too much religious/spiritual talk?

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Is it possible to talk/write so much about religious/spiritual matters that one ceases to have anything in common with many, if not most, people?

The question came to mind upon looking at the current "active" topics here. When there are topics that most people can relate to, in one way or another, the threads become "alive" and interesting.

But when the threads are solely about theological matters, only 3 or 4 people get involved in the thread. (And sorry, but usually the thread is rather onerous to wade through.)

And I've often noticed how a potentially interesting thread can get shut down when someone posts an innocuous comment that does nothing more than show someone *may* have read the preceding comment, i.e., that was a nice thought, that was funny, that was a pretty photo. When those types of comments are used so often in one thread after another, they cease to have any redeeming quality... imho...

[CoAspen]

I understand what you are saying. For me, the topics become boring when they are basically speculative or going off in some tangent about supposed scholarly thinking. I simply am not interested anymore at this point in life. I do enjoy alternative thinking on supposedly set in stone ideas. A lot of 'texting' simply doesn't do it for me anymore. I will browse from time to time just to see if there is something interesting being discussed. Beasts, statues, timelines, etc ;have lost their interest for me. I have come to conclusion, for me, what is going to happen will happen!!

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

[JoeMo]

I plead guilty. I've been a little OCD in that area lately. Thing is, I really like prophecy; and when those threads hit a chord with me, I kinda go hog wild.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I'm with Coaspen.. it seems that mostly I come into the forum, bypass the prophecy threads and those which seem to have no other purpose but to tell us all what we should be believing, and those which seem to only spit out EGW and text quotes... they just make me tired.

Which is rather sad, because scripture should be an *interesting* thing... but it's being made (to me) dry and uninteresting, and lots of times, taken out of context just to try and prove some theory, idea or conviction.

[Woody]

Three Thumbs Up

[debbym]

I have a hard time finding the love in the theological debates.

it seems defeating since God is love.

[Tom Wetmore]

Yes the lack of of a loving spirit seems to me to be indicative of the source of too much of what dominates that arena.

As moderator, I have to at least periodically scan through the discussions to assess the tone and civility level. ( I can usually do so without getting too embroiled in the content...) This is one of my least favorite, second only to the political poo pile, to monitor. The bar is fairly high on what Is to be tolerated, but sometimes even that get crossed. The nature of most of the theology discussions usually leaves me cold and less interested in such topics. That too tells me there is something inherently wrong. If it doesn't draw one in and is repelling instead, I have to think God is not being well served in such discussions.

[Gail]

to the two above posts

[JoeMo]

Tom said that the bar is fairly high on what Is to be tolerated, but sometimes even that get crossed.

For the most part, I think the most recent ones (at least the ones I've been involved in) have been relatively civil. We may have disagreements on various personal opinions, but it has generally been a lively debate about sharing opinions. Compared to what those discussions devolved into a year ago (e.g., personal insults and attacks), it's been pretty decent.

[Tom Wetmore]

I agree with you that the tone and civility of most of the discussions throughout these forums has improved, including the theological ones. It requires less hands on moderating than it used to, for which I am grateful. Consequently, I don't feel that I have to monitor these discussions as closely or as frequently.