religous threads

i'm aware of the reasons why we can't have religous threads. i've also been told that a thread for religion has been tried before, and that failed.

would it be possible to have a board for each religion instead.

this wouldn't limit the topic of discusion to one thing, it'd also seperate the different religions and prevent religious flaming.

if people were curious about other people religion, they could ask in a polite way in the apropriate board.



. . and confusion reigns supreme . .

 

it'd also seperate the different religions and prevent religious flaming.

Actually I think you would see a lot of anti-(insert religion) trolls heading for those forums.

if people were curious about other people religion, they could ask in a polite way in the apropriate board.

I don't think we need a board for that. If you're really curious, there's probably a thread in the Senate somewhere, or you could always use the rest of the vast Internet to find out more information.

Ultimately, this is a Star Wars forum, and it doesn't really require individial sections for religions.

 

what if we wanted to offer/recieve support from members of our own religion?

eg: a jewish boy has his barmitzva coming, and is worrying about it.

or: a christian is getting baptized, and wants to tell everyone.

or: someone is worried about something, and would like others to prayer about it.



. . and confusion reigns supreme . .

 

The basher-gusher wars in a board like that would make the TPM board look like a picnic.

If you want to debate religion, go to the Senate. If you want to discuss religion, go to church.

 

If you want to discuss religion, go to church.

That's what I do.

 

Remember that this is a Star Wars site. Not a one-stop ?all your entertainment? site. The purpose of these boards is to facilitate discussion of Star Wars. We?ve added the Community for fun socializing, and Senate and the Amphitheatre for more serious discussion of the arts and politics and religion. I don?t personally see any need to go further.

We?re looking for an audience of Star Wars fans. We certainly don?t mind religion or lack thereof, but religion is not the raison d'être for these boards. I?m going to sound really callous here I?m afraid, but if you want a religion board, my suggestion is to go looking elsewhere.

If a Christian is getting baptized, a person is curious about Islam, etc, the Jedi Council Community is the proper place for it. If someone goes into a ?I?m getting baptized? and trolls the thread, it should be treated like any other trolling. But there?s no need for a board specifically for Christian issues (or Jewish, or Buddhist, or Hindu, etc) on a Star Wars message board.

 

I don't think exclusive threads are a good idea, ie, "Christian Sanctuary" or "Christians please pray for ..."

But I don't see anything wrong with a thread asking people to pray for or think of a particular person. Discussions on religion are fine by me, but they shouldn't limit the "type" of people allowed to participate in the discussion.

 

"Christians please pray for ..."

I don't see any problem in asking others of your religion to pray for you. It's not saying people of other religions can't post, after all, or offer their support.

 

That is what it implies.

 

starfire: if i saw a a thread marked "jews please pray for . . . ." i'd be curious as to what it was about. i migth even post my support, even tho i am not jewish.



. . and confusion reigns supreme . .

 

eg: a jewish boy has his barmitzva coming, and is worrying about it.

or: a christian is getting baptized, and wants to tell everyone.

or: someone is worried about something, and would like others to prayer about it.

With each of those, I think the person would better off going to real life people and not internet people.

The fact is, religious topics in JCC have rarely worked. They did once, but it was in one "official" thread that was heavily and constantly moderated. Discussion of it is allowed in the Senate, as others stated. If you want Religious communities online, I think you would better off finding a message board devoted to that religion.

 

A lot of things can be implied by a lot of things. I don't think having a thread with that title is worthy of being locked. It might not be polite, in your opinion, but I don't see anything wrong with it.


[edit] With each of those, I think the person would better off going to real life people and not internet people.

True, of course, but internet people are (generally) as real as other people, you just don't 'meet' them.

 

If you want to post a thread requesting prayer or support, I have no problem with that. But by specifically designating one religion or another in a thread title, there's an implication that the thoughts and prayers of others not of that religion are at the very least "less" welcome and at the very most "un" welcome.

Since I assume that neither of these are true, I have a problem with thread titles like "Christians please pray for..." (for instance).

 

Don't forget that what set YOTS off was a religious-themed thread. So as the past has shown, religion is still a pretty hot-button topic.

 

And there are those with extremist point of views that have a way of polarizing discussion or debate. It was close to a year ago that I dealt with that first hand for the first time in the Senate.

 

This is a Star Wars site. Sure we have non-Star Wars boards, but these are few in number, and are in some ways offshoots of JCC.

