let me throw this question out to everyone

Is it possible for a forum to be respectful of every different religion?
and if it where, would this site be trying for that?
The reason why I am asking is that I don't think the Jehovah's Witnesses thread is respectful to people of the J/W faith.
When the forum description says 'please be respectful of others beliefs' does it mean people that are posting on the forums only?
Perhaps it's a bit of a tall order for any site to try and be respectful of EVERY religious beliefs?
any thoughts

I see where you are coming from, and yes it is a very tall order for any site to be completley respectful to all religions and faiths - if anyone is to be allowed to tell of there experiences and thoughts.

I would like for this site to be respectful of all religions and faiths, but I also would like for this site to be open for people to discuss their experiences, good or bad...

If there are any Jehovah Witness followers here, who do find the thread in any way disrespectful or offence I would urge them to PM me and let me know.

The thread was re started by a ex J/W who felt that she needed to tell her story and the replies since have responded to this, indeed if you find it disrespectful I apologise to you for this.

One of the aspects of spiritual life, that confounds many who are good, and mean well, is a lack of tolerance... I include myself in this. I think we all try to be good and decent people. All of us have shared experiences, and opinions, of what that goodness consists of. I am the first to admit I have a low tolerance for many many things... It doesn't make me any less good. 
I would suspect the majority of folks who are searching and finding their spiritual path have walked this part of the block...
Meaning to do well, but insulting someone in the process. 
We all fall short of perfect. I say, "respect" is found in content. 
If a post is reduced to a bar room brawl (insults and the sort) then it isn't a respectful post.
 As adults, we should be able to disagree, in a fairly robust manner- respectfully.
 I can still love a JW and a pro-lifer who comes at me with an honest, clean, well reasoned argument. 
Sappy nonsense and rhetoric or hyperbole, will get a scathing rebuke from me, but it won't get an insult or name calling. I think thats fair.
 Spiritual life is a passionate dance... in my humble opinion. I'm just saying- to be spiritual doesn't mean you have to give up your principles. 
Somewhere between my truth, and your truth, is the truth. Lets hash it out sometimes. It doesn't mean I can't still honor the divine spark you carry.
For sure, if we would all remember that small detail, the insults would be harder to muster. Respectfully, Crimsonwind

crimsonwind wrote:

One of the aspects of spiritual life, that confounds many who are good, and mean well, is a lack of tolerance... I include myself in this. I think we all try to be good and decent people. All of us have shared experiences, and opinions, of what that goodness consists of. I am the first to admit I have a low tolerance for many many things... It doesn't make me any less good. 
I would suspect the majority of folks who are searching and finding their spiritual path have walked this part of the block...
Meaning to do well, but insulting someone in the process. 
We all fall short of perfect. I say, "respect" is found in content. 
If a post is reduced to a bar room brawl (insults and the sort) then it isn't a respectful post.
 As adults, we should be able to disagree, in a fairly robust manner- respectfully.
 I can still love a JW and a pro-lifer who comes at me with an honest, clean, well reasoned argument. 
Sappy nonsense and rhetoric or hyperbole, will get a scathing rebuke from me, but it won't get an insult or name calling. I think thats fair.
 Spiritual life is a passionate dance... in my humble opinion. I'm just saying- to be spiritual doesn't mean you have to give up your principles. 
Somewhere between my truth, and your truth, is the truth. Lets hash it out sometimes. It doesn't mean I can't still honor the divine spark you carry.
For sure, if we would all remember that small detail, the insults would be harder to muster. Respectfully, Crimsonwind

this is a great post, the only thing I would add is that words that one person may use in a debate that may be well intentioned, may be insulting and/or offensive to the other party.
We can't be posting in a forum and continually editing ourselves because we might offend someone, that's just not practical. However we can all keep an open mind and if we do offend try and look at it from the other persons point of view.
I think trying to be empathic and kind are the first principles of any spirituality or religion, without those two aspects it all becomes pointless.
so next time anyone tries to win a spiritual argument if its at the expense of the other persons feelings ask yourself if that really goes along with your spirituality.

respectable debating goes both ways, we are all different in our views and feelings on different topics and should in turn be able to vioce our views freely at the risk of causing some discontent.
im not saying that i want rows and unease on the site, thats quite the opposite, but as mentioned before , we certainly wont agree on everything our neighbour does and therefor occasions may arise that may get a little heated.

i agree that we can be different and have different views as long as we try to respect others views as we would wish ours to be respected, then if we find we cant reach a happy medium, simply agree to disagree xxx

Okay, most religions conflict anyway, so its hard to fully respect other religions when they don't respect others themselves. I think it depends on your definition of disrespect. Is it okay to challenge reference materials, the rules religions follow? Can we challenge what we believe, and what others believe, because that's what it comes down to, difference in opinion. Its okay to have a different opinion, and the whole point of debate is challenging opposing points, but as long as it doesn't lead to actual abuse, I think it should be okay. You can't be held to fault if you accidentally offend someone simply because you don't believe what they believe in. That's just closed mindedness on their part. I believe in some things, and the people I tell challenge them, its the way of the world. Not everyone has to agree on the same subject, be a bit of a boring world if they did.

Cauldron wrote:

Is it possible for a forum to be respectful of every different religion?
and if it where, would this site be trying for that?
The reason why I am asking is that I don't think the Jehovah's Witnesses thread is respectful to people of the J/W faith.
When the forum description says 'please be respectful of others beliefs' does it mean people that are posting on the forums only?
Perhaps it's a bit of a tall order for any site to try and be respectful of EVERY religious beliefs?
any thoughts

I have been a member of various religious forums for years and have found what applies to one does not apply to the other. Belief systems are so varied and people are different as well. What I have found is that especially on a lot of the true Christian fundamental sites is that if you do not see things their way you get banned. They do not believe that your views should counter what they preach. And also believe that theirs is the one true religion in most cases. Suspect a lot of it is pure brainwashing but thats speculation on my part. A lot of the Atheists sites are more laid back and allow members to truly express their religious views more openly. A lot of times what's good for the goose does always apply to the gander.

Back to the statement about theirs being the one true religion that I made earlier. The Christian Church was not formed until the Book of Acts in the Bible. And also, the word Christian came about some 40 years after Jesus died on the cross so he never even knew the word. Jesus was Jewish and in all likely hood practiced Judiasm. The Apostle Paul came along and invented this religion we have today known as Chrsitianity.

The key is "faith". Chrsitianity along with several other Abrahamic religions are based on faith pure and simple. Not that I see anything wrong with that but there is such a thing as caring it to extreme. So it depends on what forum or site you go to as to what "respectful" means. On some sites it simple means agree or be banned. On other sites it carries its exact meaning.