Goodbye Perhaps?

[rocala]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but **** me what is the appeal of that pile of *****.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

 

[JustGeorge]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but f***k me what is the appeal of that pile of s***t.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

I am sick to the back of my teeth of Biden, Trump, and other political issues as well. I get it.

I wasn't around ten years ago, I've been here a mere four.

But, I like to think there's enough good people around to make the place worthwhile.

What more would you like to see?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Whether you stay or go -- well, that's entirely up to you. Same for the rest of us.

I'm here because I like to dialogue, I like to discuss, I like to debate -- and yes, even sometimes to fight. If what I wanted was to be agreed with on every word I ever said, I would have left about 12 minutes after I joined.

If you came to RF only for the Biblical knowledge, well, I think you must have been disappointed, because there are many superb scholars on that subject who have never posted here. I've read them.

So, you'll stay as long as you're getting what you're looking for, whatever it is. Me too, and the rest of the company. And we'll leave when we're not getting that (or when we die -- some of us are old).

Just make sure to do whatever you do because it's what you want to do. Your life is yours, not ours.

 

[SalixIncendium]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but f***k me what is the appeal of that pile of s***t.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

I, too, am sick of the whole Trump/Biden discussion, but the political mud-slinging does typically tend to ramp up in election years.

I largely ignore the political arena here. I know it's not the easiest thing to do, especially if one 'surfs' the forum on the 'new posts' menu. I and others have expressed displeasure privately with the visibility of all the political threads on a forum whose primary function is religious discussion and debate.

Ideally, I'd like to see an 'opt-in' function on the software where political threads would only be visible to those who opt in for participation on the political forums, or an 'opt-out' function to remove them from visibility. I've mentioned this behind the scenes, but the idea has yet to gain any traction.

Know that the staff is aware of your concerns and they have been/are being discussed behind the scenes. I, for one, hope you stick around.

 

[Vinayaka]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but f***k me what is the appeal of that pile of s***t.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

Personally, I'd like to see a ban on American politics on this forum. Surely there are better places on reddit to have at it. I come on once every couple of days, and after a quick scan of new posts, think 'same old same old', and log out. If it wasn't for the few people who try hard to start new and interesting threads, I probably would be gone as well. At one time I tried to start a lot of threads, as its something we all need to contribute to for it to work. But each individual only has so many ideas, and personally, with regard to religion, my interests are 90% Hindu, and 10% religion overall, so mostly I'm only relevant to the few Hindus here.

 

[ChristineM]

For the last few weeks I have been getting a strong urge to say my goodbyes to the people of RF. This is not meant as disrespect to them but more out of a feeling of loss.

When I joined ten years ago, the debate was at times exhilarating. Biblical knowledge was superb. There were Buddhists and Pagans too, who really knew there stuff. The downside was a fair number who seemed to be here simply to mock
I recall when (in my opinion) the best Buddhist announced his departure, he was asked "why" and he replied, "have you looked around this place".

Well I don't expect great Buddhism, but I am sick to the back teeth of Biden and Trump. Sick sick sick.

Of course, not all members are too concerned about those gentlemen, many in fact choose to spend their time in Games pics and jokes. Well it has been said that I have a good sense of humour but f***k me what is the appeal of that pile of s***t.

Anyway, that is how I am feeling right now. The pro's are, and they are quite strong, that I have been a member for ten years, and I do not easily walk out on old friends.
Secondly, there are people here who I respect and like. I like to be able to drop a hint of that now and again. It must be said, that there are more sighs than smiles.

I hope for some response, I am genuinely interested.

You will be missed, your contribution to RF is "cerabal". I, for one, appreciate your posts.

Don't be a stranger, please drop in occasionally, just to see if things are improving.

It's a pity there is no block forum feature

 

[anna.]

I, too, am sick of the whole Trump/Biden discussion, but the political mud-slinging does typically tend to ramp up in election years.

I largely ignore the political arena here. I know it's not the easiest thing to do, especially if one 'surfs' the forum on the 'new posts' menu. I and others have expressed displeasure privately with the visibility of all the political threads on a forum whose primary function is religious discussion and debate.

