Is Religion being treated Differently?

[RamaRaksha]

Is it just me or do I see a lot more locks on Religious subjects when compared to other areas in this forum?

Is religion being treated differently, in other words, being protected from criticism?

Over in Politics I saw a thread - Has the Republican party lost its collective mind? - that doesn't seem a nice thing to say about Republicans (FYI I am a liberal)

It seems to me that in other areas of this forum, we are freely allowed to discuss issues with an open mind, after all we are all adults here

But here, I feel like I am in Pakistan with all its blasphemy laws - one better watch one says about religion, and we know or at least I know since I keep myself up-to-date on what is happening in the sub-continent, what the horrible consequences would be if we did not

But I am not in Pakistan, I am in the US where we are supposed to freely discuss all subjects

But here again I see the same stifling communist clampdowns - the moderator makes the decision - good luck in making an appeal

That does not scream democracy & freedom does it?

Should it not be up to the members of the forum to decide whether a thread should remain open or not? What do members think?

[Peterkin]

5 minutes ago, RamaRaksha said:

Is it just me or do I see a lot more locks on Religious subjects when compared to other areas in this forum?

Is religion being treated differently, in other words, being protected from criticism?

No, just from cranks and soapbox orators - exactly the same way as science and philosophy.

At the moment, it's mostly just you, but others come and go.

[RamaRaksha]

8 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

No, just from cranks and soapbox orators - exactly the same way as science and philosophy.

At the moment, it's mostly just you, but others come and go.

Just simply do not care for personal attacks! That the lowest form of discussion, sorry

Try being civil and let people speak freely

[Phi for All]

!

Moderator Note

Moved to Suggestions, Comments, and Support.

 

 

Asking questions to start a thread? Excellent idea! It engages others by signaling that you're encouraging conversation rather than standing on a corner shouting at passersby. 

Religion is treated differently here, I have to admit. We want a reasoned, critical look at any subject we discuss, including Politics and Religion. We don't want rants or opinion expressed as fact. If you have something to say about anything here, understand that the members will hold you to certain levels of rigor while the moderators will hold you to the rules. Other than that, there's no clampdown of rights or censorship going on here. The topics aren't the problem, and if you just want to bash religion, I understand, but please use language that makes it clear you're expressing opinions. 

Do you understand? You can talk all you want about reincarnation, but if you use it to support another idea, we're going to ask you for evidence of reincarnation first. 

[iNow]

49 minutes ago, RamaRaksha said:

Should it not be up to the members of the forum to decide whether a thread should remain open or not?

Abso-effing-lutely not

50 minutes ago, RamaRaksha said:

But I am not in Pakistan, I am in the US where we are supposed to freely discuss all subjects

Actually, you’re on a private global discussion forum with clearly stated membership rules to which you agreed when joining. You are here voluntarily and can voluntarily leave any time you feel the culture here does not align with your personal preferences and desires, but if you break any rules you will leave involuntarily. 

52 minutes ago, RamaRaksha said:

But here again I see the same stifling communist clampdowns

Again, is someone forcing you to participate here against your will? Blink twice if there’s a gun to your head while reading this. We’ll send help!

[RamaRaksha]

19 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

!

Moderator Note

Moved to Suggestions, Comments, and Support.

 

 

Asking questions to start a thread? Excellent idea! It engages others by signaling that you're encouraging conversation rather than standing on a corner shouting at passersby. 

Religion is treated differently here, I have to admit. We want a reasoned, critical look at any subject we discuss, including Politics and Religion. We don't want rants or opinion expressed as fact. If you have something to say about anything here, understand that the members will hold you to certain levels of rigor while the moderators will hold you to the rules. Other than that, there's no clampdown of rights or censorship going on here. The topics aren't the problem, and if you just want to bash religion, I understand, but please use language that makes it clear you're expressing opinions. 

Do you understand? You can talk all you want about reincarnation, but if you use it to support another idea, we're going to ask you for evidence of reincarnation first. 

Sure, some guy called me a 5 year old on one thread - it happens, no biggie - we are adults here, unless one starts inciting violence, I think we should be able to speak freely and I don't think we are able to

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are meant for one purpose - to protect any criticism of Islam - so that the Mullahs get to keep power over the populace

The Burkha is meant to keep women in a 2nd class subservient role - these things are very clear and we should be able to discuss them without being mocked as rants

Am I doing that now? It depends on one's opinion does it not? That is not a very fair way to judge someone's legitimate point of view

Let the members, the voting public, decide whether a thread should be closed or kept open - to me that is the fair thing to do

Just one person, the moderator making the decision, acting like judge and jury with no chance of an appeal - sounds like just what happened to Galileo when he tried to change minds. How are we still stuck back there?

[iNow]

FFS… you’re not Galileo. 

[RamaRaksha]

5 minutes ago, iNow said:

Abso-effing-lutely not

Actually, you’re on a private global discussion forum with clearly stated membership rules to which you agreed when joining. You are here voluntarily and can voluntarily leave any time you feel the culture here does not align with your personal preferences and desires, but if you break any rules you will leave involuntarily. 

Again, is someone forcing you to participate here against your will? Blink twice if there’s a gun to your head while reading this. We’ll send help!

Again, are we in a communist forum? We are not

We are in a democracy and should be freely get rid of rules that make no sense or at least discuss better ways of doing things

We do it all the time! Try the mask mandate that is raging on right now in Canada and the US. I am in favor of Masks but if someone has a different idea they should be freely allowed to speak

You are shutting down all discussion with "membership rules" - these rules can be changed, they are not set in stone

1 minute ago, iNow said:

FFS… you’re not Galileo. 

