[sword-devel] Forums

[Jerry Hastings]

At 12:38 PM 8/8/2001 +0100, Barry Drake wrote:

>Maybe this is me, just enjoying discussion across a very broad band.

I also enjoy a "broad band." And I tend to defend the right of Christians 
to believe and express their personal beliefs, in spite of what others tell 
them to believe. When I was a sysop our BBS was home to a number of 
renegades that where not welcome to express their beliefs on other BBSes. I 
tend to believe that people of differing opinions need each other. Which is 
not a popular view in a world where it seems like everyone wants to find a 
"church" where everyone thinks like they do, and if you don't think like 
them they are happy to see you leave.

However, peace is nice. And it is good to be prepared for when the peace is 
broken. So, have the forums, (I don't think anyone has said not to have 
them), but be prepared to deal with problems. I once had another sysop tell 
me that he was shutting down his BBS because some of his users had 
destroyed his faith. I think there must have been other problems, but his 
BBS experience was not a happy one.

There are other forums on the internet where people can engage in doctrinal 
wars, translation wars and all the other wars. So there is no need to fight 
them out to the end on a Sword Project forum. I think it would be fair game 
however to point out what ways a translation or commentary relates to some 
controversy. But I don't think it would be good to go beyond that in these 
forums.

Jerry