This perplexes me. When political debate forums are made available for discussion why would you be displeased by their visibility? Even if the primary function may be religious in nature, the forum was rounded out by its founders to include all kinds of topics and as a result there are opportunities offered for political discussion, helpfully divided by geographic regions, even.

You and the OP may be sick of the Biden/Trump discussions, and that's understandable. I get sick of them too, even as I participate in quite a few of them. But - even if you, the OP, and anyone else out there is sick of them, the underlying issues at stake are vitally important to the future of the U.S., which happens to fall in the "North American Politics" forum made specifically available for that purpose.

I can easily surf past discussions I'm not interested in. It's not a hardship. It's a matter of selecting what's interesting to me while allowing others the freedom to do the same.

Ideally, I'd like to see an 'opt-in' function on the software where political threads would only be visible to those who opt in for participation on the political forums, or an 'opt-out' function to remove them from visibility. I've mentioned this behind the scenes, but the idea has yet to gain any traction.

Know that the staff is aware of your concerns and they have been/are being discussed behind the scenes. I, for one, hope you stick around.

If there was a similar opt-in/opt-out for all categories, that seems a good way for anyone to be able to block out what they don't want to see, including other religions, other viewpoints, or any other topic they might consider to be a pile of ****. Then everyone can be in their own silos, and never have to look at what's important to other people, only what's important to themselves. I can see the downside to that.

 

[Eddi]

I too don't appreciate all the Trump/Biden threads

But nobody is forcing me to click on them

They are easy to ignore

 

[SalixIncendium]

This perplexes me. When political debate forums are made available for discussion why would you be displeased by their visibility?

For the very reason this thread was created to begin with. This is a religious forum. There is no reason why a person who comes to such a forum to discuss religion should have to comb through political threads to find a religious one.

If there was a similar opt-in/opt-out for all categories, that seems a good way for anyone to be able to block out what they don't want to see, including other religions, other viewpoints, or any other topic they might consider to be a pile of ****. Then everyone can be in their own silos, and never have to look at what's important to other people, only what's important to themselves. I can see the downside to that.

What would the downside be?

 

[anna.]

For the very reason this thread was created to begin with. This is a religious forum. There is no reason why a person who comes to such a forum to discuss religion should have to comb through political threads to find a religious one.

It might surprise you to know that by being at RF I've learned more about other religions outside Christianity by browsing the conversations people are having in recent posts - between the political discussions I came for. I doubt I'm the only user who comes for or finishes a political or current affairs thread and then sees something about Buddhism or Hinduism or Paganism or Pantheism or even atheism and finds themselves following along a conversation between people who know what they're talking about and thinking "I didn't know that..."

Is that not a good thing? That someone may come for the politics and stay for the religion?

What would the downside be?

A community is made up of all kinds of people, coming from all walks of life, carrying different burdens, sharing their individual knowledge and unique view on the world. If someone wants to carve out part of that community and place them where they're not visible, I see that as a loss. For both the person being sequestered for being interested in a **** topic, and for the person who doesn't want them in their field of view. It's marginalizing.

It's hard to break into the established community here, it's very tight. A few will, easily - but a member like me... every time, in the many times I've come back here to try again, I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. It's good to finally know, I guess, one of the reasons why.

 

[Rival]

It might surprise you to know that by being at RF I've learned more about other religions outside Christianity by browsing the conversations people are having in recent posts - between the political discussions I came for. I doubt I'm the only user who comes for or finishes a political or current affairs thread and then sees something about Buddhism or Hinduism or Paganism or Pantheism or even atheism and finds themselves following along a conversation between people who know what they're talking about and thinking "I didn't know that..."

Is that not a good thing? That someone may come for th politics and stay for the religion?



A community is made up of all kinds of people, coming from all walks of life, carrying different burdens, sharing their individual knowledge and unique view on the world. If someone wants to carve out part of that community and place them where they're not visible, I see that as a loss. For both the person being sequestered for being interested in a **** topic, and for the person who doesn't want them in their field of view. It's marginalizing.

It's hard to break into the established community here, it's very tight. A few will, but members like me... every time, in the many times I've come back here to try again, I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. It's good to finally know, I guess, one of the reasons why.

