I am a little worried that the Religion forum is becoming clogged with religious propaganda and religious vilification.
Specifically, I'm referring to:
1. Threads whose sole aim is to preach some kind of positive aspect of one particular religion, in an effort to raise awareness of the religion, or to gain converts.
2. Threads containing "anti-propaganda", whose sole aim is to preach about the negative aspects of one particular religion (sometimes as contrasted with some other belief system), perhaps in an effort to turn people away from that religion, or (more often) to justify a poster's own bigotted views of that religion.
3. Threads which attempt to stereotype all members of a particular belief system.
4. Threads aimed at starting or continuing the common "My god is bigger than your god" argument.
Now, in a certain context, some of these issues might become valid points for discussion of comparative beliefs or something like that, but all too often we see NO informed arguments at all. Instead, we see blind cut-and-pastes from other sources, or personal opinion statements made with NOTHING to back them up (no references to sources or evidence, other than the poster's personal prejudices).
Recent examples of such threads include the topics:
Yes, Hitler was indeed a Bible-Believing Christian
Christian debate tactics
The role of mosques in Islam
Islam denounces terrorism
Islam and wife beating
Principles of self-development in Islam
Muslim encouragement and advancement in science
Islamic attitudes in the UK today
Christianity's oppression (execution) of scientists
What Christians believe
Very bad news for Islamists: 6 million leaving Islam/yr (in Africa alone)
Islam in Holland
No worries about what to wear at a Christian nudist camp
The sexual rage behind Islam
...
and the list goes on.
Now, maybe it's just me who thinks that this forum could do without these threads. Maybe everybody else likes the flame wars between Muslims and Christians. Maybe everybody is happy with 50% of the threads here amounting to little more than cut-and-pastes from Islamic propaganda sites elsewhere on the web.
As moderator, I want your opinions on this. Are you happy with things as they are, or would you like to see some changes in the way certain types of threads are moderated?
Specifically, I'm referring to:
1. Threads whose sole aim is to preach some kind of positive aspect of one particular religion, in an effort to raise awareness of the religion, or to gain converts.
2. Threads containing "anti-propaganda", whose sole aim is to preach about the negative aspects of one particular religion (sometimes as contrasted with some other belief system), perhaps in an effort to turn people away from that religion, or (more often) to justify a poster's own bigotted views of that religion.
3. Threads which attempt to stereotype all members of a particular belief system.
4. Threads aimed at starting or continuing the common "My god is bigger than your god" argument.
Now, in a certain context, some of these issues might become valid points for discussion of comparative beliefs or something like that, but all too often we see NO informed arguments at all. Instead, we see blind cut-and-pastes from other sources, or personal opinion statements made with NOTHING to back them up (no references to sources or evidence, other than the poster's personal prejudices).
Recent examples of such threads include the topics:
Yes, Hitler was indeed a Bible-Believing Christian
Christian debate tactics
The role of mosques in Islam
Islam denounces terrorism
Islam and wife beating
Principles of self-development in Islam
Muslim encouragement and advancement in science
Islamic attitudes in the UK today
Christianity's oppression (execution) of scientists
What Christians believe
Very bad news for Islamists: 6 million leaving Islam/yr (in Africa alone)
Islam in Holland
No worries about what to wear at a Christian nudist camp
The sexual rage behind Islam
...
and the list goes on.
Now, maybe it's just me who thinks that this forum could do without these threads. Maybe everybody else likes the flame wars between Muslims and Christians. Maybe everybody is happy with 50% of the threads here amounting to little more than cut-and-pastes from Islamic propaganda sites elsewhere on the web.
As moderator, I want your opinions on this. Are you happy with things as they are, or would you like to see some changes in the way certain types of threads are moderated?
