Thank you Anastasia,
That was certainly amicable of you! The subject of not wanting "outsiders" has always perplexed me because the truth is the truth regardless of nationality or gender. Not too mention if "outsiders" are in darkness, Christ has commanded that the truth be presented to them. Has He not?
In Him
I hope I made the point that it's not that we don't want outsiders. Everyone is welcome to post in fellowship.
The situation is if you look at the forum list - there are MANY forums and they have different rules. Some allow debate. Some forbid it. Some allow speculative and controversial theologies. Some don't. Some are intended to discuss only a narrow range of topics. Some are not for discussing theology at all. And so on. The site owners, staff, advisors, etc. have done their best to create spaces where people could find areas that promote the kinds of discussion that suit them.
This particular area - the congregational forums - has a section for Baptists, one for Lutherans, another for Methodists, one for Catholics, and so on. People can discuss, ask questions, and fellowship within their own group without having someone who is diametrically opposed on some point argue everything they say. We all need a peaceful haven sometimes.
So the site rule for all of these congregational forums are no debate, no teaching against the beliefs of the "home" group. The Orthodox alone (I think it's only us) don't want to stifle discussion, so we have a place made just for people who disagree with us and want to talk about it. We're ok with that.
The other situation is, these are "rules". While we hope to be very open with those who disagree with us (sometimes arguments do happen and they go on for pages and no one here reports them) ... it can be that the mods notice something going on against the rules and people can get points against them or even banned. So we as ambassadors try to head things off so no one gets in trouble. Even if we Orthodox allow it, technically the site doesn't.
Most folks don't need to worry too much about all of that. Most groups on CF do welcome visitors. I've posted in many of them in fellowship.
And of course we have many areas where all Christians are welcome to come together and debate. And areas where they can come together and debate is forbidden. Like I said, all kinds.
