Civility subsection suggestion

[The Grand Nudger]

That's because shells not a bitch, she's a baller and a big girl.

[Amarok]

That's because shells not a bitch, she's a baller and a big girl.  

Very true 

[Edwardo Piet]

^^ reported

Good, may my warning level rise.

That's one of the most creative euphemisms for a penis that I've ever heard!

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1. Referring to the Bible/Quran as "magic book" or "book of fairy tales".

Not uncivil. Accurate description of how those books are treated by those who believe in them... they do treat those books like it's magical. And their views really are no more serious than fairy tales, and pretending that they are more serious than fairy tales would just be dishonest.

Referring to such books as "a pile of crap" would be uncivil.

2. Pointing out to someone that they're being disingenuous, or are incredibly ignorant about a subject they're discussing.

Not uncivil. "Disingenuous" isn't an insult and "ignorant" just means someone needs educating. We're all ignorant of something. Calling someone a "fucktard" or a "moron" or "lying asshole" would be uncivil.

3. Willfully referring to someone as a gender that they clearly do not identify with.

Extremely rude, uncivil, and at times even bigoted. "I personally believe gender is entirely down to biology... so whilst I wouldn't consider you to be the gender you identify with I'm going to refer to you as the gender you identify with in order to respect your wishes and be courteous" would be civil.

4. Referring to certain views as nonsense/garbage/rubbish, even while seriously addressing the various points being made.

Not uncivil. "Bullshit" would be though.

[The Grand Nudger]

Being "civil" is..apparently............. a measure of your willingness to stretch a lie that you don;t believe in.

[Amarok]

Being "civil" is..apparently............. a measure of your willingness to stretch a lie that you don;t believe in.

Indeed 

How can lying be civilized?

[johan]

I've been able to participate in discussions, no problem. It's just tedious having to comb through the shit posting and wasting my time responding to people who end up not actually being interested in discussion lol.

This is kind of what I thought you might say. You've not found yourself limited or otherwise driven away from the discussions you've wanted to participate in. You've found it tedious to wade through the muck and have been frustrated by wasting time trying to converse with those who turned out to not be all that interested in actual dialog.

All of that is understandable. And like I said, I also believe I understand what your intentions are with your proposal. Like you, an increased amount of actual productive discussion and dialog with those who hold views counter to my own is something I'd be interested in. 

But here's my devil's advocate thoughts on the subject which are in addition to or outside of the apprehensions I've already discussed.

Though you've found some of (or perhaps all of) the discussions tedious, you've not been driven off and haven't found yourself unable to say what you wanted to say.  And if I've read your comments correctly, on some level your interest is not so much in changing things for your own benefit, but rather for creating an area that would be less likely to drive off those who would otherwise disappear from the discussion due to the name calling/insults/etc.  The obvious interest being that it would be good for all involved to hear the perspective of those particular folks who are as of now largely silent in these discussions.

If I have that right, here's my thoughts on it. A large part of the reason that you've not been driven off is not due to your own thick skin (though I'm sure that helps) but rather because you've come to this place more with an interest in learning rather than an interest in preaching/converting. And that, possibly along with your own particular personality, has to some extent tempered your comments. And that tempering has made the population here less inclined to want to write your off/not care if you're insulted etc than they otherwise normally would have. Put another way, you spoke and/or addressed those here differently than our average theist normally would and as a result, you've been able to participate more. 

So what this tells me is that many of those whom you're intending to create a discussion space for, would not need such a space if they better understood the audience they were addressing and knew how to temper their comments appropriately so as to avoid much of the insults and name calling that inevitably results. IOW you yourself have shown that its entirely possible for a theist to remain a theist and yet be accepted and respected here. That others are unable to do this should be something they are burdened with solving themselves rather than us trying to create a solution for them.

That's perspective #1. Here is perspective #2. You find it tedious to waste your time getting wrapped up in responding to people who turn to out be not really interested in the actual discussion. Its entirely possible to troll a discussion and yet remain completely civil at all times. Therefore your proposed solution won't necessarily solve that issue.

[Catholic_Lady]

That is true that people here are more respectful and considerate of me than they are with some of the other theists. However, let me tell you, it took some time to gain that level of respect. It certainly wasnt like that when I first joined, and building up to that happened gradually over time. I stayed anyway (though taking some breaks in between lol), but others might not if they get too discouraged or don't have the same patience. Or they might become bitter in the process.

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As for perspective #2, I concede that there will always be people who skirt the rules and break the spirit of the rules. But I really think it will be a great improvement in that regard from the rest of the forums. Because people can just act like that on the rest of the forum. So why request to join a section for civil discussion if you dont want civil discussion, when you can just say whatever you want on the rest of the forum? I really do think a section like this would bring down the level of shit posting.

[Edwardo Piet]

I really do think a section like this would bring down the level of shit posting.

Wait, this means no more poop-posts from you?

[Catholic_Lady]

That's not my intention (to push boundaries and all). And we have several productive and good discussions in this forum that I have been glad to be a part of. And I got to be a part of them while not worrying much about If this subforum is made, not only will I have to ponder what exactly constitutes civil or not, most of these good and productive discussions will probably be centered in the subforum (as Steel pointed out earlier), and there probably won't be many of such threads outside of it.

If you read the rules and still can't figure out what would and would not be allowed, then I would suggest you err on the side of caution and reword whatever it is you are unsure about. Since it is not your intention to push boundaries, as you said, this should be no problem.

If you still find this too difficult or if you otherwise can't or don't want to bring yourself to follow those rules but still have things to say about the topic at hand, simply create a parallel thread anywhere else on the forum. Im sure you wont be the only person participating in that.

Problem solving skills!

[Edwardo Piet]

When in doubt throw it out. Yeah seems like the best maxim.