Out of control

[sentipente]

We have really gone off the deep end when the gatekeepers report my threads in the Bible Study forum in which I only post texts from the Bible on the ground that this violates their rule that only registered teachers can start Bible studies. Whoever said legalism was dead needs to pay me a visit.

 

[freeindeed2]

Yes, they took control of that forum too and made enought rules that not only is it not a 'Bible Study' forum, but certain types of SDA's won't be able to even post there without getting reported, let alone start a thread. It's about control.

 

[sentipente]

Even worse is the fact that the mods have totally ignored Rule 5.3 The starting of threads and study topics in this sub-forum is limited to Seventh-day Adventists.

Clearly the rules see a difference between a thread and a study topic. I did not start a study topic but the mods insist that it must be.

 

[StormyOne]

that is what generally happens when folks are obsessed with keeping "rules." However it gives them peace of mind knowing that they have "controlled" any information that they have not approved of..... it is comforting to know that God is not afraid of my questions even though some of his followers are...

 

[NightEternal]

Four solid pages of SDA post reports. How completely retarded.

 

[Sophia7]

that is what generally happens when folks are obsessed with keeping "rules." However it gives them peace of mind knowing that they have "controlled" any information that they have not approved of..... it is comforting to know that God is not afraid of my questions even though some of his followers are...

Those who claim to be His followers shouldn't be afraid of questions.

 

[StormyOne]

Those who claim to be His followers shouldn't be afraid of questions.

true, however a conundrum presents itself... are those who are afraid of questions really following the God who is not afraid of questions, or are they following a God of their own imagination?

 

[woobadooba]

true, however a conundrum presents itself... are those who are afraid of questions really following the God who is not afraid of questions, or are they following a God of their own imagination?

Could it be possible that they really aren't afraid of questions? Maybe the questions that are being asked are just not being asked in the right way, or maybe they are the wrong kind of questions altogether. Have you ever thought about that?

 

[StormyOne]

Could it be possible that they really aren't afraid of questions? Maybe the questions that are being asked are just not being asked in the right way, or maybe they are the wrong kind of questions altogether. Have you ever thought about that?

there are no 'wrong" questions in my opinion. There are questions that are asked that people choose to or not to answer. It has been my experience that some evade questions that they are uncomfortable with, don't have an answer to, or feel that the answer is obvious thus no response is needed.....

 

[woobadooba]

there are no 'wrong" questions in my opinion. There are questions that are asked that people choose to or not to answer. It has been my experience that some evade questions that they are uncomfortable with, don't have an answer to, or feel that the answer is obvious thus no response is needed.....

If a question is asked out of malice it is not really a question, but a subtle attack.

Moreover, if a question is asked that has more to do with a member than with the topic of the thread that is in discussion, then that too is the wrong kind of question to ask.

It's an issue of respect, Stormy.

Just because a person does not answer a question that doesn't mean that person is afraid of questions.

Granted, there are those that would rather not have their faith questioned, because they don't want to think outside of the box for fear of what they might discover.

However, it is possible to ask a person the wrong kind of questions, or to ask the right questions, but in the wrong way.

It would be best to question our motives before asking questions, to see if we are really asking questions out of love, or out of malice, rather than to be hasty in assuming that people are afraid of being questioned because they refuse to answer to them.

 

[StormyOne]

as I said, in my opinion there are no wrong questions..... a malicious question (whatever that might look like) can still be answered. If its an issue of respect then people will believe what they believe regardless of how the question is asked or answered.

Questioning motives assumes that a person will be able to assess if another person is being genuine or not. I don't know that anyone can do that via the internet.

 

[sentipente]

Questioning motives assumes that a person will be able to assess if another person is being genuine or not.

I think this has been our biggest enemy here.

 

[Mankin]

From the example senti gave, it wasn't a "disrespectful question". It was just the people there out of control.

 

[Mankin]

as I said, in my opinion there are no wrong questions..... a malicious question (whatever that might look like) can still be answered. If its an issue of respect then people will believe what they believe regardless of how the question is asked or answered.

