Early on in this forum, I was on the Morman bashing band wagon. It was really bad, if you are fairly new. It died down, then came back in full force several months later. In that time, I changed my behavior about bashing a particular denomination or religion. I maintain certain views, but do my best to keep them to myself. Other people conduct themselves the way they want to.
The recent Catholic bashing ... well I would like to say sorry to Catholicswho have beenhurt. I have tried to ask questions in order to gain some understanding. Since that happens within in some threads that contain bashing, and since I may not always be eloquent about my questions, maybe they come off as bashing too. Sorry about that. I still have many unanswered questions, but I'm pretty timid about asking right now. I just pop into threads that already have a particular topic going and interject my questions if they fit.
I admit to having a hard time tempering my lack of understanding against frustration and lashing out. There's no need for the negative behavior, but I think it's part of human nature.
Ironically, the "bloodiest" and most hurtful debates that I have participated in have been between pretestant denominations. Anyone recall threads about instumental music, or denominations? How about spiritual gifts?
Part of that is my fault, for not having the time needed to "police" the threads properly. If anyone sees a post that needs attention, please don't hesitate to pm me.
That being said, I don't plan to send out warnings for every disagreement--this board would cease to exist in short order. We can all (myself included) work on being a bit more civil in our disagreements though.
This board requires a thick skin, a sense of humor, and a lot of patience--ironically, the same things a good Christian should posess. I don't think anyone has been dog-piled any worse than I have, at least not without the problem being taken care of. I sure wouldn't expect any member here to have to tolerate any more than I will tolerate myself.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that, for the most part, these disagreements stem out of concern, not hate--although it can be hard to tell the difference on a computer screen.
Thanks for the reminder Eto.
Chad
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"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
Part of that is my fault, for not having the time needed to "police" the threads properly. If anyone sees a post that needs attention, please don't hesitate to pm me.
That being said, I don't plan to send out warnings for every disagreement--this board would cease to exist in short order. We can all (myself included) work on being a bit more civil in our disagreements though.
This board requires a thick skin, a sense of humor, and a lot of patience--ironically, the same things a good Christian should posess. I don't think anyone has been dog-piled any worse than I have, at least not without the problem being taken care of. I sure wouldn't expect any member here to have to tolerate any more than I will tolerate myself.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that, for the most part, these disagreements stem out of concern, not hate--although it can be hard to tell the difference on a computer screen.
Thanks for the reminder Eto.
Chad
Well I, for one, happen to actually have a thick skin. But I have to wonder if that's true of everyone who comes in here. Should this forum be reserved for thick-skinned Christians?
Should this forum be renamed the Religion Forum for the Thick-Skinned?
Do we REALLY want people coming in here seeking some spiritual solace or simply the company of people of God to see us as a bunch of bickering nitpickers.
St. Matthew records our Lord as having said "Blessed are the gentle, they shall have the earth as inheritance." (Your version probably says something like "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.")
Also He said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God."
Our Lord has permitted many faiths to arise, all calling on his name but doing so in different ways, even different languages. I think we can appreciate those differences and share our mutual faith in our Redeemer.
Jesus said, as reported by St. Matthew, "... your light must shine in people's sight, so that seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven."
Now I know some will maintain the necessity to reprimand those they see as sinners, living in error. But my mother always said, and I think she was right, that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
cr422
Honey is a good bait for fly traps,but many don't see this site as such. We come here to sharpen our swords that we may fight the good fight of faith. Some come here to learn about the deep things of God. Looking for some meat and not milk. I know there are many who never desire more than warm milk and critize anyone who desire to know the truths taught within the scriptures. See Spot run, has it's place, but after over 40 years of study, it has served its purpose.
I tend to be a very frank person but one thing I always have to remember is God set the standard <make all corrections and do all things out of love> Not to prove your right or prove your own points but honestly and openly out of love WITHOUT malice. Jesus set the example. How many rocks did he throw at the woman caught in adultry? A really simple self test to apply would be WWJD... What would Jesus Do? How often would we go wrong if we applied the WWJD test in every aspect of our lives?
you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
cr422
Honey is a good bait for fly traps,but many don't see this site as such. We come here to sharpen our swords that we may fight the good fight of faith. Some come here to learn about the deep things of God. Looking for some meat and not milk. I know there are many who never desire more than warm milk and critize anyone who desire to know the truths taught within the scriptures. See Spot run, has it's place, but after over 40 years of study, it has served its purpose.
I agree. My advice to folks would be to take what you like and ignore the rest. This site is too good of an opportunity to examine doctrine to pass up.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
it took me quite a while to come onto this forum because of all the bashing my wife told me about on here. my views are just as stong as the next guys and i do enjoy argueing wich is part of the reason i stayed off as long as i did. im tring to not be so arguementative so i dont have to worry about coming across the wrong way. i learned a few years ago that you can tell aperson what their doing wrong and quote all the scripture you want but your actions will speak a whole lot louder if that person already knows were your moral beliefs are. i still havent figured out how to do that on the computer
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Watch therefore, you do not know when the master of the house is coming-in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning
Mark 13:35
it took me quite a while to come onto this forum because of all the bashing my wife told me about on here. my views are just as stong as the next guys and i do enjoy argueing wich is part of the reason i stayed off as long as i did. im tring to not be so arguementative so i dont have to worry about coming across the wrong way. i learned a few years ago that you can tell aperson what their doing wrong and quote all the scripture you want but your actions will speak a whole lot louder if that person already knows were your moral beliefs are. i still havent figured out how to do that on the computer
I wish we could all agree that the bashing is probably not a good thing and agree to not do it.
I try to keep in mind that I am conversing with a real person. It's easy to be impersonal when all you see is a computer screen in front of you. I have known people who have an entirely different persona in person than they do on a forum like this.
Bashing
