What should happen to all the atheists?

[Non sequitur]

In your opinion, do you think atheists should be allowed to post at all on CF?

Just curious.

Post = post/reply/start thread

Also, plz no atheists vote

 

[Hank77]

They should be able to post wherever the administrators of this site say they can.

 

[jayem]

As a discussion forum, it wouldn't be interesting. If you only associate with people who think and believe as you do, then you don't learn anything. You expand your horizons by exposure to different people, ideas, and viewpoints.

And anyway, if you're a Christian, excluding atheists is unbiblical. Jesus charged his followers to interact with non-believers and share the gospel.

 

[Non sequitur]

Thanks for the input.

 

[RaymondG]

Technically the owner of the site should and can do what they want.. however, if I were the owner, I would want every voice to be heard equally. The only reason I see to restrict them is if we fear that their truth will out shine the Gospel and lead people away......which I don't think is possible.

The restriction I find the most disheartening, however, is the restriction of certain Christian views. There are certain things Christian believe that we are not allowed to voice here as well. Maybe that is a better focal point than the voice of people who don't believe there is a God.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

In your opinion, do you think atheists should be allowed to post at all on CF?

Just curious.

Post = post/reply/start thread

Also, plz no atheists vote

I think the present set up is sufficient.

 

[PloverWing]

I chose "open the flood gates". I enjoy discussions with people of other viewpoints (including atheists), and some of the most interesting discussions I've had on CF have been started by atheists.

We all have some basic courtesies we follow on CF. In particular, there are forums where we're not supposed to post "anti" comments -- no anti-Catholic stuff in the Catholic forums, no anti-Presbyterian stuff in the Presbyterian forum, etc. I'd want to continue to have these safe forums for various groups.

But assuming everybody's following those rules of courtesy, I'd be happy to see atheists posting in all of the forums, including the ones that are currently "Christians only".

 

[Fireinfolding]

Personally, I wouldnt refer a new believer here to get built up in the faith and thats just on the basis of believer posters (not athiests) however, athiests dont make this place any worse.

 

[Non sequitur]

So far nobody has wanted to "ban" atheists.

That's nice to hear!

 

[Fireinfolding]

So far nobody has wanted to "ban" atheists.

That's nice to hear!

What people want and what they say are sometimes limited.
Like the like buttons, there are more times I would click a disagree or dislike, but the option to do so isnt there (because people dont like disagreement buttons) they would rather contend, and for those who would rather not contend not saying anything doesnt always equal what they might really want.

 

[Dirk1540]

The current set up allows for several different types of Christians. The ones who love the non-Christian/Christian war zone sections, the ones who go back & forth and dabble in both (or even just need a break from the non-Christian/Christian war zone at times), the Christians who don't enjoy the confrontational flavor of a war zone period, be it against other Christians or non-Christians. And the Christians who enjoy an inner Christian war zone section. Opening the floodgates turns every section into the Christian/non-Christian war zone section.

I was also told that years ago this was tried and that's exactly what happened, and many Christians left.

 

[Non sequitur]

What people want and what they say are sometimes limited.
Like the like buttons, there are more times I would click a disagree or dislike, but the option to do so isnt there (because people dont like disagreement buttons) they would rather contend, and for those who would rather not contend not saying anything doesnt always equal what they might really want.

I would hope anyone would be honest in what they wanted.

 

[Fireinfolding]

I would hope anyone would be honest in what they wanted.

You dont always have to express your opinions to hold an honest one, and sometimes its better to keep what you think to yourself, but that doesnt make you dishonest. Using the buttons (for example) make it impossible by them to be openly truthful anyway, and elsewhere the increasing censorship doesnt seek what is truthful but asks in order to trap in some way.

 

[Radagast]

Technically the owner of the site should and can do what they want.. however, if I were the owner, I would want every voice to be heard equally. The only reason I see to restrict them is if we fear that their truth will out shine the Gospel and lead people away......which I don't think is possible.

Christian Forums has been around a long, long time (I joined 14 years ago, and it had already been around for a fair while back then). The policies Christian Forums now has are the result of years of experience and experimentation.

Most people who come to Christian Forums are Christians (as the name suggests), and they come here primarily to interact with other Christians.

Opening up "Christians Only" areas to non-Christians inevitably results in serious conversations, held from a Christian point of view, getting constantly derailed. Indeed, for some purposes, it is necessary to restrict things to a specific denominational group (as someone has already noted).

 

[Radagast]

Also, plz no atheists vote

I think you've already had atheists vote.

If you didn't want atheists to vote, you shouldn't have put this in an area open to atheists, you should have asked someone to put it up in a Christians-only area.

 

[Non sequitur]

I think you've already had atheists vote.

If you didn't want atheists to vote, you shouldn't have put this in an area open to atheists, you should have asked someone to put it up in a Christians-only area.

I'd hoped they would try an honor the integrity of the poll.

 

[Radagast]

I'd hoped they would try an honor the integrity of the poll.

Oh, you're an optimist! I hadn't realised that.

 

[Non sequitur]

Oh, you're an optimist! I hadn't realised that.

 

[Dave RP]

In your opinion, do you think atheists should be allowed to post at all on CF?

Just curious.

Post = post/reply/start thread

Also, plz no atheists vote

Perhaps a more interesting question might be WHY do atheists come on here and post?

Personally I joined because I am in a relationship with a committed Christian, and I just wanted to see what views other Christians had, and how they show their faith. I think a measured discussion between people with different views is interesting and i hope that Christians and those of other faiths or none get something out of it.

I think it is reasonable that there are areas not open tp atheists or non Christians, and the current set up is fine.

 

[Uber Genius]

In your opinion, do you think atheists should be allowed to post at all on CF?

Just curious.

Post = post/reply/start thread

Also, plz no atheists vote

I have a novel idea.

Atheist and Theist alike study to understand the claims of theism broadly and atheism and when they can pass a basic test demonstrating justification of their position they earn the right to way in.

Likewise a simple logical fallacy test would have to be passed.

The quality of rhetoric would improve immensely.

As it stands, with the overwhelming plethora of influence from intellects like Bill Maher, and The New Atheists, not to mention the creators of Zeitgeist, we should ban Atheists from even defining the word "Atheism," let alone haranguing Christians who are intellectually unable to crap-detect the pseudo-intellectual manipulation of the infidel community at large out on CF.

There are great arguments on both sides. And sites online that provide serious philosophical debates with staggering intellects like Plantinga or guys like Graham Oppy. But they are so rare here at CF as to err to the side of not allowing propaganda to scuttle the faith of intellectually immature Christians. It seems that the moderators have wisely limited that propaganda to a few areas.