Why would you come to 'Religious Forums' for politics?

I'm not being funny but this is kind of the problem here.

 

[anna.]

Why would you come to 'Religious Forums' for politics?

I'm not being funny but this is kind of the problem here.

Why not, when the political forum here is available and active?

 

[Rival]

Why not, when the political forum here is available and active?

It's called Religious Forums, the main element is the Religion.

If people are coming here for politics specifically rather than for the main event there's an issue.

There are many, many fora dedicated to politics for people who want that. This isn't one of them. So it makes little sense to me.

Also, it's 99.9% US politics. I'm British, I'll be honest: I don't give a damn about US politics and I want it to go away. It's so over the top and stupid.

 

[Eddi]

I don't give a damn about US politics and I want it to go away.

Me too

Well said

 

[SalixIncendium]

It might surprise you to know that by being at RF I've learned more about other religions outside Christianity by browsing the conversations people are having in recent posts - between the political discussions I came for. I doubt I'm the only user who comes for or finishes a political or current affairs thread and then sees something about Buddhism or Hinduism or Paganism or Pantheism or even atheism and finds themselves following along a conversation between people who know what they're talking about and thinking "I didn't know that..."

Is that not a good thing? That someone may come for the politics and stay for the religion?

You make a fair point, but why would it be problematic for one to be able to opt out of political discussions altogether. Is what you value more important than what another values?

A community is made up of all kinds of people, coming from all walks of life, carrying different burdens, sharing their individual knowledge and unique view on the world. If someone wants to carve out part of that community and place them where they're not visible, I see that as a loss. For both the person being sequestered for being interested in a **** topic, and for the person who doesn't want them in their field of view. It's marginalizing.

No one is dictating what one can have visibility to. It comes down to a personal choice.

When I had a TV, it had a feature that would block channels one had no interest in watching. Is using that feature marginalizing? Should I have been required to click through all the channels instead of just the one's I had interest in?

 

[anna.]

It's called Religious Forums, the main element is the Religion.

If people are coming here for politics specifically rather than for the main event there's an issue.

There are many, many fora dedicated to politics for people who want that. This isn't one of them. So it makes little sense to me.

Also, it's 99.9% US politics. I'm British, I'll be honest: I don't give a damn about US politics and I want it to go away. It's so over the top and stupid.

You've ignored most of what I said. I’ll get out of your way now.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Why would you come to 'Religious Forums' for politics?

I'm not being funny but this is kind of the problem here.

Why do you find it a problem?

It is, by the way, easy to rectify. Simply eliminate all non-religious sub-forums. I don't expect that to happen any time soon.

 

[anna.]

You make a fair point, but why would it be problematic for one to be able to opt out of political discussions altogether. Is what you value more important than what another values?

I literally told you the opposite.

No one is dictating what one can have visibility to. It comes down to a personal choice.

When I had a TV, it had a feature that would block channels one had no interest in watching. Is using that feature marginalizing? Should I have been required to click through all the channels instead of just the one's I had interest in?

Strawman. You’re arguing against something I didn’t say. That’s disappointing.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

You make a fair point, but why would it be problematic for one to be able to opt out of political discussions altogether. Is what you value more important than what another values?

I don't understand where this comes from?

 

[Rival]

Why do you find it a problem?

It is, by the way, easy to rectify. Simply eliminate all non-religious sub-forums. I don't expect that to happen any time soon.

I find it a problem because it swamps the forum and usually people find threads in the box on the right or new threads tab. I find it puts one off if it's equal parts politics to religion, especially when it's politics from one region of the world. If it were politics from various regions I might be more inclined towards it, but it is very specific political discussions that are essentially flamewars. As a staffer, it gives us no end of headaches dealing with the poo that is flung from both right and left. It makes dealing with other reports harder, makes us slower, and gives us threads like the one we're posting in.

Some are worried that if we delete those fora the membership will drop far too drastically and we'll lose revenue. I'd be fine with that if it helped fix the poo-flinging issues and staff-work issues. It would give us far more time to work on what people actually want staff to do.