Welcome to Gaia! ::

I found a Christian forum website that I decided to join. I should have known not to expect much because, of course, every page not in the forums reflected the views of the website owners and just about each one was meant to bash another religion. I thought I'd at least have some Christians to talk to and I'd have the opportunity to learn about some other branches (I've only ever met Southern Baptists and a few Mormons).

Things were good at first, the welcoming committee was nice and I saw they had a forum for Buddhists as well. Over the course of four days I learned that the welcoming committee was the only nice part of the website. The Buddhist section was abandoned except for a few patient teachers who, although I didn't get to meet them, I have allot of respect for due to what they put up with.

Regardless of who posts what, anyone who disagrees with the opinions or beliefs portrayed in a post will attack it. It's truly vicious. I saw Mormons vigorously declaring that their branch was not a cult, as the site owners had categorized it. Catholics and Baptists were at each others throats. Just for saying I considered myself a Christian Buddhist, although I choose not to introduce myself under any religious title, I was declared a wolf in sheep's clothing and shunned.

I put up with that, knowing not everyone there could be that way, but I now believe anyone who isn't like that has left for the same reason I did. If a member disagrees with things to much he/she is marked as an "atheist," regardless of whether or not they are, and that severely limits their access to the forums. The Buddhists I mentioned previously were under that mark and thus limited to non-Christian related forums. However, Christians there could still jump into the non-Christian sections and attack other peoples believes.

Honestly, the whole thing was just horrible. It does not reflect what the Christian bible says Christians should behave as nor does it in any way reflect anything I could believe in.

Coincidentally I've been on other religious sites in which people with entirely opposing beliefs (one Pagan could say gods are apples and another could say oranges {random example, no offense intended here}) in which the members get along perfectly in spite and in some cases because of their differences. Open mindedly they discuss their beliefs and opinions without harsh words and, when it's all over, they can still walk away as friends even if their beliefs remain opposite.

I know not all Christians are like that, there are places where the people get along fine and are even open minded enough to listen as much as they expect others to listen, but that site still leaves a bad impression that even someone who is already a Christian and knows they are not all the same finds hard to simply shrug off.

I appreciate the invite and will look into it tomorrow. I only have moments on the computer today as it is my wedding day and I have last minute things to take care of.

In the guild you mention, I won't or at least shouldn't be criticized or lectured for believing anything differently from anyone else? That's important for me since I don't take the bible literally like many other Christians do. Also, if I play Devil's Advocate and make it clear that's what I'm doing for the sake of discussion, how would that be taken?

I don't think the topic went bad so I don't think there's anything to forgive, but if you want forgiveness you already have it. I'm appreciative, not resentful.

My Devil's Advocate posts are almost never anything extreme, I'm just the kind of guy who likes to point out from time to time that there can be other points of view on the same topic and I sometimes like to see how people handle it. I love seeing people learn more about something so they can properly defend their belief or opinion and most often I see that as a result of someone pointing out an opposing belief or opinion. By playing Devil's Advocate I can make that opposing belief or opinion be noticed then point out how to defend against said opposing belief or opinion. I started doing this mostly as a result of discussing politics with my brother who, unlike myself, is a politician.

I just finished looking through some of the posts in the guild and I like it. It has that family feel that I didn't get from the website I complained about. I'll join in a bit.

Back to the topic, I've forgiven and let go of all of it now. I do appreciate your response to this, I knew if I brought my problem here somebody would understand and relate.

People are like that wherever you go. Some people actually like to argue; some have to always be right. And trolls are trolls.

I used to be part of a truly excellent Buddhist forum, but I left because a troll there was harassing me due to my sexual orientation. Others were defending me without turning it into an argument but it was hurtful enough that I just deleted my account and never went back.

Yeah, and a few select guilds are the only safe spaces I can find on Gaia, a site with apparently millions of users. I can't say I've found a single corner of the internet that's safe from that type of plague. Not one.