Now, the Religious boards would be so selective, in that their appeal is extremely limited. Personally, I would then demand a board for people who think that organized religion is a crock of poop, and so on.

Now you may say "But I don't like all of the forums on this site NOW, and they still exist." Well that's true, but they aren't ALIENTATING you. There are no "beliefs" on the boards that are keeping you from being interested in a particular forum, it's just what you like. Also, none of the boards offends you (as some people might be by religious boards), they just don't agree with you.

I don't post in FanFiction, but I don't burn all of it and spout hate towards it, but people do this to religions. It's just cause for drama, angst, and crap.

EDIT: GriffZ r0x.

 

Who's YOTS?

 

I'm going to venture a guess and say "Yoda of the Sith"?

 

First off, I'm not religious. I don't go to church nor belong to any religious organization. However, I find it sad that those people who are religious can't discuss it on the boards.

Religion is a part of many people's lives. Just like the X-files, Lord of the Rings, using the bathroom, discussing the news or numerous other topics. If this is strictly a sw board, those shouldn't be allowed either, but they are and rightly so.

Discussing of religion is at least allowed in the Senate and it works out well there. Unfortunately there are many people who like to flame those religious or non-religious in a less structured environment.

Take the prayer thread that was locked today for instance. The title was for Christians but perhaps should have included anyone regardless of religion. BithySith's reply was a very common sense answer. While she was obviously not Christian, she still had something constructive to add. This thread could have worked out if it had been changed to include religions of any kind, if those who feel uncomfortable with religion would stay out of it, and if those of different religions didn't point out differences but merely prayed.

Unfortunately that didn't happen and might never. Religion itself isn't the problem. It's the people who refuse to open their eyes to other's viewpoints (both religious and non) and vehemently defend their position.

Having specific boards probably won't happen and might not help. For now, if you're interested in other religions, there's still the Senate. If you're worried about your Bar Mitzvah, you'll just have to find a Jewish board that will allow you to discuss that. Same for Baptism.

 

Religion is a part of many people's lives. Just like the X-files, Lord of the Rings, using the bathroom, discussing the news or numerous other topics. If this is strictly a sw board, those shouldn't be allowed either, but they are and rightly so.

But that's the thing, they're not the same. For some people, religion is very much a part of who they are. If you insult star wars, you're insulting a movie they like. If you insult religion, you're insulting something they define their lives, beliefs, morals around. Big difference. People are going to get offended if some random troll, or established jokester comes in with dipariging remarks against their religion, no matter if the remarks are serious or in jest.

 

I think part of it depends on how secure people are with their beliefs (or non-belief).

 

may i be so bold as to suggest an experiment?

how about having a single board for all religions, and having it open for a week, or a suitable length of time.

after that time, the mods review all the threads in the board and decide upon a verdict.

if it's been flamed and trolled ridiculously, then it shouldn't be reopened.

if it contains moderate flames, and little trolling, then the mods should decide on an apropriate course of action.

 

Darth Dark Helmet: But that's the thing, they're not the same. For some people, religion is very much a part of who they are. If you insult star wars, you're insulting a movie they like. If you insult religion, you're insulting something they define their lives, beliefs, morals around. Big difference.

I agree and disagree. Quite a number of people do feel like that. That's the problem; those who take other's comments too seriously. But it doesn't have to be like that. Pity.

EDIT: KnightWriter: I think part of it depends on how secure people are with their beliefs (or non-belief).

Hmmm ... very good point. Makes sense

Angel_of_Sith: may i be so bold as to suggest an experiment?

How would this be different than discussing religion in the Senate? Not against it, just want to clarify what such a forum would contain and how strictly it would be moderated.

 

A forum liek that would have to moderated heavily, and (no offense) I don't think the Mod Squad would be prepared for that. It would need 24 hour moderation, by a select gorup of people who could both deal with antagonisim of others, and accept everyone in the forum's religion. Even if they tried it for a week, it would mean pulling people out of other forums to watch it, leaving them unattended. When they had one thread, I think it was Epic who watched it, and he worked his ass of on it, and that was just one thread. An entire forum would drive them insanity and burn them out quickly, I think.

Also, I think it unecssary. If an entire forum was needed for this, we would having threads liek this every day with a lot of requests for it. As it is, the issue comes up about once a year. I think I've seen a variation on this thread 4 times in 3+ years here. I don't think there's near the demand here for a Religous board.

 

If you're feeling brave, you can stroll through this thread and get a bit of the history of this subject.