Questioning motives assumes that a person will be able to assess if another person is being genuine or not. I don't know that anyone can do that via the internet.

agreed.

 

[sentipente]

Woob, oversensitivity is not a normal state. You don't complain because the iodine burns and claim that it must be fire.

 

[woobadooba]

Questioning motives assumes that a person will be able to assess if another person is being genuine or not. I don't know that anyone can do that via the internet.

So then why would you question their motives for not answering a question, and thus assume them to be fearful of answering questions simply because they didn't answer yours?

It seems that you are trying to play a double standard here.

 

[StormyOne]

So then why would you question their motives for not answering a question, and thus assume them to be fearful of answering questions simply because they didn't answer yours?

It seems that you are trying to play a double standard here.

what you said is not what I said.... I said:

there are no 'wrong" questions in my opinion. There are questions that are asked that people choose to or not to answer. It has been my experience that some evade questions that they are uncomfortable with, don't have an answer to, or feel that the answer is obvious thus no response is needed.....

Likewise no where have I suggested that people don't answer my questions. Originally I stated this:

that is what generally happens when folks are obsessed with keeping "rules." However it gives them peace of mind knowing that they have "controlled" any information that they have not approved of..... it is comforting to know that God is not afraid of my questions even though some of his followers are.

some of the people who follow God are afraid of questions. Or would you suggest that everyone who follows God embraces being asked questions?

 

[woobadooba]

Stormy, but how do you know they are afraid of your questions? That is my point. You seem to think they are afraid of your questions simply because they don't want to answer them. But there very well could be other reasons why. Have you even taken the time to consider that?

In any case, I am not going to get into this with you. You can either learn something from what I have shared with you, or you can treat it as though it were worthless.

The choice is yours.

Just keep in mind that us younger folk are well capable of teaching a thing or two to the elderly, you know? We aren't as intellectually inferior as one might think us to be.

 

[StormyOne]

Stormy, but how do you know they are afraid of your questions? That is my point. You seem to think they are afraid of your questions simply because they don't want to answer them. But there very well could be other reasons why. Have you even taken the time to consider that?

In any case, I am not going to get into this with you. You can either learn something from what I have shared with you, or you can treat it as though it were worthless.

The choice is yours.

Just keep in mind that us younger folk are well capable of teaching a thing or two to the elderly, you know? We aren't as intellectually inferior as one might think us to be.

Thank you for sharing what you felt compelled to share, the conclusions are interesting though not necessarily correct. Take care....

 

[RC_NewProtestants]

Stormy, but how do you know they are afraid of your questions? That is my point.

I can't answer for Stormy but what I have found by experience is that there are certain people who really dislike any questions that make them think about other possibilities then they are used to. As you go to Sabbath School classes you usually can easily see those people in fact they will frequent themselves to a particular class or teacher. They will then only discuss the things that are within their doctrinal traditions.

Now on forums you will see these same kind attitude in some people when they ignore reasonable questions or statements. They will ignore what is said and point to something else that agrees with their doctrinal traditions. A good example was the Kellogg is a pantheist idea that was discussed a while ago. (I will post a thread on the subject soon but I have to put up the documents on my website first) When pointed out what Kellogg said in context versus what the critical books which take out a small bit of material from the much larger whole and then say see this means he is a pantheist. In the Kellogg example the other person simply ignored the larger section of the Kellogg statement and pointed to some other places which agreed with his tradition. Instead of dealing with the specific they choose to point out other general statements that they think agree with their tradition.

That is how you know people don't want to hear your questions, because they ignore dealing with the specifics of the questions and try to avoid the very subject being discussed. Of course there is always going to be the people who ask foolish questions and they are ignored but is usually seen by the context of the conversation and the way a question is asked. So there will always be other questions that are not asked in sincerity or may be meant to belittle someone etc. Through experience people usually can identify such things. But as with any conversation written or spoken there is a good deal of interpretation done on both sides. You will never avoid the process of interpretation and making judgments the best you can do is develop a reasonable method of making those interpretations and judgments. That is why I so frequently encourage people to work on their critical thinking skills.