Forum Feedback & Proposals

Benny_Cake

In response to recent comments, it seems like it might be a good idea to provide a thread such as this in order for users to provide constructive feedback. How do you feel this forum is going? Where would you like it to go? Any good ideas or suggestions - post them here. A number of issues were previously raised on this thread.

I haven't made this a sticky as we already have 5 of them already - far more than most forums, and another one might start to play havoc with the mobile site. If it's felt that any of the existing stickies are surplus to requirements (not the charter though!), I'd be happy to unsticky (that even a word?) it and put this up in it's place.

Thanks in advance for any feedback and hopefully we can resolve some of the issues people have with this forum.

hinault

Before replying to a poster in the Christianity forum, I try to discern if they believe in the existence of God.
To help me discern a poster's views I make a point of checking their posting history first.

If a poster is atheist/agnostic, I avoid reading and replying to their posts in the Christianity section of the board.

I don't know what business an atheist/agnostic has posting to the Christianity section of Boards, except apart from posting to a specific thread about atheism/agnosticism in the Christianity section.
Except for this, I can see no other reason for their participation in the Christianity section of this Forum, or any other belief-specific section of Boards.

If the poster does believe in God but isn't a Catholic/Christian I've no difficulty in reading and replying to their posts.
Their participation is welcome as far as I'm concerned.

Sonics2k

hinault wrote: »

Before replying to a poster in the Christianity forum, I try to discern if they believe in the existence of God.
To help me discern a poster's views I make a point of checking their posting history first.

If a poster is atheist/agnostic, I avoid reading and replying to their posts in the Christianity section of the board.

I don't know what business an atheist/agnostic has posting to the Christianity section of Boards, except apart from posting to a specific thread about atheism/agnosticism in the Christianity section.
Except for this, I can see no other reason for their participation in the Christianity section of this Forum, or any other belief-specific section of Boards.

If the poster does believe in God but isn't a Catholic/Christian I've no difficulty in reading and replying to their posts.
Their participation is welcome as far as I'm concerned.

And yet yourself have posted in the Atheism & Agnosticism forum a number of times.

Boards.ie is primarily a forum for debate and discussion.
You always free to simply ignore a poster, but its not courteous to do so for no reasons other than "he doesn't believe in a God(s)".

As for the forum, frankly I quite enjoy the debate here, and while I may not agree with the point of view, there are some good posters here on all sides.

Also, bennycake does a great job as a moderator here, encouraging debate but also handing out infractions, warnings and bans to those who deserve them, including myself a few times.

Zombrex

hinault wrote: »

Before replying to a poster in the Christianity forum, I try to discern if they believe in the existence of God.
To help me discern a poster's views I make a point of checking their posting history first.

If a poster is atheist/agnostic, I avoid reading and replying to their posts in the Christianity section of the board.

Er, no you don't. You argue with them attempting to demonstrate that they are either wrong or ignorant and when you invariably fail to do that, you get cross and complain that they shouldn't be on the forum.

This is nothing more than a tactic for saving face after the weakness of your position has been pointed out and a way of avoiding that weakness being shown publicly.

As Sonic points out you are free to ignore any poster or post if you do not wish to engage with them. But to engage with them and then throw your toys out of the pram because they cause problems for your arguments is highly disingenuous.

hinault

Sonics2k wrote: »

Also, bennycake does a great job as a moderator here, encouraging debate but also handing out infractions, warnings and bans to those who deserve them, including myself a few times.

BC does a good job moderating.

lmaopml

I was originally against the notion of a 'mega thread' which after some reconsideration I think is absolutely bang on the only solution to at least reduce some of the noise on some of the other threads in the forum.

Unfortunately the only other problem I would have on the forum is that it can be a little impossible at times to have a thread that lasts and can be productive to Christians, on specifically Christian things - like Heaven, Hell, Purgatory or Theology, Saints etc. with other Christians without it getting derailed - but then that's just a case of moderating those threads I suppose.

