17, 2019

I personally wish the denominational forums would go back to the way they were before. I don't understand why the rules for each forum wouldn't have been sufficient to prevent abuse from either Christian or non-Christian sources. Why shouldn't non-Christians who may be interested in becoming Christian and/or particular denominations be prevented from interacting with the very people who could be helpful to them and their questions?

dzheremi · Apr 17, 2019

If I'm understanding the prohibitions correctly, I agree with bekkilyn. Heck, I was shocked when I found out that Mormons were not allowed to create threads. Not sure if that's still the case, but it's hard to facilitate discussion if one party is prevented from beginning it, and the others who might participate therefore don't know that the non-Christian is looking to have that discussion. I may be a Christian (well, I may be a lot of things), but I'm not a mind-reader. Plus, I could understand excluding certain viewpoints on a theological basis (e.g., the already existing standard that to be considered Christian, one must assent to the Nicene Creed), in the sense that you do not want this messageboard to become a soapbox for the violation of the basics of the Christian faith, but not everything a non-Christian says or wants to say is necessarily going to be that anyway.

I dunno. I guess CF works in mysterious ways sometimes.

Apologetic_Warrior · Apr 17, 2019

dzheremi said:
If I'm understanding the prohibitions correctly, I agree with bekkilyn. Heck, I was shocked when I found out that Mormons were not allowed to create threads. Not sure if that's still the case, but it's hard to facilitate discussion if one party is prevented from beginning it, and the others who might participate therefore don't know that the non-Christian is looking to have that discussion. I may be a Christian (well, I may be a lot of things), but I'm not a mind-reader. Plus, I could understand excluding certain viewpoints on a theological basis (e.g., the already existing standard that to be considered Christian, one must assent to the Nicene Creed), in the sense that you do not want this messageboard to become a soapbox for the violation of the basics of the Christian faith, but not everything a non-Christian says or wants to say is necessarily going to be that anyway.

I dunno. I guess CF works in mysterious ways sometimes.

I am guessing here, but at times, as poster traffic changes, some changes may be necessary for the overall health of the overall purpose of the forums. These changes can help manage groups who may be using CF in ways to overwhelm the rest in various ways. It would be discouraging to any Christian to come here and walk away thinking they've walked into a trap, the Mormon Forums. I try to roll with the changes and play the long game so to speak.

cloudyday2 · Apr 18, 2019

dzheremi said:
Heck, I was shocked when I found out that Mormons were not allowed to create threads.

I didn't know about that restriction on Mormons. There seems to be a special animosity towards Mormons on CF resulting from the similarities between Christianity and Mormonism rather than the differences. Many Christians view Mormonism as a dangerous pseudo-Christian cult that must be attacked at every opportunity. I haven't seen much from the Mormon members lately, and maybe this is a new policy that explains their disappearance? (I don't know how long this restriction on Mormon threads has been in place.)

I also noticed that the Muslim members mostly disappeared a couple of years ago. In the case of Islam, many seemed to have a chip on their shoulders and behaved trollishly due to the geopolitics of the aftermath of 9/11, but there were also Muslim members who were friendly

usexpat97 · Apr 18, 2019

Some of the Muslim trolls might have been in fact not Muslim.

Niblo · Apr 18, 2019

Robban said:
Is that a film you are referring to?

I don,t know much about films, I don,t even have a TV.

'We're going to need a bigger boat!' Wasn't that 'Jaws'?

Christians, your feelings about non-Christians on CF?

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