A Request of Site Authorities about Member Forthcomingness

[Darron Steele]

Hello all.

I want to make a public request for site authorities to consider and others to give their thoughts on.

I am tired of seeing new members of this board who are vague about their denominational/church group affiliation.

Fact is, when I registered, I was asked for my denomination and home congregation. I put it in without games or weaseling: I was attending a Church of Christ then, and anyone who read my profile knew it. I was proud of my congregational affiliation, but considering that many adherents of the Churches of Christ engage outside Christians with attempts to undermine, I knew that identifying my church group affiliation would cause undeserved suspicion. Still, I respected the norms of this board.

Most other members have been forthcoming with their church affiliations just as I was. You will find their denominational affiliation and church congregation in their profiles.

Well, it seems that some of our new members want to cover up their church affiliation for expediency in debate/proselytizing. Some do not disclose it even when asked. I suspect that at least one is lying. These people want to hide what group/s they are promoting.

I would like the site authorities to please consider a new policy:

• any current member who does not give adequate details about church group affiliation has a set time to change that,

• in the future, any new members who refuse to disclose their church group affiliation will be banned,

• anyone who lies about their church group affiliation will be banned.

If anyone of integrity would like to chime in their support, please do so.

Site authorities: this thread was set up to make a request and see how much others feel similarly. When you believe this thread has served its purpose, I am totally okay with it being deleted.

 

[donnA]

I'm tired of seeing nonbaptists posting in baptist only forums and no one does anything about it.
If they list no affilation, why? Aren't they sure of who they are, if not how can we be.
anyone who lies about their church affilation should be banned!

 

[Tom Butler]

I share your frustration, Darron.

I also wish people would be more specific about their home towns, or at least the state and/or what part of the state they live in--such as you have done. For me, "USA" just doesn't cut it.

 

[Ed Edwards]

Yes, 'same universe' is kinda non-specific :-(

 

[ktn4eg]

While I'm not necessarily opposed to what the OP suggests, I'm wondering just how you would go about determining whether a person has lied about his/her denominatonal affiliation?

Are you proposing some sort of BB Inquisition?

 

[Revmitchell]

Let me tell you from experience what happens. When someone becomes fixated on you for any number of reasons they begin to do an internet search for you and use that information to harass you. I have been contacted outside of this board by people from this board and cussed at. Some folks are just leary about giving out to much info on the internet. This concern is reasonable.

 

[Allan]

Let me tell you from experience what happens. When someone becomes fixated on you for any number of reasons they begin to do an internet search for you and use that information to harass you. I have been contacted outside of this board by people from this board and cussed at. Some folks are just leary about giving out to much info on the internet. This concern is reasonable.

True, but the OP is speaking about what church affiliation a person is apart of and not of information that is necessarily of a personal nature.

I agree with the OP about allowing others to know church affilitiation so one can at least have a general understanding of their theological views. This is a board to speak about, share, and debate theological views and thus the knowledge of a persons church affilitiation gives us a starting point when considering anothers view about what they might or could believe.

However, the site already is set up to ask for a persons church affiliation and home church and since the information is received on an honorary system then it is taken at face value. If someone lies, they will be banned so that part is already there in the Rules.

 

[donnA]

I share your frustration, Darron.

I also wish people would be more specific about their home towns, or at least the state and/or what part of the state they live in--such as you have done. For me, "USA" just doesn't cut it.

Then you haven't been stalked by another poster, which is why any personal information about me is no longer available on this board.

 

[donnA]

Let me tell you from experience what happens. When someone becomes fixated on you for any number of reasons they begin to do an internet search for you and use that information to harass you. I have been contacted outside of this board by people from this board and cussed at. Some folks are just leary about giving out to much info on the internet. This concern is reasonable.

a person here actually contacted my pastor, who did not take them seriously. Contacting a persons real life off this board(without permission) is stalking, and grounds for immediate banning.

 

[Darron Steele]

While I'm not necessarily opposed to what the OP suggests, I'm wondering just how you would go about determining whether a person has lied about his/her denominatonal affiliation?

Are you proposing some sort of BB Inquisition?

No.

However, it is pretty obvious that some of the members here who claim to be Baptist are not.

I suspect that one is Catholic. This suspicion is not as compelling as the one below.

I strongly suspect others here are Church of Christ. That group commonly targets Baptists for proselytizing. It is obvious from the precepts they advance, the Baptist things they attack, their methods, their terminology.

Look, I am not Baptist. You look at my profile it says "Christian only" but you will also see the name of a Disciples of Christ congregation. If someone wants to be vague, put `a ___ church' for home congregation. What I do not like is the increase of people here who are evasive about what church group is their primary current influence -- or are outright lying about who they are.

