If Robert is such a bad guy, surely you could attack the things he has done rather than the god he worships or the way he chooses to worship them. It's not anyones place to neg someone over their religion.
It is honestly so reassuring to see this type of unkind and mean behavior being shown so openly in Giants Lair. From stupid comments about Jews, to lead admins saying that all relationships are transctional or some other psychotic thing, to other lead admins insulting community members for being a bad christian. One lead even covered up a Minecraft developer deleting a player land claim out of anger or something. All this toxic bullshit comes straight from the top.
I'm just glad y'all are openly toxic now so the new people can see it all and stay far away from here.
This is just where we're going to have to disagree. As mentioned, criticism of behaviour is entirely in line with scripture.
You seem to hold as a core value that one's faith or actions as a believer must never be criticized in any capacity, for it is wrong to do so.
I hold as a core value that all actions, principles, values, and ideals must hold up under scrutiny.
It is why I strive to argue from a place of principle, a place of truth, that can be proven false. I don't believe myself to always be right, I don't believe myself to know everything or even much at all. Sometimes I get things wrong. That's why I try to explain where I'm coming from, to argue from a position where others can point out that I'm wrong. And I willingly, openly accept alternative ideas as having merit, even if I disagree with them. I did it in this very thread before and apologized for my own mistakes when I realized them. Because I listened to what others were saying and understood that while I may have a point, there's also other things that merit this thread existing or people saying what they've said.
To me, it feels like you're asserting points entirely from a place of emotional truth. I cannot deny you your emotions, nor would I ever wish to - they are rightfully yours. To me, it seems like you believe so many people here to be toxic at their core, that there are people who are genuinely hateful or mean-spirited at the highest level of staff, and among the most well-liked people in the community. That could absolutely be true, but that is simply not the world I see. What you say, it doesn't resonate with my emotional truth. The assertion that it is wrong must necessarily be demonstrably true. You haven't shown that in any way. You have asserted that it is wrong, because it is wrong, because you think it's wrong. You've not yet shown the reason it is wrong, you've simply said it is so.
That isn't something anyone can have an honest conversation with - because the well is so thoroughly poisoned by the emotional truth underpinning your argument. If I speak against your opinion, it is easy to paint my actions as defending bigotry, defending hateful vitriol. After all, I am defending something that in your emotional truth is indefensible. Whereas my emotional truth is that I think it's both important, healthy, and good, that religion not be sanctified beyond mention. One of the reasons for this is so that people can point out when others may have have lost their way in faith.
According to the Bible, God gave us the freedom to choose, the free will. Along with that freedom comes the necessity of freedom of thought. Freedom to disseminate, critique, doubt, question, argue against, be skeptical of, and otherwise curious about the nature of our world. About faith. About ideals. Really, about everything. Faith is not, nor should it ever be, beyond mention. Two things can be true at the same time. Faith is not beyond reproach. And equally, we all have the right to believe, to have faith.
What has been said in regards to faith here by other people has not been so unkind, nor so uncouth, that it warrants being called toxic. If you cannot exist in a space where religion might be the subject of criticism or where scripture might be challenged, then... yeah. That's okay, but this is probably a space where you're going to feel victimized or ultimately victimize yourself then. I don't think we should ban discussions on the subject of faith, the mention of faith, or critiques against someone that relate to faith. I fundamentally don't think the world is a better place for that, nor that it would make Giant's Lair a better place to do so. I disagree with your ideal that it is fundamentally wrong to do so.
So, like, frankly... If you truly believe the space to be so toxic, I would encourage you to leave it. I say that from a place of compassion. I know from myself how much it can wreck my mental health to linger in a space that feels suffocating and harmful to me. Something I've sadly had ample experience with. So with truly, genuinely, all the love I have: whether this place is toxic in essence or only toxic for you, the best gift you can give yourself is to prioritize your own mental health and leave when a space feels this way to you. I promise you that it will give you so much peace of mind in a week's time. Of course, though it goes without saying I will be very explicit: you are welcome here if you wish to be here.
Consider it food for thought, I'll probably dip from continuing this line of conversation after this post <3
