Petition to make religion a blockable topic on your threads list.

[Progster]

For those who want to view the politics forum without also getting the religion forum, here's what I do:

I have my profile set to opt into Religion and Politics. When I log in, I go to the main forum page. From there you can mark forums or subforums as read. So I mark certain ones as read - the religion one, the games ones, the love and dating one and others. I then click on new threads, and I get a list of threads with new posts in them, minus the ones I have marked as read.

It's not perfect, but the best solution at the moment.

What I'd really like to be able to do is ignore threads that I'm not interested in, unfortunately that's not possible. The only thing you can do is mark them read.

I'm on a desktop, no idea if this solution works on a phone or other device or not.

 

[Progster]

then have an atheism section so everyone can opt into that

If such a forum existed, then I would advocate being able to opt out (or in) to that, too. As indeed I would any thread, regardless of subject matter.

 

[The Pandector]

But 'sexually indeterminate' can't be a general term for all sexualities other than heterosexual, or all genders other than male/female, can it? Because it actually means, the person's sex is undetermined. I'm sorry to hear both that this is used in church, where everyones unique personhood is valued, and that @The Pandector instead of taking a minute and thinking, is implying it's a suitable term. It's clearly not.

I know you to be a thoughtful person, @Thinx, but not sure if you took time to consider that I was not at all - and stated such - trying to come up with a general term for all sexualities other than heterosexual...' As I clearly said earlier, I was looking for a neutral term for people who seem to have difficulties establishing a gender. This is obviously a subset of people who post about non-binary identification, which is a subset of those who post on gender issues. I was intentionally using a specific example of a type of post. I get to do that if I want to.

Your opinion aside for the moment... it is an appropriate term. It refers to people who are having trouble settling on a sexual identity. Since it was my post, @Thinx, I think I get to decide who I was talking about. One kind person informed me that the term has been extensively misused by some religious groups. You don't own the words. I don't own the words. Each of us, even if being intentionally hateful, makes the best use we can of the language we share.

I wish we would all just listen to what each other are saying, rather than trying to dictate how they say it.

I appreciate being notified that the term is *tainted.*

 

[Misery]

That does not help, I'm on a phone and I just get little quips of forum thread titles.

Hm, I'm wondering if there's an issue on your end. Even if I'm on my phone, I dont just get odd little chunks of topic titles when checking this site, so... I'm not sure what's going on in your end. I made a point of checking it on my phone just now to make sure this was true, and... yeah, I can see the entirety of every topic title no matter what. The site looks exactly as it does on my desktop machine. No difference, no chance of clicking on something that I dont want to.

I have no idea just what you're seeing, but... the fact that I can avoid the issue entirely without effort on my own phone says that it's possible to do.

Normally I like to try to offer advice for fixes and such, but I genuinely cannot imagine what the heck could make the topic titles appear in the way you're describing them. I've... never seen that before.

Besides. Something tells me religious TOPICS isnt what the trouble is here, for many who find themselves bothered by it. After all, if a topic IS obviously focused on religion then again... just dont click it. But it's often not like that, is it? I've noticed that this site has quite a few who are religious in some way (which is totally fine) but with an odd tendency to bring it up in topics that have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Which IS a natural tendency in those on the spectrum: When we have interests, we tend to "interject" them at times. Heck, I do it.

That generally will never be filtered from the forum side, because there's just no way to do it automatically.

Now granted some topics actually DO make sense, when it comes to mentioning religious stuff... a topic about the paranormal for instance is almost guaranteed to cause a mention of religion. And that's fine, as it DOES fit. Sort of.

But for the most part... yeah, there is a tendency to have it pop up in otherwise "normal" threads.

The one and only thing that can be done about THAT is, well... MY approach, as I mentioned before: either lock the topic in question the moment it happens, or even forcibly alter/remove the "offending" post, and notify the person who posted it that the rules dont allow it.

But, I cant see THAT going over well on this forum. I sense that trying to bring the hammer down on religious stuff here will cause some big trouble, to put it mildly. This is supposed to be an extremely accepting place, after all... to try to knock a specific aspect away simply because some users dont want to hear it would go against that.

