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Old Forum Happy Easter, ladies and gents!

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You're probably right Jeffrey.  I think the Scientist's comments aren't as aggressive as might first seem too.

I was quite impressed with Rickard's early post.
 
I tried to make my point and I don't want a fight over it. I just think that bringing things like religion (or politics) to a board like this alienates people. Saying "Happy Easter" is fine – it is the declarations of specific religious claims that seem like they don't belong here. If every holiday for each of the hundreds (thousands?) of religions in the world made its way on here, we would be swamped by thousands of posts, so why not just leave it out all together? The frustrating thing to me is that I tried to make a clear case by showing what the opposite, but equivalent kind of statement from me would look like, and how rude that would be, but nobody will even acknowledge that point.

I am getting the feeling that my style of discussion is not appreciated by most here, so I will just stop engaging in these kinds of discussions and keep it to training. I'm really not going out of my way just to get everyone fired up, but what trying to make what I thought was an important point.
 
"And at the end of the day, it’s Pavel’s and Mark’s forum, that they provide for free to all of us to use. You don’t have to purchase a single product or even sign up for a newsletter to register and post here. That’s a pretty good deal for all of us. If one doesn’t like the content, one doesn’t have to read the forum, or the thread. Live and let live."

Jason,

You are absolutely correct. I just think that the quality of a community based on discussion requires that people are willing to speak up if something doesn't seem right. There is a gray area between "live and let live" and "just shut up and keep your opinions to yourself even if you have something important to say". I may have been in that area.
 
Scientist, I was the first person to make a specific religious claim on this thread, so I'll weigh in.  You said:

"I tried to make my point and I don’t want a fight over it. I just think that bringing things like religion (or politics) to a board like this alienates people. Saying “Happy Easter” is fine – it is the declarations of specific religious claims that seem like they don’t belong here."

I think that your point was pretty well understood- it's just that many of us don't agree with you.   It does not seem that too many people were alienated by a traditional confessional statement on the holiest day of the year in the world's largest religion.  Some of people agreed, and others were content to let it pass without comment.  That's called tolerance, and it is a fundamental tenet of a free society.   What alienates people is being told to sit down and shut up.

Your point is well-taken about how some comments would have been in poor taste.  It's also in poor taste to expect people with specific religious beliefs to be silent about those beliefs in a thread dedicated to greeting each other on their holiest day. A thread, no less, started by the host of the website.  It's not like a swarm of fundamentalists took over the site.  Pavel posted a Happy Easter thread, and a few Christians (and others) responded with traditional religious greetings pertinent to Easter.  If you had not felt compelled to play the role of thought police, this would have ended yesterday, and we'd all be talking about training right now.

Let me invite you to cultivate an open mind and good will toward your fellow man.  You may find that it serves you well.

 
 
I started my Monday as I often do  with a phone conversation with a colleague in Moscow, and learned that this year was one of the few times that our Easter holidays fall on the same day.

Happy Easter
 
I have a fairly deep Christian faith.  I majored in theology and for a long time wanted to be a theology prof because I love the discussion so much.  We also have a very healthy interfaith alliance here in the central valley of California, and I've found it to be a very helpful thing to my faith.  After a while you start to realize how many deep beliefs so many of our faith traditions share.  When the discussions aren't helpful or productive (you know, the kind that just turn you off), it's usually because someone involved needs to do a little work in the way they engage.
 
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