As opposed to the 'Christian Spirited Responses' tags that I know are a no no from the very top of the powers that be on boards - would it be ok to 'imply' this in the body of the OP? Obviously not as a 'rule' of course, but as a request for posters to have some kind of netiquette?

Other than missing some of the posters who don't post anymore because we have had problems....... I'm happy enough to breeze in and out here and see what interests me.

Another thumbs up for Benny moderating this forum here - and a thanks too!

nagirrac

As an outsider who rarely posts on here (save for the existence of God thread), in my opinion there is no reason why religious posters should have to defend their beliefs against militant atheist attack on a religious forum, unless a thread is set up specifically for the purpose to debate belief/non belief. There is plenty room for the militant atheists to vent their spleens on A&A, as many if not most of the threads on A&A are set up to mock religious belief. How many threads do we see on here mocking atheists? Would one be allowed?

There is no difference in my mind between a religious fundamentalist and a militant atheist, they are two sides of the same coin. Both suffer from delusions of grandeur, and display all the psychological signs of a deep set neurosis. One has to be somewhat sympathetic as their anger is destructive to themselves, but the larger issue is that both groups represent a great threat to society as they are extreme in their views and given a chance would love nothing more than impose those views on others. History is littered with the mayhem that ensues when religious fundamentalists or militant atheists gain power.

I am not suggesting all atheists are militant or angry, far from it as most on boards and most in real life are reasonable people. The militant/angry ones are easy to spot however. If an strong atheist poster is just as active on a religious forum as on the A&A forum that is a clue, as what that suggests is their hatred for the idea of God is so great that they cannot get enough satisfaction from venting that hate on the A&A forum.

Christianity is supposed to be based on humility, before God and before one's fellow man. In my view there should be no accommodation on a Christianity forum for arrogant militant atheism, and as long as it is accommodated you will continue to see a decline in numbers, just like in real life.

Geomy

nagirrac wrote: »

As an outsider who rarely posts on here (save for the existence of God thread), in my opinion there is no reason why religious posters should have to defend their beliefs against militant atheist attack on a religious forum, unless a thread is set up specifically for the purpose to debate belief/non belief. There is plenty room for the militant atheists to vent their spleens on A&A, as many if not most of the threads on A&A are set up to mock religious belief. How many threads do we see on here mocking atheists? Would one be allowed?

There is no difference in my mind between a religious fundamentalist and a militant atheist, they are two sides of the same coin. Both suffer from delusions of grandeur, and display all the psychological signs of a deep set neurosis. One has to be somewhat sympathetic as their anger is destructive to themselves, but the larger issue is that both groups represent a great threat to society as they are extreme in their views and given a chance would love nothing more than impose those views on others. History is littered with the mayhem that ensues when religious fundamentalists or militant atheists gain power.

I am not suggesting all atheists are militant or angry, far from it as most on boards and most in real life are reasonable people. The militant/angry ones are easy to spot however. If an strong atheist poster is just as active on a religious forum as on the A&A forum that is a clue, as what that suggests is their hatred for the idea of God is so great that they cannot get enough satisfaction from venting that hate on the A&A forum.

Christianity is supposed to be based on humility, before God and before one's fellow man. In my view there should be no accommodation on a Christianity forum for arrogant militant atheism, and as long as it is accommodated you will continue to see a decline in numbers, just like in real life.

Well said nagirrac, but from what I can observe those arrogant millitant types seem to be more obsessed about God than the believers.

Religious fundamentalists and militant atheists are very dangerous, because on each side you have one against the other. ...

I prefer discussion and dialogue rather than, the you're wrong approach, or you're delusional.

