Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

And to be honest this understanding - that the writings of early Christianity have been systematically corrupted - cuts both ways. It affects 'atheist activists' no less than 'religious fundamentalists.' Both want the same thing - a black and white 'certainty' about the texts. It is a common mental illness in modernity. We sacrifice nuance for certainty. We refuse to abstain from 'judging' because that's our whole reason for getting into this field. God is true SO the texts MUST HAVE BEEN preserved for us faithfully for us to know him. God is a lie and this can be demonstrated by the lies and contradictions which exist in our surviving texts.

Yet once the texts are accepted to be whores our attitude toward them because entirely recreational - exactly in the manner that the rich and famous engage with prostitutes interestingly enough. We have to stop having reverence for these texts. They lead nowhere but nevertheless can be the source of a lot of fun and entertainment.

Stuart wrote:Why Mr. Kirby lets you get away with it is beyond me.

1 - So far, the only explicit policy I have about profanity is that I will edit it out of thread titles (has only come up a couple times, but it's an eyesore).

2 - I am too busy to monitor the forum closely and to be the 'discussion nanny' at all times. I am just reading all this now, for example. The main tool used to keep the forum coherent is to hand out bans on a case-by-case basis, primarily based on whether people are contributing positively to discussion overall (considered primarily on the basis of relevant content, not tone). Regardless of the potty mouth or other quirks, Stephan does that in spades, at least in my opinion.

3 - That said, I encourage everyone to act in a mature way. This is a complex topic and often a sensitive one. It's very easy to generate more heat than light. Only by great effort are we able to do the opposite.

4 - Some posts directed at you, Stuart, were over the top, especially in a different thread. I sent them ~Nowhere in Particular~. Again, I unfortunately do not have the capacity to monitor the discussion closely at all times. If you believe that Stephan Huller / Secret Alias isn't worth interacting with, that's naturally your prerogative. I hope that you find that some members on the forum here are - but, again, that is also your prerogative.

I do keep an eye on things (and if your posts are getting moved ~NiP~ that is a sign that you could be a potential ban or 'temp ban' target), but you're right when you assume that I'm not likely to ban Stephan Huller / Secret Alias, unless things get really dire I suppose, because he brings a lot to the forum. I do try to make sure that people know what kind of posts are discouraged, but I also don't want to get in the business of creating a judicial microcosm just to keep a forum running. I don't have that kind of time.