Other than that though, what I said before about the internet still stands: just avoid the stuff. But also, dont let yourself get so bothered. YOU, not the content, controls how annoyed/angry/whatever you get. You may not like having to hear that, but it is the truth regardless. Yes, I know that's easier said than done, to keep control of that, but if you're going to really make use of the Net you have no choice in the matter, because the Net by its very nature IS going to do that, over and over and over and over and over and over. 25 bloody years of internet nonsense kinda acted as a hard lesson in that one for me.

And if none of any of that works... well, I dont know what to tell ya. One way or another, this forum is what it is.

I can give one bit of advice though: Maybe take a break? If you're getting THAT bothered by it, to the point of making a topic about it... maybe it's time to step away for a bit. Give yourself a chance to cool down. Heck, put the entire bloody device down for a couple of days. It's a healthy thing to do anyway. Even I have to do that every now and then, despite not wanting to.

 

[Misery]

I'm not ok with it, not at all, when somebody gets all preachy. Its elitist. There is another wrinkle though, many of those posts come from ppl who know that the person they are speaking to is someone of faith, and so the preachy statement is actually friendly, in a way.

This actually brings up one other thing I wanted to say:

People on here, talking about stuff like that... I HIGHLY doubt it's ever truly "preachy".

Keep in mind just what you're dealing with when you come to this forum: A bunch of people on the spectrum. A bunch of INHERENTLY INTENSE people. It's literally a factor of the condition for most. When we talk about something we care about AT ALL we tend to get intense/enthusiastic/whatever about it. It's not on purpose... it merely IS.

Please keep that in mind when interacting on here.

 

[VernalSole1355]

Besides. Something tells me religious TOPICS isnt what the trouble is here, for many who find themselves bothered by it. After all, if a topic IS obviously focused on religion then again... just dont click it. But it's often not like that, is it? I've noticed that this site has quite a few who are religious in some way (which is totally fine) but with an odd tendency to bring it up in topics that have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Which IS a natural tendency in those on the spectrum: When we have interests, we tend to "interject" them at times. Heck, I do it.

That generally will never be filtered from the forum side, because there's just no way to do it automatically.

Now granted some topics actually DO make sense, when it comes to mentioning religious stuff... a topic about the paranormal for instance is almost guaranteed to cause a mention of religion. And that's fine, as it DOES fit. Sort of.

But for the most part... yeah, there is a tendency to have it pop up in otherwise "normal" threads.

The one and only thing that can be done about THAT is, well... MY approach, as I mentioned before: either lock the topic in question the moment it happens, or even forcibly alter/remove the "offending" post, and notify the person who posted it that the rules dont allow it.

But, I cant see THAT going over well on this forum. I sense that trying to bring the hammer down on religious stuff here will cause some big trouble, to put it mildly. This is supposed to be an extremely accepting place, after all... to try to knock a specific aspect away simply because some users dont want to hear it would go against that.

This actually brings up one other thing I wanted to say:

People on here, talking about stuff like that... I HIGHLY doubt it's ever truly "preachy".

Keep in mind just what you're dealing with when you come to this forum: A bunch of people on the spectrum. A bunch of INHERENTLY INTENSE people. It's literally a factor of the condition for most. When we talk about something we care about AT ALL we tend to get intense/enthusiastic/whatever about it. It's not on purpose... it merely IS.

Please keep that in mind when interacting on here.

That's a good way of putting it. As a fellow Christian, I am tempted to post religious stuff on "normal" threads, but I hold back out of respect for the OP and the individuals involved unless someone specifically requests my religious view on the situation, in which case I'll give it. Again, I don't know what has happened in that person's life, I don't want to cause a trigger.

I can also say that I am very passionate about my faith. While I don't necessarily express it all the time, I do advocate for the faith & Autism (as well as special needs) in the Church, and accommodations we can make for them.

 

[Mia]

Sites become echo chambers. Have fun, I'm finished here.

