Thank you to everyone who has responded to date (nearly fifty participants on this forum). Your constructive approach to answering the questions has exceeded expectations. If you haven't answered yet or have more to add please feel free to do so. In the next 12 - 24 hours I hope to compile a summary of the responses to date to share with the moderators but also on this thread. Its really important to the moderation team that participants across the religious and political spectrum feel welcomed here and they belong.
I've given this some thought today and do have a bit more to add on this topic.
When the forum I was on for nearly 20 years changed venue to a news only outlet and shut down their forum section, I looked all over for a substitute, (And NO I do NOT have a forum addiction, I can quit whenever I want, honest!) and most of the strict "agreement only/no argument" forums were pretty dead. And RF was the only one I found that had a fair amount of activity because it didn't seem to have a strict "agreement only" policy, and allowed real debating. So I strongly believe that most people LIKE debating religious topics, even if it gets a bit heated at times, as well as discussing their beliefs with other like minded individuals. The point being that you are doing something right to have this much activity on RF or it would be as dead as the other forums I tried out.
Also, there are always people on forums who are insecure in their beliefs or just insecure in themselves and get upset at everyone who disagrees with their religious beliefs. Personally, I cannot understand this. There are thousands of religions with thousands of denominations within all those religions because nobody can agree on any of them. That is why most people avoid bringing religion up in public, to prevent an all out brawl from erupting. Or at the very least a heated argument and hurt feelings. So if someone thinks everyone is just going to agree with them and convert to their religion just because they say they should, or agree with everything they say, they should not be in forums, because they are going to get a lot of flak with that approach. And by trying to make them feel welcomed and belong here, having everyone agree with them, no dissent, isn't going to work well with everyone else.
The bottom line is that in any forum there will be things people do and do not like. You cannot please everybody because in making a change to please one person, other people may not like the change. So I think a lot of the complaints I've read here all come down to just personal responsibility. If you don't like a reply or person, just ignore them. Same for the political section, just don't go there. Or if one gets too much flak on something they've stated, then THEY should review their comments and try to understand how it offended others so much, then decide if it's worth defending it or trying to make amends. As basically a lot of the complaints comes down to just making personal choices. Nothing in life is perfect for everyone.