As DonnA pointed out, it is kind of creepy when you think about it. My original aggravation was that some members here were hiding what group they represent because they knew identifying it would complicate their efforts at proselytizing -- I think they should have to identify what group they represent like the rest of us did. I do not like discussion with people who hide important details or lie. Still, DonnA did give us something else to think about: how far are these obviously ethically-deficient zealots willing to go?

 

[Matt Black]

I'm with you, Darron, as long as it is confined to a vague denominational description like 'Baptist', 'Catholic' or 'Anglican', rather than having to give clues about your home church; I would share the same concerns as DonnA and Rev Mitchell if the latter.

 

[donnA]

However, it is pretty obvious that some of the members here who claim to be Baptist are not.

Glad I'm not the only one whose noticed this. They do claim to be christian, yet they come here and lie about who they are.

or are outright lying about who they are.

====================================

I would share the same concerns as DonnA and Rev Mitchell if the latter.

Thanks for understanding, in the 9 years I've been here I've seen several people who were stalked outside of this board into their real life by fellow BBers. And how many more that is was never public they'd been stalked.

heres another one,, when is banning not really banning?
answer,,
when it's on the BB.
If your banned, you can change your name and come back, and have free rein to continue where you left off with your banning offensses.

 

[Agnus_Dei]

personally, I'd like to see the BB admin allow a way to edit your "Denomination" in your profile...you can edit everything else...

and also to open the membership back up to Catholics or Church of Christ (if they're not allowed to join), that'll curb a lot of the misrepresentation of BB members. Because when you ban a specific faith, ie. Catholics from joining, you're going to get the blowback BB is experiencing.

In XC
-

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Glad I'm not the only one whose noticed this. They do claim to be christian, yet they come here and lie about who they are.



====================================
Thanks for understanding, in the 9 years I've been here I've seen several people who were stalked outside of this board into their real life by fellow BBers. And how many more that is was never public they'd been stalked.

heres another one,, when is banning not really banning?
answer,,
when it's on the BB.
If your banned, you can change your name and come back, and have free rein to continue where you left off with your banning offensses.

Now that is scary. Being stalked by BB members in your life. How is that Christian? And I can't believe someone would call your pastor because they disagree with you about something! Thats seems like a mental illness issue. Were these people violent?

 

[Darron Steele]

personally, I'd like to see the BB admin allow a way to edit your "Denomination" in your profile...you can edit everything else...

and also to open the membership back up to Catholics or Church of Christ (if they're not allowed to join), that'll curb a lot of the misrepresentation of BB members. Because when you ban a specific faith, ie. Catholics from joining, you're going to get the blowback BB is experiencing.

In XC
-

Well Agnus_Dei, it is probably with good reason we cannot edit our denominational affiliation: it limits what is happening here. We would have non-Baptists pretending to be Baptists to get access to Baptist-only areas.

Church of Christ adherents can post here. They are not automatically banned from joining.

If I understood DHK correctly, Catholics were banned because some of their best polemicists were showing up here proselytizing to Catholicism. It is against board policy to try to proselytize Baptists to another church group. These polemicists were showing up here proselytizing to Catholicism and concealing their identities. As a result, all Catholics were banned with few exceptions.

I agree with you that if Catholics are banned from joining, then going after the Catholic church or its people should not be allowed. As you and I both know, what a lot of people claim about Catholicism, the Catholic church, or Catholics themselves is baseless. If a person wants to revile those people, s/he ought to be told that there are next to no Catholics here and that there is no need for it.

However, just as the Catholic purge was apparently necessary, so also might another purge be needed. Rather than ban a whole church group, I advocate purging those individuals who refuse to be forthcoming about what church group they really represent.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Just a note Darren Steele I sent you an e-mail since you PM was all filled up. If thats ok.

 

[Doubting Thomas]

personally, I'd like to see the BB admin allow a way to edit your "Denomination" in your profile...you can edit everything else...


-

I would like to see this as well--not in order to "pretend to be baptist" but to streamline my denominational label. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Matt Black]

Ditto - I've been Anglican for over two years now and haven't been able to edit my profile to reflect that

 

[Darron Steele]

Just a note Darren Steele I sent you an e-mail since you PM was all filled up. If thats ok.

Fixed.

Sure that was okay.

 

[Darron Steele]

I would like to see this as well--not in order to "pretend to be baptist" but to streamline my denominational label. :smilewinkgrin:

Ditto - I've been Anglican for over two years now and haven't been able to edit my profile to reflect that

Yes, but both of you people
a) are proud of your church group affiliation,
b) do not depend on hiding your church group affiliation for your activities here,
c) are honest people.
There are others here who do not share all of these sentiments.