 

[The Pandector]

Everyone here is worthy of respect, @The Pandector. And if your religion says otherwise, then I guess that's a good reason for it having a separate space.

That, dear person, borders on the slanderous. Unless, of course, you are willing to put your money where your keys clatter. Tell me and the world just exactly where I have promoted any religion or religious concept that says we should not respect other people.

Please.

 

[The Pandector]

Alternately, a retraction will do.

 

[tree]

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[Major Tom]

Hm, I'm wondering if there's an issue on your end. Even if I'm on my phone, I dont just get odd little chunks of topic titles when checking this site, so... I'm not sure what's going on in your end. I made a point of checking it on my phone just now to make sure this was true, and... yeah, I can see the entirety of every topic title no matter what. The site looks exactly as it does on my desktop machine. No difference, no chance of clicking on something that I dont want to.

I have no idea just what you're seeing, but... the fact that I can avoid the issue entirely without effort on my own phone says that it's possible to do.

Normally I like to try to offer advice for fixes and such, but I genuinely cannot imagine what the heck could make the topic titles appear in the way you're describing them. I've... never seen that before.

Besides. Something tells me religious TOPICS isnt what the trouble is here, for many who find themselves bothered by it. After all, if a topic IS obviously focused on religion then again... just dont click it. But it's often not like that, is it? I've noticed that this site has quite a few who are religious in some way (which is totally fine) but with an odd tendency to bring it up in topics that have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Which IS a natural tendency in those on the spectrum: When we have interests, we tend to "interject" them at times. Heck, I do it.

That generally will never be filtered from the forum side, because there's just no way to do it automatically.

Now granted some topics actually DO make sense, when it comes to mentioning religious stuff... a topic about the paranormal for instance is almost guaranteed to cause a mention of religion. And that's fine, as it DOES fit. Sort of.

But for the most part... yeah, there is a tendency to have it pop up in otherwise "normal" threads.

The one and only thing that can be done about THAT is, well... MY approach, as I mentioned before: either lock the topic in question the moment it happens, or even forcibly alter/remove the "offending" post, and notify the person who posted it that the rules dont allow it.

But, I cant see THAT going over well on this forum. I sense that trying to bring the hammer down on religious stuff here will cause some big trouble, to put it mildly. This is supposed to be an extremely accepting place, after all... to try to knock a specific aspect away simply because some users dont want to hear it would go against that.

Other than that though, what I said before about the internet still stands: just avoid the stuff. But also, dont let yourself get so bothered. YOU, not the content, controls how annoyed/angry/whatever you get. You may not like having to hear that, but it is the truth regardless. Yes, I know that's easier said than done, to keep control of that, but if you're going to really make use of the Net you have no choice in the matter, because the Net by its very nature IS going to do that, over and over and over and over and over and over. 25 bloody years of internet nonsense kinda acted as a hard lesson in that one for me.

And if none of any of that works... well, I dont know what to tell ya. One way or another, this forum is what it is.

I can give one bit of advice though: Maybe take a break? If you're getting THAT bothered by it, to the point of making a topic about it... maybe it's time to step away for a bit. Give yourself a chance to cool down. Heck, put the entire bloody device down for a couple of days. It's a healthy thing to do anyway. Even I have to do that every now and then, despite not wanting to.

I'm not trying to drive anything or anyone away. I JUST DO NOT WANT TO SEE RELIGIOUS CONTENT ON MY FEED. As I've said at least 3 times already in this thread.

 

[unperson]

I don't get a 'feed'. I just come to the site and click on 'new posts'. There's almost no religious threads most of the time.

 

[Major Tom]

I don't get a 'feed'. I just come to the site and click on 'new posts'. There's almost no religious threads most of the time.

Good for you, I do. It brings me there every time I open the site. And 2 out of 4 posts recently have been religious.

 

[unperson]

Just had a look around the site and uh do you mean 'new profile posts?' cos there's some transgressive posts there (from your p.o.v.). I almost never look at that section and it's not prominent in my browser. I don't get a 'feed' of site material. I use a laptop.

