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Dear All,
I have noticed that one major difference between myself and most of the people here is that you guys are far more certain of things than I am. This is not a surprise to anyone, naturally. But let's consider this for a moment.
My uncertain position, while not comfortable in the least since I have countless issues that have no answers, allows me to listen to everyone without feeling the urge to call anybody a heretic. I can actually listen, and disagree, or agree, but I don't feel like the very faith is at stake depending on my answer; I assume some of you feel this way, and that failing to answer categorically is akin to failing the faith itself. It's a sin to some of you not to immediately point out the heresy and speak against it.
How can you be so sure? I mean, I understand that it's faith, but I have the impression that it is more than that to many of you. I think it would be important to reconsider your positions on certainty, just so that we can all converse as friends without our differences being in the way. We don't want to become another /christian/, do we? So we'll have to get along and accept our differences.
It is possible to do so and it is made easier if you apply a bit more skepticism to your own position (which I understand is also a sort of sin to some of you). Fighting with your brother is no less of a sin, though, so if one thing can help the other, don't hesitate.
This also means that we should try to explore topics that aren't necessarily Christian topics, but which we can discuss as Christians; this way, we don't have to argue over theology and doctrine and dogmas.
When /christian/ was new and we were few, we all felt a warm kindred because it was the first time for most of us that we were united as Christians, after years of being lone wolves on the chans, getting tipped on a daily basis. This lasted quite some time, and then, as popularity arose and certainty set in, as we got used to the idea that we were now the majority, we started forgetting about the world out there and we became bitching monks, arguing about the monastery, forgetting about the world.
I still miss the way things were in the beginning and I hope we can have that here, but it implies focusing on what makes us alike and what makes us different from others, not what makes us different from each other. We should all make a conscious effort of doing this, because if we don't, we'll end up arguing over doctrine more often than not, and in the end we won't even want to come back. And don't think I'm patronising, I'm probably the first to argue forever over doctrine and tackle every single point I find. I do this because I am uncertain and I want to know, and I want to attack points to see if they can be defended, and I want to save my little faith. I realise that. The only thing I have going for me in this behaviour is that I am unsure, so I'm unlikely to call someone a heretic with any authority. Bottom line, I don't know.
We are more varied today than we were 2 months ago, and along with this diversity, we must ensure that everyone feels welcome. We now have atheists, Mormons, agnostics, and who knows what else, and I think we all want them to feel welcome here. If you'd rather a more segregated board, there's always /christian/, and I don't say that as sarcasm. This board was created so we could all freely speak about everything. So far, it has been so; it is a true haven for free speech and all of us have behaved accordingly: not temptation to test the authority, nobody's treated like a child, so nobody behaves like one.
That's about all I wanted to say. Some of us aren't so sure, and we should strive to take that into account to ensure we can still enjoy interesting conversations without losing the brotherhood we're trying to create here. I had to say it because I'm too red-blooded much of the time and I feel I am very often near the limit of brotherhood with regards to others on this board.
(cont.)