Faith Options in Your User Profile

[pdudgeon]

What's the problem about wanting to keep your gender a secret? Maybe you're talking to a hermaphrodite who had to pick a gender to register, but keeps it a secret because he/she had to lie? Or someone who preferes others to read what they're writting instead of being bashed for being a gal writting. It has happened in the past in other forums.

I pondered your post again this afternoon.
gender is something that is both public and private; public in appearance, but private in it's application.
So yes, i can readily understand and respect why a person would desire to keep what is private to themselves.
Simply put, that part of their life is their business.
and until recently it had always been considered to be so.

 

[pastor marty]

As Christian Forums is a faith based ministry, it has been decided that a user's faith can no longer be private or hidden in any user's profile, therefore, the Private option has been removed and everybody needs to choose one of the other options available.

We have also changed the ability for a user to change their own faith option, therefore, if you had previously chosen the Private option, or you wish to change your faith option, please go to the Member Services Center (MSC) and post your request there.

If a faith option that you would like to choose is missing, let us know and we will see if it can be added.

I'm a "John 3/16" Christian. Member @ Christian Motorcycle Assn. since '88' Street-preacher.Don't know which of 200 mgr. denominations has it perfect?? It's just me;Jesus & the Great Spirit. " old ram seeks Shepherd !" B?Blessed pastor marty

 

[bugkiller]

As Christian Forums is a faith based ministry, it has been decided that a user's faith can no longer be private or hidden in any user's profile, therefore, the Private option has been removed and everybody needs to choose one of the other options available.

We have also changed the ability for a user to change their own faith option, therefore, if you had previously chosen the Private option, or you wish to change your faith option, please go to the Member Services Center (MSC) and post your request there.

If a faith option that you would like to choose is missing, let us know and we will see if it can be added.

I choose nondenominational because I do not belong nor subscribe to an organized religion. I used to belong to one. To require one to register as a follower of a denomination only provides an angle of personal attack as some from a particular group have done in the past. I am interested in theology only. The other side of the coin is many here register something that isn't true to avoid easy identification. Problem is one's speech identifies them as Peter found out. So the reality of the matter is its worthless. All one has to do here is say they are this or that. To contest it is called harassment and flaming. Same goes for other areas such as gender identification. The real deal is the abuse can't be stopped. One can be an actual member of some denomination and not be a Christian. If some one is defending the doctrines of a denomination and refuses to admit they belong to that denomination by registering as a Christian they are admitting the organization they actually align with is unchristian. Such is common practice in the forum I participate in. In fact their church teaches them this tactic. It has been admitted to in their fellowship forum.

bugkiller

 

[SilverAvenger]

One can say the same about Religion.
One should go by what was posted, not who posted. (That's what all the rules say any ways. "Address the post, not the poster")
If so, why force the Poster to reveal info they don't wish to reveal?

Amen to that!

 

[AV1611VET]

We can pray more effectively for someone if we know what they claim.

 

[contango]

Good move.
A. I know who I am dealing with
B. People now can't change it on a whim.

Same should be true of gender. Just a suggestion.

Only up to a point. People can't change it on a whim but if someone uses a generic option like "Christian" you don't know which of many branches of Christianity they may sympathise with, and until you see some fruits of their posting you won't even know if they are actually a Christian at all.

I use "Christian" rather than one of the many more detailed options because I don't care to be identified by a particular denomination.

For what it's worth I think a lot of the denomination-based forums are silly, the question "what do Catholics say Romans 1:1 means?" would seem to be much more usefully asked as "what does Romans 1:1 mean?". Maybe the Catholics do have it right on that matter, but then maybe the Baptists or the Methodists do and if you ask in a Catholics-only area you lose the chance to have other viewpoints put forward.

 

[pdudgeon]

We can pray more effectively for someone if we know what they claim.

i think that would be more of a personal situation rather than an 'across the board' statement.

 

[AV1611VET]

i think that would be more of a personal situation rather than an 'across the board' statement.

Yes, I agree.

 

[contango]

probably because there are some forums where posting is restricted by age, gender, faith, and marital status, as well as whether one is on staff here.

Even then a lot of the restrictions are largely arbitrary, easily subverted, and often create all sorts of silly inconsistencies.

I remember on another board I used some years ago they had gender-specific areas, and it was remarkable how many questions fundamentally related to what the other gender wanted. If you've got a load of men talking, in a men-only area, about what women want does anybody else see the problem?

Likewise the life-stages sections create silly situations as well. It's reasonable to assume that someone who is married was engaged before being married, part of a courting couple before that, and single before that. So if a person in the "courting couples" or "singles" area asks a question about relationships, where is the sense in not allowing a married person to answer it? Presumably someone who has been married for 20 years knows at least something about maintaining a relationship. Of course things have moved on in the last 20 years but the married person probably knows more about relationships than the person who is still single at the age of 50 because they are socially inept, yet only one of those is allowed to answer.

It seems to create a lot of division for the sake of creating division, and leaving the board as a veritable minefield of Places I'm Not Allowed To Post. I don't post a whole lot here, simply because I grew tired of reading a thread only to realise it was in yet another place I wasn't allowed to post.

