Okay, Shalom, this is what I think about Christian writings at the Feelings thread. Excuse me if I am not very logical tonight, since I am totally scattered by a bunch of technical computer problems, and now I have gone back to read what I missed on this thread and discover the law of the excluded middle, and lots of other very heavy and interesting concepts that are all combining to give me a headache!!
I am not sure what anyone specifically said about you that you perceived as unfair or insulting, and by the time I discovered people were fighting, it was too late to sort it out. I certainly agree that you shouldn't be insulted here, but I don't really enjoy mediating, and am not particularly good at it, so I just try to establish ground rules that make sense upfront so we can all get along together.
What I do recall from several months ago is that I thought you and I had an agreement that you were welcome to visit here as Shalom the compassionate and feeling man, but not as Shalom the leader of the God thread. I remember teasing you once before when you were posting here, saying one or two little fishes were about all I could stand at one time of Christian religious views, and you seemed to respect that at the time.
This is all a little confusing, because I believe in freedom of speech but at the same time am trying to provide a safe place at SI where people who are not Christians--athiests, agnostics, pagans, all the other religions--can feel comfortable and open without censure, or constant attemps to convert them to other belief systems. While Christianity is a minority religion in terms of its worldwide flock, in America, at least, simply stating that you are not Christian gets quite a response in most places!! I don't enjoy being judged, or discriminated against, and yet I have experienced first hand prejudice by Christians who think I must actually be evil, or have no ethical or moral standards, because I am not a Christian!! Since we already have many places at SI where Christian discussion is encouraged or tolerated, I wanted a place that was a little different, where all the free thinkers could hang out.
That doesn't mean that we don't discuss religion and philosophy over here--we certainly do!!! And there are many Christians who populate this thread all the time. I have enormous respect for everyone's right to have their own beliefs, Christian and non-Christian. It's just that for someone who is not Christian, who believes sincerely as I do that millions of innocent women were burned at the stake by Christians, that most wars and divisiveness are caused by fights over religious beliefs, that many Christians would love to personally burn me at the stake because I somehow threaten them--just seeing all the Christian words and phrases can be very offensive!! I think we can discuss everything under the sun over here without using them. I know it's hard for you to understand, because you are Christian, but these words are just very negative and evoke a strong emotional response in some people who don't believe as you do.
I think of the Feelings thread as a public place. If I am sitting in a coffee house, and have come to listen to a poet who I know to be writing good Christian poetry, I have made a choice to be exposed to that. Sort of like if I meander over to the Ask God thread--I have chosen to see all those words and left myself open for someone to attempt to change my beliefs. But (back to the coffee house now), if I wander in and get a mocha and sit down at a table by myself, I have no problem with people chattering at a reasonable decibel level around me about whatever!!! But if someone comes over and gets in my face and starts discussing Christianity, I find it invasive and offensive.
Since it is my desire that no one gets their feelings hurt over here, and there are no serious fights, and everyone in need of support or comfort can drop by and get some, I just want to keep it a place where everyone who comes here can feel comfortable. You can feel comfortable here without the Christian stuff, but some of us cannot feel comfortable here with it. So, to keep the peace and make sure no one is offended, it seems fair to just leave it over at the Ask God thread. However, if you see an idea here that you disagree with, or which offends you, you are certainly most welcome to jump in and start an intellectual discussion expressing your views. I am confident that you know enough expressive words that you can state your feelings without seeming to attempt to convert people, or offending non-Christians, because I have seen you do it before in a lovely and sensitive style!!
Christine
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