viscousmemories

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have expressed skepticism of C&F on the basis of the beliefs of the people who recommend it. But now that I've actually gone and had a look at it, it does seem to be mostly oriented toward Christians (going only by the structure of the forum titles, descriptions and arrangement).

I'm really trying not to be judgemental or intolerant, I'm just having a hard time seeing how redirecting someone who's questioning their faith in Christianity to a Christian website is helpful. It strikes me as not much different than recommending that someone who has doubts about the teachings of their specific Catholic church go to the Catholic church across the street to look for alternative viewpoints.

Trust me that I know intimately the failure of IIDB in providing a compassionate and considerate forum for theists to explore their beliefs, but it just strikes me that a site with an ideological stance diametrically opposed to that of the one ljoey02 has been inundated with all his/her life would be preferable just now.

Please, seebs, LROF, DrummerGirl or Roland98, (or anyone else) feel free to tell me why I'm full of it if I am. (On this subject only, please. If you want to talk about one of the myriad other reasons I'm full of it we can do that elsewhere).

vm


Edited to remove URL

Roland98

I don't know about others, but I actually took that as a joke.

As the admins/founders of Crossandflame themselves say, "We are a Christian-based website with a focus in Interfaith discussion." Certainly the majority of the posters are Christian, but unlike many Christian boards, most on there will not tell you that their way is the "only way" or the "right way." They've been very helpful for others of many different religions/philosophies who've questioned their beliefs.

Again, you'd have to be more familiar with the site to judge. First, many atheists post there (including myself and DrummerGirl, among others). So they won't get only a Christian POV, unless they specifically request that. Second, Christians of all different stripes post there--from our self-described "fun fundamentalist," to Catholics ("liberal" and more traditional), to various types of Protestants, to Unitarians and deists, Muslims, satanists, pagans, wiccans, and probably more that I'm forgetting right now. An admin is a "searching deist/agnostic," and another mod is a "fuzzy agnostic." Even many of the Christians there have found the place because they were experiencing a faith crisis of some sort of another, which wasn't answered to their satisfaction at other Christian boards (or they were even kicked off for discussing it). Would the "Catholic church across the street" offer such a variety of viewpoints?

And it may be. I hope ljoey02 finds much help here, and I know I read through all sort of things during my deconversion (alas, I didn't know of this site then). Please take a moment, however, to look at this quote from the OP:

I think there is an amazing amount of material on the Infidels site (not only the forums), but it does give it from essentially one POV. Counting joey's Catholic upbringing, that would 2 sides to the story. However, I think there is much more to examine out there, and while reading about it is wonderful, it also helps to hear personal stories of how people arrived at their current position, and how they got there. Obviously, my outcome when I started to question my faith was atheism. Seebs and LROF ended up at different points. What I found to be the best part, though it sounds trite, truly was the journey; once I left Christianity I explored many religions I hadn't thought or learned much about before that point. I still find religion fascinating, and though I don't believe any of it, I don't think it's a bad thing to hear about different ones from people who actually practice them.

I don't think you're full of it; I think you make some valid points. I just think you made a few too many assumptions based on the forum titles, rather than on the content of the posts. Nothing wrong with that; I just think if you stuck around there you'd find that it's one of the more tolerant forums on the 'net of people of any or no religion.

Edited to add URL

Roland98

This thread was split off of ljoey02's thread here. Though it focuses currently on one online Christian-based forum, I thought it might serve as a good discussion of general recommendations to those questioning Christianity--is it harmful or should it be discouraged to have them read material from other Christians? Should secular resources/writings be suggested first and foremost? A third option? None of the above?

Icebrc

It does have a Christian bias, but it is primarily a free speech/open forum for interfaith discussions with an emphasis on Christianity.

considering one of its founders/admins is an agnostic (me) it obviously itsn't your traditional, fundy board. It was formed from posters at CBBS that were tired of limited religious discussions with moderating to a specific doctrine.

Because it isn't a "christian website" its a website with Christians on it. No statement of faith or doctrine is pushed by the website or administration. It is a place where all forms are welcome to discuss and debate with only moderating occuring at necissary times (ie ad hominem).

Rolland has answered this well, but I understand your point. However, is it more productive to send a person questioning their faith to a place that completely condems said belief?

The main difference about C+F than most Christian forums (that I've been to) is that there is no statement of faith to adhere to. My experience at CBBS taught me that if I didn't play by their rules completely and not mention things that may be dear to me then I am not accepted. At C+F this isn't the case, that is unless insulting others and being a troll is dear to you.

I'm up to answering any questions you may have.

Peace,
Icebrc

Doug

What better way to continue a journey of discovery than to look at the original belief with a critical eye? After all, it was the doctrine of said belief that originally caused it to be questioned.

Celsus

As Roland says, the point of such an exercise is to illustrate the vast variation within the "Christian" spectrum of beliefs. There are more than a few variations within, and perhaps finding one that works for the person is a good thing. By presenting the variety of beliefs, the person is better able to choose, rather than to be shown a false dichotomy or needless polarisation on the issue. Whether the proposed answers are valid should be left for the person in question to decide. Ok I'll stop now before I start sounding like an echo echo.

Joel

Arctic

Just be glad that someone didn't send him to christianforums.com eh?

After taking a look at the site, they do seem to be very accepting of other faiths, and there are a lot of 'athiests/agnostics' posting there in addition to Christians.

DrummerWench

Well, I could just echo the posts above, as well. Fortunately, Icebrc, here, can answer all your questions - he's there pretty much every day.

About the other only comment I can make about C+F, is that the forums often don't move very fast - it's a relatively young board, as far as I can tell, and hasn't built up a large membership yet.

Believe me, I'd rather be taken for an atheist than a fundy any day, but, uh, I'm still a theist (not that I think anyone else has to be).

DG

Roland98

Oops, my bad. Next time I'll double-check profiles.