[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

seperatition = separation, Oh my kingdom for a spell chech on FR. :)

BigMack

[onedoug]

"...are we afraid to debate each other any more?"

I ain't a skeert. As long as I feel I grasp the subject.

[Codie]

Actually,I think there is a good sola scriptura debate on the "The Relationship of the Church to Israel" thread.They appear to have no problems about expressing their differing viewpoints.

[Wrigley]

There is some fear from some groups to debate. A certain group was so afraid of debate just recently, they had threads pulled.

On the whole, the Religion forum works fine. I don't see it as a ghetto; FR is much more organized as currently set up.

[ponyespresso]

Well, I'll speak up since its obvious the REAL question here is, "Where has ponyepsresso gone?" Thanks for trying to make it more general so as not to hurt the feelings of those who don't understand everyone's tremendous amount of concern for me. Honestly, it's touching, it really is. I appreciate it.

Well, the truth is I've only really been able to lurk as of late. I try to follow threads when I can, but I've really been trying to catch up on my reading lately; I've FINALLY got started on Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline. What a fantastic work. If I knew it was going to be this insightful, I would have bumped to the top of my reading list a long time ago, lol!

So, when I can I will be joining the fray and trying to contribute what I can. I am even toying with posting some of my own writing, we'll see what happens.

So, again, really, thanks for the concern. But, other than that, the religion forum is working great. Fantastic, in fact. Keep up the good work, and keep a look out for me. I'll be seeing ya!

pony

=:-)

[Theresa]

"Why all the seperatition of late, are we afraid to debate each other any more?"

You can't be talking about me!!!!??? LOL.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Is The Religion Forum Working? Are we afraid to debate each other any more?

I would hope that less religious debate would mean that more people are 'preaching the gospel to every creature' instead of arguing with nameless, faceless screenames here on FR.

If that is the case, then I suppose that the Religion Forum IS working.

[jude24]

Well, I've generally not been party to a lot of the Religion forum discussions because they can be pretty time-consuming, and between junior-year chemistry work, involvement in Campus Crusade, and so forth, I don't have time to jump in every debate where the truth is already being ably presented.

Nor do I enjoy debate for debate's sake. One thing which deeply concerns me about the debates I see is the inherent assumption several parties have; viz, that anyone who has a minor theological quarrel is obviously either not saved or apostate. I'm not talking about anything fundamental, like whether or not the Book of Mormon is canonical (obviously, I think not), but smaller things. I'm a Calvinist, no bones about it, but I'm not gonna sit here in judgment and say that the Arminians are necessarily apostate, and the Calvinists not. Its just not the case. Similarly, there are those on this board who consider me apostate beacause I do not use the King James version of the Bible, but rather have an NASB on my desk now.

I've gone toe-to-toe with those on my own side of an issue who I've thought gone overboard with ad hominem arguments, and I'll do it again, if necessary.

But I'm not adverse to open discussions of theological issues here -- God knows that it really helped me in my own walk. Ask RnMomof7, she and I both were a year and a half ago as devoted to the free-will position as anyone else on this board. But our objections were consistently answered -- so now I love and cherish the doctrine I raged against in my teenage years.

[Iowegian]

Is The Religion Forum Working? No, in my opinion it's becoming not much more than a propaganda tool for the Pope. IOW's, too many "isn't the Pope great" threads.

[Commander8]

I love lively debate, minus ad hominem insults and oversensitive knee jerk reactions.