Complaint regarding the religion subforum moderator (removing Christmas and the Pope)

Nicholas King said:And how exactly did you reach such a definitive conclusion? 😕

Walking into a thread dedicated to wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and immediately pivoting to celebrating the day of the Sun or whatever else—well, it’s basically rewriting someone else's playbook, even if they stay silent about it. I mean, someone could have just as easily decided to wish people a happy birthday for Humphrey Bogart instead. People don't celebrate a random date; they don't celebrate December 25th just for the sake of the calendar, they celebrate Christmas—Jesus' birth and all that jazz. It's meant to be a gesture of goodwill toward everyone.

Is it really that difficult—or perhaps just too unbearable—to let them enjoy their greetings in peace, without poking fun at them from behind the safety of a red username paired with a purple "he definitely wasn't provoking anyone" backup? Does one always have to demonstrate Nicole James's greatness everywhere, making sure to show that I (blah, blah, blah) am out here celebrating something entirely different?

Daniel Ward87 said:By asking him myself. Not just him, but I checked with the other moderators too, and I even went out of my way to look into how things are handled here.

I get that his post probably shouldn't have happened, and he should've just said we don't do that anymore. But no, I really don't think he was trolling.

Nicholas King said:And he’ll just—quite predictably—respond with, "Yeah, obviously I was trolling, did you see how bad I wrecked the thread, huh? Huh? Huh?" 😕

Trolling isn't always about someone's underlying intentions—some people just have a natural, innate talent for it on these forums, trolling even when they think they're being perfectly well-meaning. The way Nicole James jumped in, well, nomen est omen—that whole ego-trip of "me, me, me, look at me, this is what I'm celebrating"—is absolutely trolling. It shows a complete lack of respect for the actual topic and for everyone else participating in it.

But, let's set that aside for a moment: you definitely seem to be prone to a very specific kind of over-analyzing (if you will) of anything a moderator says. Not long ago, after you interpreted Kowino saying "I don't think I did anything wrong" as "both of them know they messed up", and now you're reading "Next year I'll open a massive mega-thread for all the various holiday greetings so nobody accidentally ends up feeling offended..." as if it means "you guys can go screw yourselves next year since I'll be the one opening my own consolidated mega-thread," instead of reading it as "Nicole won't be doing this anymore".

I get the urge—really, I do—to try and smooth over the nonsensical errors or nonsense coming from the mod team, but it probably wouldn't be such a bad idea to stop trying to satisfy that urge by insulting the basic common sense of the rest of the forum users.

What Nicole James will decide to do next year remains an open question for all of us, so let's just wait and see how things unfold.

Susan Price30 said:

What Nicole James will decide to do next year remains an open question for all of us, so let's just wait and see how things unfold.

If I understood him correctly, the whole idea of a Christian Christmas discussion on Christmas Day shouldn't even be allowed in the Religion section, simply because he felt that a topic about Christmas was bothersome which is why he posted that message in the "holiday greetings" thread, right?

He also mentioned here that the Religion sub-forum isn't "exclusive to believers"—which implies that this supposed "dominance" of a faith that doesn't even seem to exist is actually bothering him. This concept of "exclusivity" is a bit of a myth anyway, since we have separate sub-forums like Spirituality for those with pagan or New Age beliefs, and Mysticism/Alternative for others, both of which seem to function perfectly fine within their own dedicated spaces.

The point I’d really like addressed is why anyone would think religious people should be denied access to the one specific space intended for them—the space meant for religious discussion and expression.

In other words, why do others (pagans, alternative groups, etc.) have their own designated areas, yet in the Religion section, religious individuals are suffocated—to the point where a moderator (if we follow his logic) wouldn't even want to see a Christmas thread or feel comfortable offering greetings to those celebrating the holiday??

If anyone ever needed a clear illustration of what suffocating believers looks like on this sub-forum, perhaps this is the perfect example of the sad reality we're seeing.

Thank you.

Daniel Ward87 said:You didn't quite catch my drift. There’s no rule saying people can't wish each other a Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year on a PDF. That wasn't even what he was complaining about, and that definitely wasn't his reason for posting. Honestly, I’m not going to drag this out any further because there’s really no point. It’s just one person claiming one thing while I claim another. Let's just agree to disagree; dragging this on is just a waste of time spent trying to prove someone else wrong.

It's true that the religion subforum isn't just a private club for believers. There isn't an exclusive section on this forum reserved for any specific group of people. Religion is a topic anyone can jump into, as long as you're registered and don't have any active bans preventing you from posting here or in that subforum. It’s not about gatekeeping; everyone has the right to share their thoughts on the subject, provided they play by the rules. I don't see why pointing out that the religion subforum isn't an exclusive space should be taken as an attack on believers or anyone else. It’s just a plain old fact.

Religion is basically a space for us to chat about faith, different religions, and anything else that falls under that umbrella. This isn't just for strictly "religious" debates—sometimes people might just be phrasing things a bit weirdly, and that's okay too.

Religion isn't just for the religious types, and spirituality isn't strictly for the non-religious or pagans either. Every sub-forum here is open to everyone.

Daniel Ward87 said:You didn't quite catch my drift. There’s no rule saying people can't wish each other a Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year on a PDF. That wasn't even what he was complaining about, and that definitely wasn't his reason for posting. Honestly, I’m not going to drag this out any further because there’s really no point. It’s just one person claiming one thing while I claim another. Let's just agree to disagree; dragging this on is just a waste of time spent trying to prove someone else wrong.

It's true that the religion subforum isn't just a private club for believers. There isn't an exclusive section on this forum reserved for any specific group of people. Religion is a topic anyone can jump into, as long as you're registered and don't have any active bans preventing you from posting here or in that subforum. It’s not about gatekeeping; everyone has the right to share their thoughts on the subject, provided they play by the rules. I don't see why pointing out that the religion subforum isn't an exclusive space should be taken as an attack on believers or anyone else. It’s just a plain old fact.

Religion is basically a space for us to chat about faith, different religions, and anything else that falls under that umbrella. This isn't just for strictly "religious" debates—sometimes people might just be phrasing things a bit weirdly, and that's okay too.

Religion isn't just for the religious types, and spirituality isn't strictly for the non-religious or pagans either. Every sub-forum here is open to everyone.

feralpilot0 said:Wait—so apparently starting a thread to wish people a Merry Christmas is somehow considered "threatening" now? Is that how we're playing this? 😕 Are you actually serious? 😁

It isn't exclusive to believers—though its purpose is pretty obvious from the title—providing greetings and a pleasant atmosphere for those actually capable of sharing them without feeling nauseous, for once.

Who even bothers to follow the topic guidelines anymore? Some people just want to kill the entire vibe—dragging everything off course just to derail the point—simply because they’re trolling. Is that really all some folks have to offer?
That’s the textbook definition—if you want to be that literal.

Usually, nobody objects to starting a discussion about the origins of Christmas—but shouldn't one approach such topics with a bit of nuance and actual insight, wouldn't you agree?

If someone feels threatened—as if that’s even possible (lol)—or somehow shortchanged... Just by existing—is that really enough? Such topics—really—are meant for the believers, aren't they? As per the attached PDF—if you even care to look at it.If he starts losing his grip on his own convictions—well, then we’ve got a much bigger problem on our hands.