I have z taunting me I respond and am accused of wanting to opposition to be nice to me, so does that mean the opposition is being vindictive intentionally ?

tommy2bad

Ah lads (and ladies) atheists are welcome to post if they have something to ask or spot something that strikes them as a bit mad. Otherwise a forum like this can turn into an echo chamber.
It might be better if christian topics could avoid having to defend every little thing from the non believers. But then again theirs the danger of it turning into a prot versus cath thing in about ten posts.
The whole 'you are wrong' thing is a bit tiring after a while.
In the end threads like http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056982953 make it worthwhile coming here.

homer911

Perhaps we could have one sticky, with an extended title, with links to items that would otherwise be stickies?

Benny_Cake

homer911 wrote: »

Perhaps we could have one sticky, with an extended title, with links to items that would otherwise be stickies?

Sounds like a good idea Homer. I would suggest that we could have a "Christian resources: Books, Churches and Bible Verses" which would simply contain links to those three threads which would no longer be stickies. I think it would be nice to keep the prayer request thread as a sticky. If this thread is added as a sticky then the number is reduced to a manageable four. Any thoughts?

lionmqj

I don't post that much on here but I've never seen so much arguing on a christian forum till I joined this one. Most things that are posted are just plain attacked without any understanding what they are attacking. In other words they don't understand the context of some of the posts and they then attack the poster or God.

For me, If we are to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18) together, then to do this together we need this forum to be free of people constantly trying to tear down discussions.

martinedwards

That copy and pasting your daily bible reading email to a thread here with no further comment is pushing the charter as a "discussion"?

if someone has a comment, question or a challenge about the reading notes then fair enough, but just a cut & paste?

really?

Benny_Cake

martinedwards wrote: »

That copy and pasting your daily bible reading email to a thread here with no further comment is pushing the charter as a "discussion"?

if someone has a comment, question or a challenge about the reading notes then fair enough, but just a cut & paste?

really?

Moved this into the Forum Feedback thread Martin as it's probably best suited to here.

You probably have a point, my free time here has been limited lately but copy and paste jobs / youtube links without any attempt to initiate discussion isn't really in keeping with the spirit of a discussion forum.

lionmqj

If copying and pasting edifies and helps us "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18) together, then there is nothing wrong with that.

What ever is pasted is open for discussion of course. This is a forum after all. Although if what ever is posted makes no sense to someone then it does not give them the right to attack the poster or God.

To quote lmaopml below "Unfortunately the only other problem I would have on the forum is that it can be a little impossible at times to have a thread that lasts and can be productive to Christians, on specifically Christian things.................with other Christians without it getting derailed" This is concerning for productive discussion.

brian_t

Sonics2k wrote: »

And yet yourself have posted in the Atheism & Agnosticism forum a number of times.

Boards.ie is primarily a forum for debate and discussion.

According to one of the Category Moderators

The Christianity forum is "a place for believers to discuss their faith and related issues"

and the Atheism & Agnosticism forum is the place to "question" those beliefs.

nesf wrote: »

Regardless, if the moderators of that forum want to say that questioning the faith/religion is not allowed there then that is fine since the forum's purpose is to give a place for believers to discuss their faith and related issues not to give a place for people to question such (which is provided in this forum).

Benny_Cake

lionmqj wrote: »

If copying and pasting edifies and helps us "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18) together, then there is nothing wrong with that.

In a Boards context, that depends. Copying and pasting articles from newspapers or other copyrighted articles must be restricted to a title, one paragraph, and a link to the original article. No leeway on this whatsoever, in this forum or anywhere else on Boards (feel free to object to Minister Sherlock!).

With regard to the contents of prayer/devotional emails, I'm going to assume that the originators wouldn't object to them being propagated. That said, this isn't Reddit or usenet, and I don't think that anyone's user experience will be enhanced by having the front page populated largely by copy and pasted material. What I think might be acceptable would be if you (or anyone else) would simply create a single thread and add to it as you wish, while providing a link to the originating website at the bottom of each post. Sound reasonable?

Benny_Cake

brian_t wrote: »

According to one of the Category Moderators

The Christianity forum is "a place for believers to discuss their faith and related issues"

and the Atheism & Agnosticism forum is the place to "question" those beliefs.

