Do you think DU should have a theological forum?

[Ladyhawk]

Some pretty vicious debate has taken place here in the lounge concerning religion, lately. I usually come into the lounge when I'm tired of arguing. GD is for argument. The GD Primary forum is for argument. Religion by its very nature is going to engender argument. Should it have its own forum so that the lounge can be relatively flame-free?

[Kamika]

1. no thanks

would just be constant bashing against religion

[boilerbabe]

20. caught this one after reading all the others...

So it probably won't mean too much that I am on your side...
so whatever....XXXOOO
Jo-lee\
[e-mail]
XXXOOO

[Kamika]

30. yes it does

It means alot :D

[LearnedHand]

2. There's already a religion forum...

... at beliefnet.com .

[youngred]

3. No

Religion waxes and wanes in importance and debate here. It will go away for awhile and then come back later

[boilerbabe]

15. Religion will never go away...wish it would

Have been reading books regarding Al Queda, etc, just saw the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of Christ', the only thing I can conclude is that people are brutal, have always been so, and the only difference is that they weren't on cell phones. So whatever religion anyone says they are an adherent to, I say...@#$%^ off/and that's that. I'ts high time we all just got over that stupid crap once and for all.

[bluestateguy]

4. Nooooooo!!!

They'd have to hire more moderators, and I fear it would divide us unnecessarily among ourselves.

[boilerbabe]

16. I think that we are over that hump

[jimshoes]

5. No

It is not what I come to DU for.

[boilerbabe]

17. What did draw you to DU?

I haven't been posting in a long time, so am curious about all the new people...have been out of the loop for a while!!

[izzie]

22. There must be a site just for this some place. Do you know?

I also do not come for this. I like DU as it is. Free Rep goes nuts over this stuff. It is sort of fun to read at times. It always makes me under stand why my father said I had a brain to think for my self.

[MurikanDemocrat]

6. No. It's a political website

[dolo amber]

7. Separation of church and state

All the way...yes, even down to lowly li'l DU.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. No, I think the lounge is the appropriate place to have those discussions

If there was a religion forum, then it would end up just like the J/PS forum, with everyone blowharding against each other, and no new people becuase no one but a few entrenched people will go there.

I would never go into a religion forum.

Let's leave it at the lounge - I think we've had a share of bashing, yes, and we have people with issues on both sides, but I think overall they've been very good and enlightening discussions, and I have enjoyed them.

[AlFrankenFan]

9. No 'cause it'll be ten times worse than GD and GD2004

And being recently ripped to shreads in GD2004, I highly oppose a religion forum, for I believe it'll further divide us and provoke GD-style arguments.

[muffin_man]

10. 100% agree

I don't even know how I ended up in GD2004 but man I will never do that again! 4 sure don't need more of that.

[AlFrankenFan]

13. Welcome to DU

Sorry you had to find out the dangers of GD2004 like that.

[Blue-Jay]

11. Fuck no.

I'm not "bashing", but if you want to discuss theology, there are a million other sites out there. Many of which will provide you with more "measured" responses.

/my two cents. (sorry if the "f-word" disturbs you)

[boilerbabe]

19. should I have had my sound turned up for your killer signature line!!

[Blue-Jay]

21. If I knew Java, I'd piss everyone off

by linking Ace Cannon to my sig.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

12. I tend to avoid religious discussion...

I hate drama.
However, I enjoy a good conversation about religion. Not a flame war.
If others can play nice and abide by the rules, I have no problem. The question is: can we?

[boilerbabe]

18. some of us are nice...hehehehe

[southerngirlwriter]

14. Separate but Equal

never, ever, ever, ever, works.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

23. No.

The Civil Rights/Equality/Privacy forum allows discussion of religion as a political issue, while the Lounge provides a place for talking about religion as a personal choice. Giving theology its own subforum would elevate religion's political importance over other personal freedoms.

Plus, it would just rankle the shit out of me every time I saw it. ;)

[emad]

24. Religion attracts anger because it is so often the whitewash

that unites bigots and apologists for crime.

Right now the US Catholic Church is facing bankruptcy because of the thousands of reported cases of child sex abuse by Catholic priests that were covered up for the last 50 years.

The role of politicians has been seminal to this cosy arrangement. Both democrats and republicans alike.

In Europe the latest figures show up to 25,000 cases per country are now believed to have been hidden on politician's orders. Anxious no doubt not to rock the boat and brush all that stuff under the carpet hoping it will go away.

Then there is the Middle East where the Jewish/Moslem bigotry has escalated beyong the Palestinian issue into the 9/11 debate.

Religion doesn't need a separate forum on the DU.

[Az]

25. Politics and religion are entwined

Religion often governs how a person sees the world and politics is the means by which we enact our vision. They flow from and too each other.

Now a forum dedicated to debating actual religious claims is an entirely different matter. I have been a mod (SOP) of various religious debate forums and we have not seen anything approaching the direct assaults on religious belief that such a forum would provide. The religous debates found here in DU focus on religions effects on politics with the occaisional outburst from nonproductive zealots.

Setting aside a forum just because of the zealots will simply put a chill on legitimate political discussions that take religion into consideration. And we do not want a forum here dedicated to an all out religious donnybrook.

[TXlib]

26. The Meeting Room serves that purpose quite well already.

And most of the people there are relatively respectful in such threads.

[emad]

27. In my experience the Meeting Room is brimming with

fundamentalist astrologers and apologists for those who worship the tarot, dodgy 'supernatural' prophecies like Nostradamus and The Celestine Phrophecy, and various purveyors of psychic prediction.

[Robb]

28. Yeah, but when you say it

...you make it sound like a bad thing! :D

[emad]

31. There's a fine line between satire and bigotry!

Lampooning the astrologers/soothsayers/those offering their services on the DU via Paypal is a part-time hobby for some - and why not!

[TXlib]

29. I've had some very good theological conversations there.

[emad]

34. Sadly, my experience is different from yours!

The best theological exchanges rarely happen for me in this part of DU.

It put me off when I found various astrologers and 'psychics' touting for business by posting their paypal sites.

Gullibility sucks....

[SOteric]

32. I think,

much like sex, there are myriad internet fora where one can go to discuss and debate religion issues in all their multi-faceted splendor. DU is a forum for discussing liberal and progressive U.S. politics.

And much like sex as a topic here, there will always be occasions where sexuality, gender, religion and social issues relating to them are legitimate topics a political forum should feel comfortable discussing, polling and debating upon.

However, setting up a new forum for those topics strikes me as taking the context away from the discussion. I can't support that. Debating the existence of God is all fine and lovely, but isn't really useful politically. Regardless of one's position in that debate, one should have rights and protections. Whether or not there is a God should not determine whether religion has a place in a U.S. publicly-funded institution.

[Bertha Venation]

33. I voted yes.

I don't see "vicious" debate, but I do hope to see a theological forum.