Ultimate Forum Rules Fail

[Angrboda]

I can't help but be struck by the similarity between this style of forum management, and that practiced by the Loose Change forum and other 9/11 Truther forums. On such boards, truth is tolerated only so long as it falls within the prior established boundaries of what The Truth[TM] is. It's basically dogmatism itself as a principle of operation.

And I can understand Polaris' point, somewhat, that these forums are operated for the benefit of Christians and that allowing debate and anti-theism to disrupt that purpose is certainly a valid concern. However, if your truth is so fragile that you have to erect special barriers to its dismantling, maybe it's not a very good truth? ("If your faith can move mountains, it should be able to handle a little criticism.") All the same, there are goals which are more social, ministerial, shepherding, and concerned with the well being of others (in terms of the fate of their souls) which are not totally unjustifiable given that they are Christian forums. I've only ever participated on one Christ centered forum, and that is theologyweb.com. They handle this issue by segregating their forum to allow for conflict to occur in a controlled way. There is one section for duking it out, supposedly to let their members develop their apologetic skills, there's a section for comparative religion, there's a section or two for doctrinaire concerns, there's a section which hosts outside apologetics content, and there's even a section where non-theists can post, but theists cannot. (And there's a "Psychotherapy Room" section where, if you're ticked off about a forum rule or moderator action, you can rant to your heart's content — and not simply to defuse your objection, they make some effort to see if things can't be, in some measure, worked out.)

Anyway, tWeb is an interesting place, with considerable religious diversity combined with a strong Christ centered focus, and while I have some reservations still, I think they do a good job of being fair and accommodating to all. (As much as can be expected, maybe.)