Members of Religious Forums Dot Com

[Revoltingest]

I think I mostly come here because someone else paid for my lifetime subscription and I feel guilty to not use it, but my snarky sense of humor always gets me in trouble with the mods anyway since no one here can have any fun. Is there any way to get a refund? lol...

Originally, this place was a fun place to talk about various beliefs and LHP subjects for me with people of varying paths. Now there is only one path - bleeding heart leftists, it's rather boring. I keep chasing the dream though of the old RF where people having a disagreement didn't always end in deleted threads and mod points just because someone got a little mock happy or snarky. Ahh, the old days...

Now, it's nearly pointless to talk about any subject that really matters. You can't even post dank memes without getting modded... No _FUN_.

The trick is in getting the job done without triggering mods' ire.
Know their limits....learn the game....limits are there to be probed....& pay the bribes.
(I did not say that last one.)
You must stay.
It wouldn't be the same without you.

 

[Mindmaster]

The trick is in getting the job done without triggering mods' ire.
Know their limits....learn the game....limits are there to be probed....& pay the bribes.
(I did not say that last one.)
You must stay.
It wouldn't be the same without you.

I'm nearly the last hold out of the nearly 30 people I used to speak with here regularly... It's not I that left, it's everyone else. I'm definitely only here because of memories, Sometimes someone pm's me that I used to speak with frequently, but that's become a once or twice a year event and I speak with many of them on other forums or in social media.

Mostly, it's that "walking on broken glass" feeling that wears me out. Just don't know what I do on that next post that will become a misstep or whatever. Solution - don't post anything, and I rarely do anymore. I respond to a thing here or there a couple of times a week but it's come to a point where every single snarky comment is mod bait. I'm an extremely snarky guy, so I doubt this will last. Whatever the vision of the forum is, it doesn't seem to include _FUN_ on the list. It's kinda like the Christians verses the Celtic Pagans thing - The Druids just got tired of being persecuted for disagreeing with the authorities and buried their beliefs in myth and other diversions. For me to remain here, I basically would have to just stop being me or just bury it - which to some extent makes my participation worthless, as if I have to bury it I just will leave. As of now, I really only been commenting on the most banal of posts in the first place stuff that it'd be hard to mod negatively because it's mostly people's opinions.

Anyway, just to let you know I do appreciate your sentiment - I haven't decided what to do yet, but I'm not too hopeful.

 

[Trailblazer]

What do you suppose is the majority of motives for becoming a member here and participating in discussions?

I personally have been influenced and learned by the different view points from other members. I have to re-question and transform my understanding of reality.

Thank you for sharing.

Let’s be honest, I am very honest.

I came here on the rebound after having been told I was being put “on leave” on another forum I have been posting on for about four years because I dared to post something that shed a positive light on my religion. I was a very active member there, probably the most active member and the one who kept their stats up. But my Baha’i Faith beliefs were not always that welcome, that which is a gross understatement.

They call it a religious forum but it is really an atheist forum with a paltry number of believers who are scared to death to talk about their beliefs lest they get accused of proselytizing, just for sharing what they believe. I always had to watch my Ps and Qs, because of the forum owner and the moderators are nonbelievers and do not like my beliefs... It was okay if Christians or Buddhists shared their beliefs but there was a double standard for Baha’is. It was mostly me sharing my beliefs because no other Baha’is were about to put up with such treatment.

Anyhow, I had a lot of friends there and they were mostly nonbelievers and a couple of Christians, but when I was told I was on leave (which really means banned from posting for an indeterminate amount of time) for doing nothing against the forum rules I decided that was it for me. I sent private messages to all the posters I had pending posts from (about 35 posts in one day in my e-mail notification). Only three people responded to me, my good skeptic friend, my good Christian friend, and an atheist I do not know that well. The others who I had considered close friends did not respond to my private messages so they chose their side.

The first night after this happened I could not sleep and I cried (I never cry except when a cat dies) because I felt so betrayed. The owner and moderator I posted to a lot had been very nice to me but apparently they did not really like me, they just pretended to like me or maybe they just tolerated me because they did not want others to think they were being unfair to me. At the end of the day I will never know what they thought or think now. It was just easier to make a clean break. I did not deserve to be treated that way. It was unjust. I never cared that they criticized my beliefs, even attacked them, but I cannot tolerate phoniness and injustice.

I guess it was the next day I reluctantly decided to look for another forum. I poked around and I could not find one but I finally decided to get a handle and a password for this forum.

I am still hurting from that other forum experience and I do not expect to recover from it overnight. People can be so cruel and insensitive. However, this forum is like a breath of fresh air! After being cordoned off with a bunch of closed-minded people for all those years I now see that there is a whole new world out there! Just because someone decided to drop out of Christianity does not mean they have to stop believing in God, not that people have to believe in God. I never thought or said that to anyone as I believe everyone has to make their own way in life, and according to my religion, the faith of no man can be conditioned by anyone except himself.

I still have not figured out how to get around on this forum or how to post a new thread but I am not in a big hurry. I am hoping to make some new friends here because all my friends have been on forums since I do not socialize in person because i do not like cocktail party conversation, I do not like going out in the car, and also I am an introvert. Moreover, I do not share the values of most people in American society because I do not enjoy the “things” of the material world. I find them rather boring. I do not like talking about politics either but I like psychology and I have an advanced degree in it.

I was not raised in any religion and knew nothing about Christianity until I came to forums about five years ago. I had never even read one Bible verse. I only recently (last five years) became interested in religion even though I have been a Baha’i for 47 years, a long story. So I am just making my way, trying to learn things about my own religion I never learned, but also learning about other religions and other beliefs and non-beliefs. Given psychology is my other hat, people and their beliefs fascinate me.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm nearly the last hold out of the nearly 30 people I used to speak with here regularly... It's not I that left, it's everyone else. I'm definitely only here because of memories, Sometimes someone pm's me that I used to speak with frequently, but that's become a once or twice a year event and I speak with many of them on other forums or in social media.

Mostly, it's that "walking on broken glass" feeling that wears me out. Just don't know what I do on that next post that will become a misstep or whatever. Solution - don't post anything, and I rarely do anymore. I respond to a thing here or there a couple of times a week but it's come to a point where every single snarky comment is mod bait. I'm an extremely snarky guy, so I doubt this will last. Whatever the vision of the forum is, it doesn't seem to include _FUN_ on the list. It's kinda like the Christians verses the Celtic Pagans thing - The Druids just got tired of being persecuted for disagreeing with the authorities and buried their beliefs in myth and other diversions. For me to remain here, I basically would have to just stop being me or just bury it - which to some extent makes my participation worthless, as if I have to bury it I just will leave. As of now, I really only been commenting on the most banal of posts in the first place stuff that it'd be hard to mod negatively because it's mostly people's opinions.

Anyway, just to let you know I do appreciate your sentiment - I haven't decided what to do yet, but I'm not too hopeful.

Sometimes one just needs a vacation.
Then return fresh as a daisy...full of p1ss & vinegar!