At least they didn't throw us in prison or burn us at the stake.
True. I found it quite interesting that the groups that have historically developed the theological arguments for separation of church and state because of having had the force of law used against them in this way would feel like that was not enough of a commonality to allow us to fellowship together.
In the process, though, I learned that quite a lot of Baptists are backing away from that theological position. I'm not sure how they can continue to hold a number of other Baptist distinctives if this one goes away, but it was a point of dialogue I found among the most interesting. I think theological distinctives of denominations are possibly fading away at this time in Christian history, and I find that a very interesting topic of discussion among groups that share some, but not all, of these historical theological distinctives.
Perhaps this group should be merged with the Baptists, and conservative Anabaptists can play consistency police, holding Baptists accountable for their claim to an Anabaptist lineage.
Perhaps. Perhaps a bit of that happened before.
That would of course leave no forum for a respectful and sympathetic discussion of Anabaptist distinctives, but I recognize that Conservative Anabaptists and those seeking in those quarters have, for a variety of reasons, shunned (or been pushed out of) Christian Forums.
I have a couple of different responses to this.
First, why do you think conservative Anabaptists have shunned (or felt pushed out of) CF?
Do you think there is a chance to build a viable community of conservative Anabaptists here, or do you think these reasons will make it impossible?
Second, there is one way I can think of that there could be a place for the kind of discussion you want and also the kind of broader discussion others are interested in. In fact, it was proposed before the B/A split. The two groups could be combined into one Congregation forum, where all kinds of discussion would be allowed, and the larger Congregation could request subforums that would be intended for smaller, more exclusive types of discussions. The Charismatic/Pentecostal forum is organized this way.
I don't know if this kind of organization would satisfy everyone, but you might want to think about whether it would satisfy you. A subforum for conservative Anabaptsits, or just Anabaptists in general, one for Baptists only (or even Southern Baptists, Reformed Baptists, etc.), one for Friends, one for Brethren, etc. might be helpful. There would still also be a common area, where those who would like to interact with more distantly related groups could do so. Personally, I would have no objection to that. I find the ecumenical dialogue between related groups the most interesting and stimulating. Others prefer to be more sectarian.
I didn't intend this thread to be more than a thought-provoking question to stimulate discussion about what kind of interaction we would like, evaluating past experience, and thinking about what ways this forum could or should change now that CF has made some major changes.
You have decided what this forum is/isn't, and are now dismissing what Crazy Liz is saying because it doesn't fit your agenda. (IMHO) 