It's a little more complex than that I think. The idea of a forum restricted only to Christians has been raised on several occasions in the past and has been shot down from the very top. The idea of threads which are flagged as being "Christian-only" or "Christian spirited responses only" has also been shot down.

I will say that I'm opposed to the idea of restricting access to those who hold a particular belief: it's impractical to implement and it also seems to go against the spirit of discussion: if a non-Christian has a genuine question, they should be able to do it here. I do support the concept of being able to designate threads as "Christian spirited responses only" but it simply isn't on the table, unfortunately. I will say though that in the past threads have been dragged off the rails by responses which are simply mean spirited and this is something on which a tougher line needs to be taken. That's intended as a self-criticism by the way, I'm not always as quick off the mark as I need to be.

lionmqj

Benny_Cake wrote: »

In a Boards context, that depends. Copying and pasting articles from newspapers or other copyrighted articles must be restricted to a title, one paragraph, and a link to the original article. No leeway on this whatsoever, in this forum or anywhere else on Boards (feel free to object to Minister Sherlock!).

With regard to the contents of prayer/devotional emails, I'm going to assume that the originators wouldn't object to them being propagated. That said, this isn't Reddit or usenet, and I don't think that anyone's user experience will be enhanced by having the front page populated largely by copy and pasted material. What I think might be acceptable would be if you (or anyone else) would simply create a single thread and add to it as you wish, while providing a link to the originating website at the bottom of each post. Sound reasonable?

Would this really work because you could end up with one thread that is all over the place with no single context and overlapping posts? A lot of confusion in that thread and to be fair to everyone to get a chance to comment on the OP in one context then they surely would have to be separate unless they are in the same context. I think if someone wants to paste something then they should paste it into a thread that suits the context of what they are pasting but if its a different context then start a new thread.

emuhead

I'd love to see a restricted access sub forum like Ranting and Raving where you can discuss your faith and get support from other Christians without having to defend your beliefs all the time.

SoulandForm

Sonics2k wrote: »

And yet yourself have posted in the Atheism & Agnosticism forum a number of times.

If he or she did do infact do that than they were sinning against the Gospel command not "to cast pearls before swine" (those were the words our Lord used). St Paul makes clear that the existence of a creator is manifest to all so that atheists are without excuse. Of course belief in the Triune nature of God, the Incarnation, etc is not the same thing.

brian_t

SoulandForm wrote: »

If he or she did do infact do that than they were sinning against the Gospel command not "to cast pearls before swine" (those were the words our Lord used).

Surely they are following the example of Jesus "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 2:17

I think this is off-topic for this thread though.

SoulandForm

brian_t wrote: »

Surely they are following the example of Jesus "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 2:17

I think this is off-topic for this thread though.

How does that contradict the words about not casting pearls before swine?

Can you really not see the difference between accepting anybody no matter their past in Church and arguing with atheists?

No I think its very on topic.

brianbeenan

I was shocked today by a post. No going to go into details, but basically it accused sombody of a crime they didn't do. So the post was border line criminal/Online bullying.

What makes it worse is that it happened in a forum that is supposed to be Christian.

Thankfully it was deleted. I have a read on threads and I see some heated debates. Now I wasn't looking for a heated discussion on anything, I just had what I thought was a very innocent and well meaning thread.

So what is this forum all about? I am thinking I should cancel my account given the email notifications about the posts. It really really shocked me today to see how a person could be torn down by a comment made on this website.

Porthos

brianbeenan wrote: »

I was shocked today by a post. No going to go into details, but basically it accused sombody of a crime they didn't do. So the post was border line criminal/Online bullying.

What makes it worse is that it happened in a forum that is supposed to be Christian.

Thankfully it was deleted. I have a read on threads and I see some heated debates. Now I wasn't looking for a heated discussion on anything, I just had what I thought was a very innocent and well meaning thread.

