Why is religious content not allowed on this website?

[yourdadonapogostick]

i don't usually make "why was my post deleted" or "why was my thread closed" threads, but no one said they closed it. if they did, this would be asked in PM form.

why was this thread closed? afaik, it didn't bread any rules.

 

[hypnagogue]

please be advised that any topic dealing with religion that includes discussion of religious sects, current events of religion and especially preaching will be locked or deleted...for you new members, PF has a history of verbal wars instigated due to religion, and this is not the intent of the forums...the basis of these forums is to encourage people to discuss and learn about our scientific world. if you have the need to discuss religion, i suggest you try a forum specifically for that subject. thanks for your cooperation in advance.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=15840

 

[yourdadonapogostick]

that's all nice, but the thread wasn't about religious sects.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, he could have bolded a different part of the rule...

please be advised that any topic dealing with religion that includes discussion of religious sects, current events of religion and especially preaching will be locked or deleted...for you new members, PF has a history of verbal wars instigated due to religion, and this is not the intent of the forums...the basis of these forums is to encourage people to discuss and learn about our scientific world. if you have the need to discuss religion, i suggest you try a forum specifically for that subject. thanks for your cooperation in advance.

If nobody sent you a warning for it, consider it a free pass for a first mistake and just avoid the topic of religion in the future.

 

[Evo]

I think it was more for the potential of the thread becoming an out of control discussion of religion. Some topics are just doomed.

 

[yourdadonapogostick]

Well, he could have bolded a different part of the rule...



If nobody sent you a warning for it, consider it a free pass for a first mistake and just avoid the topic of religion in the future.

it wasn't about religion. did you read the OP of the thread in question?

 

[hypnagogue]

I did read the post-- it was about why followers of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity clash so much, given that so much of their belief systems are the same. How one can say that that topic is not about religion is beyond me.

You asked for a reason why the thread was locked, and now you've received an answer. It looks like you're not content with that, but lobbying against the lock isn't going to do much good. The thread was a pretty clear-cut violation of PF's policy on religious discussion. It's exactly the sort of topic that is just asking to become a train wreck (and using the term 'crazies' was not an auspicious sign in this regard), and we don't need that here.

I think the question you ask in the thread is interesting and pertinent, but it's not an appropriate topic of discussion for these forums. I encourage you to pursue discussion of the topic elsewhere.

 

[yourdadonapogostick]

how is the topic of why people hate for no reason the same as the topic of religion? i don't understand how you see them as the same.

 

[Moonbear]

how is the topic of why people hate for no reason the same as the topic of religion? i don't understand how you see them as the same.

Because all of your examples were about religion and people of those religious beliefs, thus by your choice of examples, you made the topic about religion. Your topic didn't seem to be about hating for no reason, but hating because of religious beliefs. I have to agree with the mentors on this one, especially when you posted it in a forum with a big sticky thread cautioning against discussion of religious topics.

As hypnogogue pointed out, it's an interesting topic for discussion, just not on these forums.

 

[hypnagogue]

If your intended topic of discussion was "why people hate for no reason," I fail to see why you would choose to dedicate most of the post to drawing out the similarities of three major world religions for such a general subject matter. I also fail to see why you would pose your general question about human psychology thusly: "Christians believe that Jews only have part of the truth, Muhammad was not a prophet, and that Jesus was the son of Allah. All three agree on most of the doctrine, so why is there so much hate between the religions?"

I'm sorry, but this is not worth discussing any further. The thread was clearly about why certain religious groups 'hate' each other, not why people hate each other in general.

 

[yourdadonapogostick]

i didn't say "people in general" now did i? the whole thing about the religions being the same was to give insight into how i arrived at my question.

 

[Kerrie]

Pogostick,
This policy came about because PF is a website dedicated to all people of the world who have a sincere interest in the sciences. Because "all people" can include those who have various backgrounds in different religious sects and denominations, we wish to not promote subject matter that may offend those who choose to be religious. Instead of combing through every topic of any religous content to see if it had the potential to be offensive (and this was what i was resorting to doing up until recently), we decided it would be best and easier to eliminate the subject altogether. You made a reference that "not all christians are crazy", thus implying some are. It is very possible we have christian members here who keep their religion out of the forums, but still wish to participate in scientific discussion. As the mentors see it, we don't see it right or fair to allow insulting of their belief systems, thus discouraging their active participation in science discussion.

Please be aware, there is no negotiation on this matter due to our history of dealing with sensitive religious topics. We have had bad luck on maintaining healthy discussion on religion, thus prompting this policy-which is certainly not a new one. You are welcome to read our archives of religious discussion (i believe they are still accessible?), and see why for yourself. Generally, those who refuse to cooperate with this policy continuously will see their membership privileges terminated. It is clear that your topic here violates our policy.