Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site cmu-cs-k.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!rochester!cmu-cs-pt!cmu-cs-k!tim From: tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Use of net.religion for Christian messages Message-ID: <395@cmu-cs-k.ARPA> Date: Wed, 15-May-85 21:26:31 EDT Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-k.395 Posted: Wed May 15 21:26:31 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 17-May-85 03:00:14 EDT Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking Lines: 46 Hello. I went away for a while out of disgust with the general level of dishonesty and bigotry on all USENET's discussion groups, but my masochistic impulses were too strong to be denied for long. When I came back, there was two weeks of net.religion waiting to be read. The primary apparent feature of net.religion was that at least 50% and probably more of the messages were explicitly Christian and of interest only to Christians: debating Mormon theology, whether Jesus said that war was ever permissible, interpreting Biblical prophecies of Armageddon, and literally hundreds of other messages that properly belong in net.religion.christian ONLY. Let me explain something. I have been studying Christianity for most of my 23 years. I don't like it very much. It's boring, unverifiable, and inconsistent, and I had rejected it by the time I hit puberty. I am not being swayed towards becoming a Christian by being forced to wade through all this Christian stuff. If anything, I am becoming less tolerant of Christians who view their belief as the be-all and end-all of religion; my feelings are due to the incredible rudeness of their so frequently forcing themselves on the rest of us. I have nothing against Christian perspectives on inter-religious issues appearing in net.religion, for instance Dubuc's arguments concerning absolute vs. relative morality. (This is not to say I think these are valid or true perspectives, but they certainly belong in net.religion.) The specifically Christian stuff, on the other hand, belongs in net.religion.christian, not in front of my eyes while I am quixotically looking for something on eclecticism or ritual or modes of prayer or models of experience or anything else having to do with DOING religion instead of mouthing off about pet dogmas. This is most emphatically not a condemnation of Christian beliefs: as an eclectic I realize that there is truth in all religions, and I do not exclude Christianity. There is also boring, redundant rehashing of fixed dogmas, of interest only to people who have accepted the particular religion as the final and infallible one. I only ask that such beliefs not be inflicted on the rest of us continually, particularly since there is a more appropriate forum. I am glad that Christians have net.religion.christian in which to discuss their views without interference; if they would only use it more! Jews don't seem to have any trouble with keeping their boring, cult-specific stuff in net.religion.jewish; what is the problem with Christians in this respect? -=- Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!"