Why is anti-Christian bigot running the Christianity section?

I admit to being new to Hip Forums but am certainly not new to being hip but really, the tone of the New Forum Rules guy is not appropriate to any discussion about Christianity. The guy's got a hard on for Christians and sounds pretty much like an atheist. So again, why is he running the Christianity section?

Oh yes, Christianity is lousy with bad violent history but so is Islam and actually just about every religion has its violent stages, even Buddhism for those of you who don't know about the Zen samarai in service to war lords.

I am a Gnostic Christian and our type of Christianity is in no way responsible for any of the god-awful history of traditional (Pauline) Christianity. In fact, we Gnostics were the very first victims of traditional Christians, our gospels burned and our early brethren run out of the Roman Empire by Christians right after they got the nod to power from Constantin, many fled to Egyptian deserts to escape persecution. Over 100,000 French Gnostics died at the hands of French Catholics. In fact, the whole Catholic Inquisition was started over Gnostic heretics. So it's time hip people start distinguishing between traditional or Pauline Christians and Gnostic Christians. They are not the same and blanket prejudice against Christianity is not just.

 

What kind of gnosis is the question why?

 

Forum Posting Guidelines / Terms of Service

10. Respect: The Hip Forums has an excellent staff of experienced, volunteer moderators who work very hard to keep the site free from spam and trolls. In order to do their job efficiently and effectively they require RESPECT from our members for the difficult and often thankless tasks they must perform daily. They've dedicated countless hours to keeping the forums running smoothly and an attractive place to hangout for so many people. So we won't tolerate ANY disrespect for our mods and admins, and those who do will be dealt with as trolls. If you have a problem with a mod, we suggest you first contact them thru PM and try to work out the issue. If you cannot, you can report the mod to an admin for further consideration of the problem. In no case will a public attack on our staff be tolerated.

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/misc.php?do=showrules

Plus, he is the site owner and he can make any rule he wants to.

 

I am a Muslim and I can close all this shit. Whats your point?

 

I'm a Progressive Christian, and I can relate to your dilemma. Besides Gnostics, there are other Christians who don't readily fit the stereotypes which often come under attack in this and the atheist forum. We have to live with the reality that the Pauline version is the predominant one on the planet. Paul may not have been right, but he and hs followers were certainly successful in the Darwinian struggle among competing faiths. What gave him the edge over the Gnostics is:
(1) plausible continuity with the Old Testament, which pagans respected because of its age (Gnostics tended to reject the OT and Yahweh); (2) the sacrifice-atonemnt model, in which sinners could be "saved" simply by having faith in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus (Gnostics tended to emphasize insight); (3) promise of the Resurrection as the "first fruits" of our own eternal life (Gnostics tended to regard Jesus' death as some kind of illusion); (4) an emphasis on the humanity of Jesus (Gnostics tended to see Jesus as mainly divine); (5) accessibility to ordinary folks (Gnostics stressed providing esoteric knowledge to an inner circle); and superior organization "on the ground" (following Saint Irennaus, Paulists built a hierarchical organization centered on the bishops).

As for Skip, his "biases" don't seem to inhibit a lively exchange on this site, and he's provided a Sanctuary for those who prefer a sheltered workshop.

 

:rofl:

On a more serious note, however, the rules put forth by Skip and what Meagain mentioned above is basically the same that Regs on the Christianity board of Bolt used to put forth toward anyone who came there to complain about how it seemed the non-Christians were running the show. The entire point of discussion or debate is to not just hear one side of it. What would be the point of only hearing Praise Jebus all day as though that was the only rational thing to do in regards to discussing Christianity?

 

I am still considering this forum and frankly I can't see how I can post my Gnostic Christian views here because of the owner's attack on Christianity written into the Forum Rules. How on earth do you have reasoned discussion when you can't make any references to any book, any outside source, any personal spiritual experience which defines any religious belief system, in short, anything outside of chit-chat seems to be excluded. I don't want to partake in a kangaroo court forum set up to exclude religiously inspired members because an atheist at the helm doesn't like religions.

