Good work Lucid and Darkelf.... Hopefully more will join in on the conversation. Thanks guys.

Originally posted by Lucid Lunacy

Originally posted by jimbo999
but it's rarely if ever used for anything more than a pulpit for boring diatribes on scripture and biblical quotes

That's the bulk of what I observe from my experience on ATS, and I have been reading ATS for 4-5 years.

In addition to that, the bulk of those scriptures and biblical quotes aren't to further the thread topic but to condemn and judge imho.

agreed 1000%.

i've tried fighting this nonsense a few times here, and the mods even created a new forum for biblical soapboxing in order to save this forum, but to no avail it seems...

J.

The previous posters have IMHO put the finger on the sore spot: the apparent impossibility for some people to avoid being purely a missionary for their particular vision tends to clutter open discussion to no end.

Instead it would be nice if we could just chuck all these different views(viable or not, religious or atheist, religious or agnostic) in a big tupperware box, and try to build something out of it. Views and ideas, can be used as some sort of Philosophical LEGO. Maybe that should be the basis for all discussion: Mind-LEGO, out of wich one can build all sort of new views and ideas.

Enjoy diversity I`d say..

Peace

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS

Enjoy diversity I`d say..

Peace

Hell I'm going to give you applause anyhow even before you respond, if only for your last statement.

As a Moderator here in CiR, you have no idea how happy it would make me to see this happen, where people talked instead of trying to convert.

Personally, I think there may be many paths, all going in the same direction. But like children calling in the dark woods, each here is convinced their own path is the only one that will lead to the meadow where Grandmother's house stands. And in the louder and louder assertions, only confusion and tension increase. Reason tells us that many paths must lead from any forest.

Long live the revolution!

The way I look at it, if you aren't really a believer in anything, you will be
un-involved with spirituality.
That is a choice. Your choice.
I think the rules for what constitutes CIR topics hold up for themselves, if mods apply it.
If I or anyone else WANTS to talk about their thoughts and feelings(According to the T&C), then why would you censor?

Originally posted by Clearskies
The way I look at it, if you aren't really a believer in anything, you will be
un-involved with spirituality.

That's a correct statement. But those 'un-involved' people have the same right and justification to speak their mind in those spiritual threads.

If I or anyone else WANTS to talk about their thoughts and feelings(According to the T&C), then why would you censor?

But is it always your thoughts and your feelings?

I really don't mean to target you, but to bring up a reference to elucidate my point in general:

There was a time not long ago when you posted a response to me, that didn't include any of your thoughts or feelings, didn't address the thread topic, but instead just contained 11 scriptures for me to read. So you see, to some of us, the bible-thumpers are not always sharing their thoughts and feelings, rather they often put The Bible in our faces, as if that was the answer to every question.

[edit on 083131p://14u28 by Lucid Lunacy]

Osiris, this is an excellent thread; I commend you sir.

I will admit, however, that I myself have been guilty at times of the very thing you decry. I will also admit that I am ashamed of this. Religion is a very personal thing to many people, and we should all realize this and crouch our posts to reflect an understanding of such. After all, are we not all searching for the same thing: the truth?

There's really not much more I can add, save an agreement with Lucid Lunacy. To attempt to force one's beliefs on another, whether by coercion, repetition, force, or threats, is the very definition of ineffectualness, not to mention offensive.

TheRedneck

I urge anyone who may be lurking and contemplating posting in this thread to please do so. I don't have an undying urge to keep my thread going for eternity, but I believe these are issues that need to be discussed. Not much is going to happen unless fingers start tapping on keyboards. Lets keep the lines of communication open.

I love discussing different religions because in my attempts to find my God, I had to read and learn from all that is out there, but when it comes to actually discussing ideas found in various religions with an open mind, the conversation always tends to get into a "my religion is right/yours is wrong" argument. I think that is what that the OP is trying to tell us to avoid.

We should be proud of our respective faiths, but we should not allow our faiths to blindly speak for us. We should be willing to disscuss all questions of our faith with the "perspective" of an outsider and not take every comment as personal criticism of our religion or faith.