So what is this forum all about? I am thinking I should cancel my account given the email notifications about the posts. It really really shocked me today to see how a person could be torn down by a comment made on this website.

I saw the post you were referring to and I too thought it was in bad taste to slur a religious order who did nothing wrong.

Not surprised that other posters have left as mentioned in #6 of this thread! I may not join in discussions but I do like to read what others have to say, and it's a shame to see a thread get derailed.

brianbeenan

Porthos wrote: »

I saw the post you were referring to and I too thought it was in bad taste to slur a religious order who did nothing wrong.

Not surprised that other posters have left as mentioned in #6 of this thread! I may not join in discussions but I do like to read what others have to say, and it's a shame to see a thread get derailed.

I have the email with the Original post. How he(or she) could have attacked the sisters in such an open fashion was really shocking, because it was targeted as a specific group of People.

It really was a criminal post to be honest to blacken the name of someone without a shred of evidence based on pure speculation.

Doctor DooM

Sorry, you ARE complaining about a post that's been removed, right?

What exactly would you like the mod to have done?

brianbeenan

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Sorry, you ARE complaining about a post that's been removed, right?

What exactly would you like the mod to have done?

Sorry,, Let me be clear. I am really thankful to the mod and have no issues with boards.ie. My anger is at the poster and his comment in this forum which is supposed to be Christian.

Also probably nice if you could ban the poster from the forum since he has nothing constructive to add.

Benny_Cake

brianbeenan wrote: »

Sorry,, Let me be clear. I am really thankful to the mod and have no issues with boards.ie. My anger is at the poster and his comment in this forum which is supposed to be Christian.

Also probably nice if you could ban the poster from the forum since he has nothing constructive to add.

It's really the nature of the site, and isn't specific to this forum. Posts on Boards aren't pre-moderated which is why it's so important that people report posts when necessary. No question though that politics, religion and sport are very divisive subjects and that is reflected here on Boards.

I'd rather not discuss individual posters here if possible. As far as I'm concerned, this matter should be put to rest.

lmaopml

I hate reporting posts Benny, I wouldn't be a serial 'reporter'..lol.. - but I'm willing to change my mind in an effort to have the forum a good place to come and talk. Where's Plowman these days? I hope he is okay?

Benny_Cake

lmaopml wrote: »

I hate reporting posts Benny, I wouldn't be a serial 'reporter'..lol.. - but I'm willing to change my mind in an effort to have the forum a good place to come and talk. Where's Plowman these days? I hope he is okay?

He's doing well as far as I know...a lot of real life commitments though!

Don't ever feel bad about reporting posts. I don't mind it at all as long as someone isn't simply reporting something that they disagree with! I can't say that there has been much of a problem with that.

Doctor DooM

brianbeenan wrote: »

Sorry,, Let me be clear. I am really thankful to the mod and have no issues with boards.ie. My anger is at the poster and his comment in this forum which is supposed to be Christian.

Also probably nice if you could ban the poster from the forum since he has nothing constructive to add.

Christian forum or not, Boards has a bunch of rules which revolve around "Don't be a dick".

I don't see there's actually much point in going on about it as it had been actioned, tbh- a public forum on boards is never going to be allowed to restrict access based on creed as that basically goes against everything the place stands for (and I would be one of the first complaining if it did). I'm not personally a christian but I enjoy reading this forum immensely, I enjoy many of the theological threads without getting involved at all AND I feel I'm perfectly able to debate without doing so in an insulting way. I don't think there's any point in moaning about an eejit showing up. It's going to happen, everywhere.

TBH, as a mod myself, I think Benny has one of the hardest forums on the site to run and does a most excellent job, perhaps even more so than the prior mods. I do feel sorry for him that the idea of "Christian minded responses" can't be used, but I suppose the problem there is that in the past people with homophobic or other agendas have used their religion to hide behind, and people like that should never go unopposed by those they judge somewhere like this. I like to think I restrict myself from poking myself in where it's not suitable but not everyone will know to do that.