Excluding personal religious visions guarantees I can't post any of my Gnostic Christian visions which define my personal Gnostic belief system, as personal spiritual visions define each and every Gnostic Christian's personal Christian belief system. Here I am forbidden to speak of them lest it be taken as "proselytizing", the standard card played against any non-traditional religious viewpoint that actually gets expressed on a forum. As a Gnostic Christian I follow the Solitary Path which forbids my telling anyone how to think or worship God. And I have no church for anyone to join, and no books for sale, only free information about a brand new yet very ancient Christian pathway God led me to discover via gnosis, spiritual experiences of "knowledge of God". But if I post any of this information, I automatically break the anti-Christian witnessing rules placed there by an atheist. I want to join a forum that respects intellectual honesty and free speech for religious members to express their religious beliefs without censorship or banning being a club held over their heads. And as for respect, respect is earned, not demanded.

 

Simple enough for me to understand.

 

You can reference your Holy Book and personal experiences if the thread is posted in the Sanctuary. That's supposed to be what the sanctuary is for, I believe.

Be thankful the person you're complaining about doesn't really post in the Xtain forums anymore. Those days were...unfortunate. I'm an atheist and I couldn't stomache that 'style of debate/insulting' that used to go on here.

 

I would have loved to have been here for that.

 

Ok, you try it. Try saying anything meaningful about your beliefs without any references to any other references. "I believe this". "You believe that". I can't refer you to others who believe as I do nor can you refer to others. We talk as if we stand alone on islands and are not permitted books or any source of communication with the outside world. In other words, a complete farce as a discussion forum because the rules actually prohibit being a social human being relating to other human beings.

And why do I have to go to the Sanctuary section. I don't want to be limited to debating other Christians, especially Pauline Christians. My Christianity is universal. It would be like telling atheists they can only only use this forum to talk to fellow atheists. Is that the case here?

 

First, I am basically an atheist. Secondly, take a look at the other threads to see how other Christians post in here.

 

Why do you seem to have an ax to grind with Skip??? Hmmm...

If it's only a matter of not liking our forums, you don't have to be here...it's simple - find another street corner to spread your insight.

yet you keep coming back and complaining about Skip...almost like you have it in for Skip...Do you have a history with Skip and Hip Forums?

 

I have a history with forum owners who set up public discussion forums inviting anyone interested in debating ideas about things using their forums to play God with other people's beliefs and expression of those beliefs and opinions using censorship and banishment of invited members as their tools to do so. I just don't want to waste my time going through the same old shit here. That's why I ask now before I start posting and no doubt breaking rules just trying to tell you honestly what I think.

I admit to running into this issue of censorship of beliefs quite a bit on religious discussion forums because my personal religious belief system is not orthodox Christianity but a modern Gnostic variety which seems to piss off both traditional (Pauline) Christian forum owners and monitors and atheist forum owners and monitors. Don't get flack from non-Christian forum or theist forum owners, probably because there aren't many out there with forums, the Christians and atheists being the most prolific of forum creators.

 

Oh, well...try to have your discussion and see how it goes. People are pretty cool here, even if hotly opinionated.

It's a big forum; lots of other discussions going on. You might try some lighter topics and enjoy them too - unless you're just here to grind on that one ax.

 

One possibility might be the Sanctuary, where you can quote scripture--even Gnostic ones. You can also paraphrase here and include Bible citations for people to look up the actual words you're talking about. I gather these rules were a response to some serious Bible thumping and proselytizing of a kind that I can live without. I'd like to see your Gnostic views and hope others here or in the Christian Sanctuary will welcome you as Christians should. You're not the only Gnostic who has shared on these forums, and I imagine you'll find others who will join in discussions with you.

 

You've made 5 posts and now you're an expert on how discussions are handled at hip forums?

I've been posting here since Oct 2007 and have made over 9,000 posts, most right here in the Christianity forum and although I've had discussions with several anti-Christian bigots, I've never had any problems with Skip or the moderators of the Christian or Sanctuary forums over my Christian beliefs, even though they are not your more typical beliefs.

Instead of getting your mind in a twist over what you assume the purpose of the rules are, perhaps you should actually start a discussion of your beliefs and see how it goes.

But keep in mind most here want to hear what you have to say and are not interested in hearing you parrot long passages of what others have said.

Also keep in mind, proselytizing is best done in person, face to face, as Jesus did and not anonymously in a forum like this.

PS if you want to quote or cite more than a scripture or two, to support what you have to say, you might want to post in the Sanctuary forum as it is allowed there. Although for the sake of band width, even there, you might want to limit the use of long Scripture quotes.

 

OK, I'll see how it goes but if I get banned I want all the money I paid to join refunded.