 

[Major Tom]

Just had a look around the site and uh do you mean 'new profile posts?' cos there's some transgressive posts there (from your p.o.v.). I almost never look at that section and it's not prominent in my browser.

Those and the threads. Both

 

[unperson]

Just added a little to that post, but I use a laptop and don't have these issues.

 

[Sherlock77]

Those and the threads. Both

I've never looked at those sections before... Just looked now for the first time, there were some religious posts I saw, but only because I'm subscribed to them... My understanding is that people don't see posts in the religious or political forums unless they subscribe... And religious can be interpreted rather broadly, not just Christian...

As for profile posts, I've never used that at all, not sure how that could be monitored for religious content, but the whole idea is expressing oneself I suppose, whatever someone's belief is...

 

[Nitro]

In my honest opinion, in the bigger scheme of things, making each section of this forum an opt-in would first serve to create confusion, then promote further division.
Don't we get enough of that already?

As a whole, we strive to be an inclusive community where we attempt to be tolerant of everyone's point of view. Sometimes we fail, because that is in our nature and very often we will have very different opinions which can ruffle our feathers.

I'd like to think that we as a community can work together to iron stuff out, or just plain ignore what we don't want to read. We are all big kids now who get to sit at the grownup table, correct?

Nothing ever gets accomplished in a discussion unless we have some opposing views to examine an issue from many angles.
Just like life, the unfortunate part is that some won't always get their way on the end.

For those with faith who oppose their views, atheists have the exact same rights as the believers do, with no views allowed here that take anything to the point of supremacy. Not on my watch anyway.
The same goes the other way, if that requires any further explanation.

While we don't stifle free speech here as a general rule, we all, including me, joined a private club, where we have some rules in place to keep the place civil and inviting for all, not just a select few.

On a same but different note, off-color, vulgar or offensive language isn't acceptable here, because for one, many don't want to see any of it, ever.
If you feel the need to use it and are two consenting adults, have at it in private, but bear in mind that both parties have to be ok with it in order for it to work.

Every once in a while, we selectively edit some posts that stray out of bounds, or remove them completely if that aren't up to snuff, but that's mostly to reduce the conflict levels and keep a lot of you out of the penalty box so to speak.
Yep, we try to attach a note explaining why we found it out of sorts, but that also keeps us from being cops trying to fill a ticket quota, so both sides can consider it a win.

We can ask the owner for an opt-in for the religion forum which might help some of you, but how do those that want that done propose we eliminate all traces of it on the main forum areas?

The simplest solution for not viewing the Religion area would be to not click on it to begin with. The other stuff, not so much.

As staff members, we are fortunate enough to have to view all new materials, then read and respond to each report as they come in.

Most of the time, you people are are a lot of fun, while other times I wake up to a fully involved structure fire with only a kinked and leaky garden hose to put it out. Not so fun those mornings, but I just go thru the motions and with the rest of the staff, we straighten it out.

For those that don't know me well, I'm basically a crusty old biker type dragracer with a bad mouth and an attitude to suit.
I was fortunate enough to do lot of other cool stuff in my day too, but immediately changed my personality when I donned my gypsy leathers or pulled a five point safety harness tight.

Every once in a while, I post somewhat offensive stuff I probably shouldn't, but please bear in mind that I am human just like the rest of you, and we should never forget that we on the spectrum are harnessed to a huge cart filled with communication issues trying to put our emotions to text. We all have good and bad days, right? And yeah, my social faux pas get reported too, just in case any of you are wondering.

When offering your thought and opinions anywhere on our forum, we must always try to do it with the respect and/or dignity that each of us deserve.

Over and out, Nitro

 

[Major Tom]

What my news feed looks like.

• Major Tom
• May 24, 2021
• 3

As you can see I can't read the full title of threads, so I can't tell if it's religious or not.

 

[Penumbra]

Judging by the discussion in this thread, I think I am better off leaving this site. Have a good day, everyone.