Posted by Dinah on August 13, 2008, at 12:01:33
In reply to Lou's request for criteria-cnstahtutpuhtdn? » Deputy Dinah, posted by Lou Pilder on August 13, 2008, at 10:53:18
The general rule is that it's fine to post those portions of your faith that are about what you believe for yourself, as long as you also respect that others have different beliefs.
So to take two common examples, my understanding is that it would be ok to say "My faith teaches that I and others of my faith reach salvation through faith in Jesus Christ." or "I believe that I will reach salvation through faith in Jesus Christ." It wouldn't be ok to say "My faith teaches that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ." because that wouldn't be respectful of the beliefs of non-Christians.
My understanding is that it would be ok to say "My faith says that those of my faith should worship God, and put no gods before him." or "I love the Lord, my God and but worship none but him." It wouldn't be ok to post "My faith teaches that everyone should worship God and put no Gods before him."
Those are just two examples.
It wouldn't of course be ok to post that anyone who doesn't believe something will burn in hell. It wouldn't be ok to post anything that could reasonably lead those of other faiths to feel accused or put down.
It doesn't matter if any of the above is prefaced by "The Bible/Koran/etc. says..." or "I believe..." or "My church teaches..." or "It was revealed to me..."
It's fine to have whatever beliefs you have, but Babble may not be an appropriate place to post some of those beliefs.
The idea behind all of this is that there are many people at Babble. Christians, Jews, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, Athiest, and more. Religion can be a highly personal and highly charged topic. The main purpose of Babble is for support and education about mental health issues, not lively debate. Dr. Bob wants to foster a supportive and respectful environment.
As far as I know, you can post any part of your Revelation that you like, as long as it fits in with the above. If your revelation, for example, contains the imperative to worship one God, and put none before Him, that is fine to post as long as you limit it to what God told *you*, or you and those who believe as you do, to do, and don't generalize it to what everyone (including pantheists and atheists) should do.
My understanding of Dr. Bob's application of Faith Board guidelines is not as clear as I would like. I think part of the problem is that I have a different understanding of matters of faith than Dr. Bob does. I'm not claiming to be an expert on the topic, but theology is something of an interest of mine. I think that inevitably leads to a difference in how we read things. So... all of the above is my interpretation only, and I can't guarantee that Dr. Bob will see things the same way. However, if he decides something differently than what I said above, I'll take the blame if Dr. Bob doesn't see fit to correct what I wrote.
That's pretty much as detailed as I can make my understanding. I hope it's helpful.
poster:Dinah
thread:680571
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20080719/msgs/845912.html