Religion and debating within this forum

[Sir Suomi]

I know this may sound rash, odd, or both, but I've come to the conclusion that ROTW would be better off if we stopped including religion into our conversation. It leads to name calling, as it has today, false claims, and has made rivalries between people that came here looking for a casual debate. I'm not saying our moderators should become dictators and give infractions and such for mentioning it, just that we, the debaters, commit to not involving religion in our debates. There's no reason to debate over religious arguments, due to the fact that on the Religious side, they cannot prove that there is a divine being, and from the atheist side that there is not a divine being. Religion should have no involvement in our debates over things, due to the fact that it can obscure our judgement over things and make us have biased opinions. I myself am a Christian, I believe in God, etc etc, yet I can see that we can now explain much more of our world than we could before with our modern miracles of technology. So can we, The Fellow Debaters of Virtual Teen, choose to stop with this Virtual Holy War, and once again embrace each other sensible debates, with sound objectives to them? Now I believe myself to be a respected member of this forum, and I hope you will head my words and consider them.

Thanks for reading this.
-Austin

[Horatio Nelson]

Hear hear!

[Bethany]

I disagree with you on three levels on this.

1. Name calling is a problem on this forum, but it's not only a problem in discussions related to religion. The name calling needs to stop, not the discussion.

2. I disagree with "religion should have no involvement in our debates", because that makes the assumption that one's religious views are not tied to one's views on important subject. For some people, their religious beliefs greatly influence how they feel about political topics.

3. Religious discussions aren't irrelevant in this forum, considering religious issues influence political issues, international relations, and our discussions about things like the origin of life.

So, I think religion has a place in our discussions (coming from an atheist, BTW), just because of how influential religion is.

I agree with you that name-calling is a major problem...I don't think a voluntary religion ban is going to end that.

[Ace of Spades]

I disagree with you on three levels on this.

1. Name calling is a problem on this forum, but it's not only a problem in discussions related to religion. The name calling needs to stop, not the discussion.

2. I disagree with "religion should have no involvement in our debates", because that makes the assumption that one's religious views are not tied to one's views on important subject. For some people, their religious beliefs greatly influence how they feel about political topics.

3. Religious discussions aren't irrelevant in this forum, considering religious issues influence political issues, international relations, and our discussions about things like the origin of life.

So, I think religion has a place in our discussions (coming from an atheist, BTW), just because of how influential religion is.

I agree with you that name-calling is a major problem...I don't think a voluntary religion ban is going to end that.

This.

[PinkFloyd]

I disagree with you on three levels on this.

1. Name calling is a problem on this forum, but it's not only a problem in discussions related to religion. The name calling needs to stop, not the discussion.

2. I disagree with "religion should have no involvement in our debates", because that makes the assumption that one's religious views are not tied to one's views on important subject. For some people, their religious beliefs greatly influence how they feel about political topics.

3. Religious discussions aren't irrelevant in this forum, considering religious issues influence political issues, international relations, and our discussions about things like the origin of life.

So, I think religion has a place in our discussions (coming from an atheist, BTW), just because of how influential religion is.

I agree with you that name-calling is a major problem...I don't think a voluntary religion ban is going to end that.

THIS! I mean... one of the greatest posts I've ever seen on this site! Well done, Bethany. :)

[Jess]

I disagree with you on three levels on this.

1. Name calling is a problem on this forum, but it's not only a problem in discussions related to religion. The name calling needs to stop, not the discussion.

2. I disagree with "religion should have no involvement in our debates", because that makes the assumption that one's religious views are not tied to one's views on important subject. For some people, their religious beliefs greatly influence how they feel about political topics.

3. Religious discussions aren't irrelevant in this forum, considering religious issues influence political issues, international relations, and our discussions about things like the origin of life.

So, I think religion has a place in our discussions (coming from an atheist, BTW), just because of how influential religion is.

I agree with you that name-calling is a major problem...I don't think a voluntary religion ban is going to end that.

Everything here I agree with.

[Sir Suomi]

I disagree with you on three levels on this.

1. Name calling is a problem on this forum, but it's not only a problem in discussions related to religion. The name calling needs to stop, not the discussion.

2. I disagree with "religion should have no involvement in our debates", because that makes the assumption that one's religious views are not tied to one's views on important subject. For some people, their religious beliefs greatly influence how they feel about political topics.

3. Religious discussions aren't irrelevant in this forum, considering religious issues influence political issues, international relations, and our discussions about things like the origin of life.

So, I think religion has a place in our discussions (coming from an atheist, BTW), just because of how influential religion is.

I agree with you that name-calling is a major problem...I don't think a voluntary religion ban is going to end that.

Well, it was just a thought. It definitely can be edited and carried through as seen fit from others.