The Glade 4.0

Is there a Christian Forum online that you know of where the people are as awesome as they are on the Glade?
Sometimes I'd like to discuss theological stuff without the debate...
I thought about asking to have one like everyone has their game place on here, but I don't want to get into that argument with those who might be opposed.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I shudder to think of what an online Christian forum would be like, considering the Internet's facility and adeptness in attracting the most rabid fringe elements of any group and giving them spotlights under the comfort of anonymity...

That said, I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that I've not looked.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Yeah, those were my thoughts as well...I don't want that. Just a place to discuss biblical stuff with Christians without the politics, arguing, or drama.
Maybe such a place does not exist on the internet?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I've looked on a couple occasions, but not in the last two years. I'll have to look again.

My questions though: If you find a good Christian forum, would you use that same avatar on said forum?

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The Dude abides.

Occasionally I check out the Catholic Forums, but it tends to be more of a 'these are the Church's views' type of place.

http://forum.catholic.org/index.php?sid ... 4196d8bc54

Bery would probably know more about the Protestant discussions.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I never thought about it actually.
The couple in my avatar have 'mommy' and 'daddy' tattoos...just always thought it was a husband and wife and thought it looked a little like my hubby and me.
Haven't really ever thought about its appropriateness I suppose.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Having met Nitefox and LadyKate, yes, it does kind of look like them in a stylized fifties romance book cover kind of way.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I don't really know of any atm. I used to, years ago, but sometimes the discussions devolved into doctrinal arguments and I avoided them. I sometimes got something useful, but often not, so.....

So? Don't leave me hanging. Where do you go for your discussions/questions/etc relating to theological matters?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I really don't remember the addy's, sorry. It was years ago.

But I'll discuss whatever here. Maybe folks would let a few threads go through without negative comments.

Wasn't taking a shot at you on this. I just found the idea funny because I'm sure that would offend the sensibilities of some.

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The Dude abides.

Yeah, christians are held under a microscope whether you just started your walk or are several miles into it.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Speaking as someone of Irish descent, people who self-identify as Christian represent a very broad, disparate group of people, often have nearly nothing in common other than that identification, and in fact are violently disagreeable with each other--even in person, as the Northern Irish can attest to. Over the internet, I'd suspect any such forum to be...volatile.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Which is why the rest of this conversation has/is been/being quietly carried out in PMs.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

www.catholic.com has a good forum site

At one point, I wanted to set up a "Socratic Club"-type forum here at the Glade. Although I didn't intend for it to be exclusively about Christianity, that certainly would have been one of the major topics. But in the end, it would have required a lot of special moderation, and way more work than I think anyone would have been willing to put in to it. Or at least, it certainly would have taken more work than I was willing to put into it.

But I digress.

Several years ago, I used to (very) occasionally lurk without posting on Derek Webb's forums. I'm not even really sure how I stumbled across them in the first place, but they seemed interesting. The place could sometimes be hillariously/depressingly post-modern/emergent church-ey, but there were also a lot of interesting discussion. I googled around a little, and apparently that board has ceased to operate. However, in a very Glade-esque fashion, it looks a bunch of them created a new message board rather than just giving up:

She Must and Shall No Longer Exist -- the webboard reloaded

From only poking around for a few minutes, I can't really tell what kind slant the place has now, but it might be worth looking into, anyway.

Other than that, I've heard people mention TheologyWeb, too, but I can't say I've ever even lurked there, so I have no idea what you'd be getting into.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

Hmmm. Any board I've visited that is based around my religion attracts a boatload of antagonists. They show up under the guise of trying to be understanding, when in reality they are just there to give people grief.

Although, there was one board where it was very entertaining to be a lurker. A bunch of BYU professors frequented it and I think they got a kick out of arguing with the trolls, and smacking them down with intelligent and thorough responses. Some of the anti's were a bit more respectful and would give them some fine debates. But overall, I came to the realization that neither side was ever going to give sway or serious thought to the other's viewpoints and thus it was pointless.

I wish you luck finding a board that is not bombarded by trolls. Religion is always a bright shiny target for those sorts.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

It's not just Christian boards that attract trolls either... the Pagan boards I go to get it all the time (from 'Christians' more interested in condescending and accusing than in living a Christ-like life) and the most vile trolling I've ever seen targets the Craigslist Atheist forum.

That being said, the best 'forums' I've found are the LiveJournal groups. A quick search shows that 367 groups list 'Christian' as a interest.
http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=christian

I'd probably start with LJChristians, AdoptedByChrist, and maybe JesusFreaks.

Good luck!

You are likely to have better luck seeking out a specific sub-genre or even specific church affiliated sites than going for the broad Christian theme in general.

That's lame too. I can't stand people who troll religious people. But it's the religious people who troll that rile me up even more. Makes them completely hypocritical.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

The basic problem is the Internet attracts trolls.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

So the correct saying should be... the internet is for Trolls?

Unfortunately I can not help you with this. My few excursions in that realm were traumatic.

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Memento Vivere

I have local knowledge.
That sandbar was not there yesterday!

Yes Squirrel Girl. Though the song is still accurate as originally written.

As long as the internet provides the anonymity and the lack of accountability, for what is said, trolls will be with us. It is the finest example of why freedom of speech is a mixed blessing. People all over the world can get together, share thoughts, ideas, ignorance, intolerance, and every other concept in the history of mankind.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

The biggest issue I have is that anyone can claim to be a Christian, and not just on the Internet. So it's easy to blame Christians, when the guilty party may not be Christian at all. As Scripture says, "You will know them by their fruits."