Archimedes
July 31st 2003, 08:37 PM
Seeing how the Atheist code of conduct (http://theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7550) thread was closed, I'm beginning to think that the whole Naturalism 101 forum should probably be disbanded as well.
I have no doubt that the TWeb staff had nothing but good intentions when coming up with the idea of a non-theist corner, and it is a nice gesture, but I simply don't think it works in practise. I'm willing to bet that all non-theists who come here do so to interact with theists, Christians in particular. If we wanted to have an internal conversation on "doctrinal" (?) issues within atheism, there is little reason to do that in a Christian moderated board when we might as well stay at our own cozy little forums such as Internet Infidels (iidb.org/vbb). Furthermore, the presence of heavy moderation, although it is appropriate for a Christian site, is suffocating... not that I'm advocating unrestricted fuming, but watching out whether any little word might offend theists does not encourage posting. In fact, since this is a forum where theists superficially have no chance to counter any argument (which isn't exactly true, discussion over Naturalism 101 topics could easily be started at Apologetics or Locker Room and it's likely that the people participating here will get the message), we are assumed to be even more careful with our wording than elsewhere on TWeb. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it does make Naturalism 101 an unattractive alternative to Infidels or some outside area.
One of the reasons for my starting the "code of conduct" thread was to try give some life to this forum. Since there's no real motivation to start general atheist-only discussions at TWeb, that only leaves topics that deal specificly with the people who are members here. It makes little sense to take such a discussion elsewhere, and on the other hand it's pretty much the only topic where we don't necessarily want to hear the theist perspective (or at the very least, be bogged down by it). Looks like that kind of topic is considered inappropriate, so I'm left wondering, what is the purpose of the Naturalism 101 at all?
So, here's a poll. I'm hoping that if the results favour shutting the forum down, TWeb staff will be gracious enough to respect our wish. If not, well, it's not as if there's much else going on in this part of the neighbourhood...
(And to Moderators/Admins who're reading this: Though I did mention moderation issues in this post, I'm not contesting the choices you've made. You're just doing your job.)
I have no doubt that the TWeb staff had nothing but good intentions when coming up with the idea of a non-theist corner, and it is a nice gesture, but I simply don't think it works in practise. I'm willing to bet that all non-theists who come here do so to interact with theists, Christians in particular. If we wanted to have an internal conversation on "doctrinal" (?) issues within atheism, there is little reason to do that in a Christian moderated board when we might as well stay at our own cozy little forums such as Internet Infidels (iidb.org/vbb). Furthermore, the presence of heavy moderation, although it is appropriate for a Christian site, is suffocating... not that I'm advocating unrestricted fuming, but watching out whether any little word might offend theists does not encourage posting. In fact, since this is a forum where theists superficially have no chance to counter any argument (which isn't exactly true, discussion over Naturalism 101 topics could easily be started at Apologetics or Locker Room and it's likely that the people participating here will get the message), we are assumed to be even more careful with our wording than elsewhere on TWeb. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it does make Naturalism 101 an unattractive alternative to Infidels or some outside area.
One of the reasons for my starting the "code of conduct" thread was to try give some life to this forum. Since there's no real motivation to start general atheist-only discussions at TWeb, that only leaves topics that deal specificly with the people who are members here. It makes little sense to take such a discussion elsewhere, and on the other hand it's pretty much the only topic where we don't necessarily want to hear the theist perspective (or at the very least, be bogged down by it). Looks like that kind of topic is considered inappropriate, so I'm left wondering, what is the purpose of the Naturalism 101 at all?
So, here's a poll. I'm hoping that if the results favour shutting the forum down, TWeb staff will be gracious enough to respect our wish. If not, well, it's not as if there's much else going on in this part of the neighbourhood...
(And to Moderators/Admins who're reading this: Though I did mention moderation issues in this post, I'm not contesting the choices you've made. You're just doing your job.)