Sorry, that is a cheap shot

Again, do you not understand of democracy and free speech? Amazing!

[iNow]

Just now, RamaRaksha said:

We are in a democracy and should be freely get rid of rules that make no sense or at least discuss better ways of doing things

If you hate it here so much, why not leave and open your own forum where you can enforce any rules you want, or leave it as an unmoderated cesspool like YouTube comments sections?

2 minutes ago, RamaRaksha said:

Again, do you not understand of democracy and free speech? Amazing!

[studiot]

7 hours ago, RamaRaksha said:

Is religion being treated differently, in other words, being protected from criticism?

No.

The name of this website is ScienceForums.

As I understand the structure and rules,

Serious subjects have a scientific aspect and many of these subjects are given a special section within the website for discussion of these scientific aspects.

Religion is one of these.

Such discussion involves criticism used in its proper meaning. The proper non colloquial meaning does not involve disparagement.

 

This website also has a section where you can say "I hate Jesus, your cat, Allah, Buddha, big band music, the colour of your tie, or whatever"

That section is called "The Lounge".

However such proclaimations are unlikely to gain you much traction as they bore most scientifically mined folks.

 

In fact the whole subject of religion bores me personally, and I would prefer it scrapped altogether.

But I accept that there are scientific aspects of it, so I accept that others want it even if I don't, so long as they discuss the scientific aspects of it.

 

8 hours ago, RamaRaksha said:

But here again I see the same stifling communist clampdowns - the moderator makes the decision - good luck in making an appeal

The purpose of moderators is to moderate and the general concensus, not just my own opinion, is that they do a pretty good job for no reward.

I personally have seen them listen to well reasoned requests and put a good deal of their own time and collective effort into making changes, where they have the power to so do.
It should be acknowledged that they do not always have this power over matters which are set by the site's owners.

[swansont]

8 hours ago, RamaRaksha said:

Just one person, the moderator making the decision, acting like judge and jury with no chance of an appeal - sounds like just what happened to Galileo when he tried to change minds. How are we still stuck back there?

Yes, we all know the history of when Galileo had a discussion thread closed. It's exactly like that.

This board is not an agent of the government and we are not a democracy. We have rules that you need to follow. If a thread gets shut down no rights have been violated. 

We steer clear of rants and lecturing because we're a discussion board, and not your personal blog. We shut down threads where religions get bashed (any religions) because that doesn't foster discussion. We also ask that threads be posted in the appropriate section of the forums. (again, that's exactly like Galileo! /s)

It's not just one moderator. Often mods act in response to complaints from other members, who can't really engage in discussion in these situations, and moderators might be having discussions before acting. One such discussion might be identifying a trend in a posting style, and deciding to give less leeway in posts to try and improve the quality of the threads.

[Genady]

There is a 'religion' and then there is a 'science of religion'. The former is taught / preached in churches, temples, etc.

The latter is  defined as,

Quote

the descriptive study of religion that examines all religions phenomenologically, historically, psychologically, and sociologically

(Science of religion Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster) and is taught in educational institutions, e.g. here.

It is only appropriate for this forum, being a science forum, to restrict discussions on religion to the latter.

[studiot]

21 minutes ago, Genady said:

There is a 'religion' and then there is a 'science of religion'. The former is taught / preached in churches, temples, etc.

The latter is  defined as,

(Science of religion Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster) and is taught in educational institutions, e.g. here.

It is only appropriate for this forum, being a science forum, to restrict discussions on religion to the latter.

+1

[Kittenpuncher]

Well I can see why they'd want to do that - this is a science forum, and that would likely lead to a horrendously hostile environment for any religious people, so if they keep the criticism to a minimum they avoid the sorts of militant situations that happen in communities run by like, kids

If what you've said is true then it's certainly a welcome - and refreshing - change from almost any other online community I've seen in the past five or six years, even Facebook, honestly

Not to get "off-topic" but I wanted to correct you on some of what you said

I.e. the record goes that Pakistani people actually seem to care about their religion themselves, you know, and the main purpose of the burkkhas is supposed to be to prevent men from experiencing lust

& After living in a blasphemous shithole most of my life I can definitely see why someone would come to prefer that sort of living situation XD being innocent and pure is kickass

Edited April 9, 2022 by Kittenpuncher

[iNow]

4 minutes ago, Kittenpuncher said:

If what you've said is true

Who are you even talking to, and what comment have they made that ties to your reply?

[Kittenpuncher]

On 2/21/2022 at 7:45 PM, RamaRaksha said:

Sure, some guy called me a 5 year old on one thread - it happens, no biggie - we are adults here, unless one starts inciting violence, I think we should be able to speak freely and I don't think we are able to

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are meant for one purpose - to protect any criticism of Islam - so that the Mullahs get to keep power over the populace

The Burkha is meant to keep women in a 2nd class subservient role - these things are very clear and we should be able to discuss them without being mocked as rants

Am I doing that now? It depends on one's opinion does it not? That is not a very fair way to judge someone's legitimate point of view

Let the members, the voting public, decide whether a thread should be closed or kept open - to me that is the fair thing to do

Just one person, the moderator making the decision, acting like judge and jury with no chance of an appeal - sounds like just what happened to Galileo when he tried to change minds. How are we still stuck back there?

This one ^