Sorry I'm rambling now

lmaopml

Agreed, it's one of the hardest forums I'm quite sure to moderate doctordoom, along with politics and possibly afterhours - Fanny and PDN I have a massive soft spot for, I think they did a great job for a long time too.

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole tbh - I'd possibly moderate a 'cheese' forum however if one should ever exist.

Benny_Cake

lmaopml wrote: »

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole tbh - I'd possibly moderate a 'cheese' forum however if one should ever exist.

You should request one, after all, there is a mustard forum. Although I'd say stilton vs gouda debates could get pretty nasty.

MrPudding

brianbeenan wrote: »

I was shocked today by a post. No going to go into details, but basically it accused sombody of a crime they didn't do. So the post was border line criminal/Online bullying.

What makes it worse is that it happened in a forum that is supposed to be Christian.

I presume you as referring to my post, unless someone else came up with a similar one, wouldn't that be interesting.

I did not accuse the order of anything, I merely said it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read you post. Given the history of the various orders, and the revelations of that last few years, I would be surprised if that idea did not pop into anyone else's head.

So, in summary, I did not accuse anyone of anything, I merely posted what popped into my head when I read the story. No one was accused of anything and I am pretty sure no one was libelled. I also very much doubt the post was either criminal or bullying. I won't apologise to saying what I am sure many people would think.

If you were to my post then just ignore what I said.

MrP

brian_t

MrPudding wrote: »

Given the history of the various orders, and the revelations of that last few years, I would be surprised if that idea did not pop into anyone else's head.

Was your post contrary to the part of the Charter below.

Please note that there are certain megathreads to which particular subjects should be confined. This is because these subjects tend to overrun and hijack other threads.

brianbeenan

MrPudding wrote: »

I presume you as referring to my post, unless someone else came up with a similar one, wouldn't that be interesting.

I did not accuse the order of anything, I merely said it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read you post. Given the history of the various orders, and the revelations of that last few years, I would be surprised if that idea did not pop into anyone else's head.

So, in summary, I did not accuse anyone of anything, I merely posted what popped into my head when I read the story. No one was accused of anything and I am pretty sure no one was libelled. I also very much doubt the post was either criminal or bullying. I won't apologise to saying what I am sure many people would think.

If you were to my post then just ignore what I said.

MrP

Nope it was not your post. The post was removed by MODS not going into details.

Be careful what you ask for .. writing a post about a person(s) without the full facts can literally ruin their live(s). Immagine if someone accused you of something.

Reminds me of the time a Doctor was attached in England because some idiot got pediatrician confused with Pedophile (yes people are that stupid).

MrPudding

brian_t wrote: »

Was your post contrary to the part of the Charter below.

Perhaps.

MrP

Benny_Cake

brian_t wrote: »

Was your post contrary to the part of the Charter below.

brianbeenan wrote: »

Nope it was not your post. The post was removed by MODS not going into details.

Be careful what you ask for .. writing a post about a person(s) without the full facts can literally ruin their live(s). Immagine if someone accused you of something.

Reminds me of the time a Doctor was attached in England because some idiot got pediatrician confused with Pedophile (yes people are that stupid).

Folks, this is verging on backseat modding and lets ease back on the hyperbole. This matter is closed, and if anyone wants to continue discussing it they can do so via PM.

MrPudding

brianbeenan wrote: »

Nope it was not your post. The post was removed by MODS not going into details.

Be careful what you ask for .. writing a post about a person(s) without the full facts can literally ruin their live(s). Immagine if someone accused you of something.

Reminds me of the time a Doctor was attached in England because some idiot got pediatrician confused with Pedophile (yes people are that stupid).

You might find this interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4719364.stm

There was no attack, per se, but obviously still an unpleasant experience for the paediatritian involved.

MrP