If there really must be these endless restrictions, at least automate them and stop showing me the places I'm not allowed to post.

 

[pgp_protector]

Even then a lot of the restrictions are largely arbitrary, easily subverted, and often create all sorts of silly inconsistencies.

I remember on another board I used some years ago they had gender-specific areas, and it was remarkable how many questions fundamentally related to what the other gender wanted. If you've got a load of men talking, in a men-only area, about what women want does anybody else see the problem?

Likewise the life-stages sections create silly situations as well. It's reasonable to assume that someone who is married was engaged before being married, part of a courting couple before that, and single before that. So if a person in the "courting couples" or "singles" area asks a question about relationships, where is the sense in not allowing a married person to answer it? Presumably someone who has been married for 20 years knows at least something about maintaining a relationship. Of course things have moved on in the last 20 years but the married person probably knows more about relationships than the person who is still single at the age of 50 because they are socially inept, yet only one of those is allowed to answer.

It seems to create a lot of division for the sake of creating division, and leaving the board as a veritable minefield of Places I'm Not Allowed To Post. I don't post a whole lot here, simply because I grew tired of reading a thread only to realise it was in yet another place I wasn't allowed to post.

If there really must be these endless restrictions, at least automate them and stop showing me the places I'm not allowed to post.

I've lost count of how many times I see a thread in the New Post listings, go read, see something to reply to, (some times Post) then go opps, I'm not supposed to supply an answer to the questions asked because I'm the wrong gender, age, race, location, marital status or other.

 

[pdudgeon]

I can see the need for everyone to fill out all the information on a membership form.
but if the proper permissions are applied up front by the staff when they join Cf,
then the forums that the members are able to view can be regulated.

directing the member's posts to the relevant forums should go smoothly for everyone;
staff and members alike.
If there were fewer incidents of members posting in the wrong forums, which creates
more work for staff having to close threads, re-direct posts, etc.
I think that both staff and members would be happier.

It's just like putting in a dam upstream of a crossing.
We already know that not every member needs access to every forum here on CF,
so why not get better organized from the get go?

If that change in programming permissions were to happen, then there would be no need
to publicly display the marriage, sex, or political party of any member.

 

[AV1611VET]

If that change in programming permissions were to happen, then there would be no need to publicly display the marriage, sex, or political party of any member.

I don't really care to give winking smileys to members of the opposite gender.

I do it at times.

But I really don't care to.

It would be nice to know ahead of time.

I think gender, faith, and age would be nice to know.

 

[contango]

I've lost count of how many times I see a thread in the New Post listings, go read, see something to reply to, (some times Post) then go opps, I'm not supposed to supply an answer to the questions asked because I'm the wrong gender, age, race, location, marital status or other.

That's my issue. I realise men may not want women reading their posts describing their struggle with pornography and women may not want men reading their posts describing issues with their periods, but it's not as if anyone so inclined can't take 30 seconds to create another account claiming to be whatever gender/faith they want to be so they can read/post in areas where they aren't suppose to be.

If I enter my gender as "male" and specify that I don't want other people to know my gender, the system can still grant me access to a mens' area and deny access to a womens' area, and outside of those areas my gender probably doesn't matter. If I make reference to "my wife" people can conclude that I'm either a man or a lesbian, and if I want to use language that's sufficiently guarded that I give nothing away regarding my gender then does anyone else really need to know?

The only place I can see gender and relationship status being of any relevance is in the assorted sections about relationships - if I'm talking about marriage then the fact I am married is potentially relevant because it shows I'm more likely to know what I'm talking about that someone who has never been married. That said someone who is married and divorced might not want to advertise the fact on their profile but may bring their own experiences on relationships and how they can break down. Likewise if I'm talking about something about relationships it's potentially useful for people to see that they're getting a man's perspective rather than a woman's perspective, and although I'm not a hugely active member the fact I've been here for nearly 5 years with 3000+ posts suggests I'm not a shill account created ten minutes ago to get a sneak peek into the womens' forum.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I have good reason to suspect the changes really are more to prevent problems as they have already happened in the past than they are any attempt to control members or otherwise be a problem for them.

If a person changes their faith, I'm sure a simple request without having to give "good enough reason" will be honored. However, I suspect it can't be done twice in a day, or with other unreasonable frequency, so that one can't pose as a member of a particular faith group to troll or otherwise conceal their true motives for posting. At least as far as the site can prevent it.

The same could apply to having it private. One can always choose generic "Christian" I suppose. But in general I like to know who I'm talking to, and I have no motive to conceal from others what I believe.

A few people might see it differently, but there are MANY members here, and I'm sure it's an attempt by owners to improve the atmosphere, not degrade it.

 

[stamperben]

When did this start? I thought CF was a message forum for the discussion of Christianity and related topics. I didn't know it was a ministry of a church. What church is it ministering on behalf of? And what is the aim or goal of the ministry? Is this site supposed to be converting people and, if so, to what? Are we providing food to the hungry or clothes to the naked? I am not sure I understand what this means.

Never saw an answer to this...
Let me put forth what my observations on it are. It is simply a ministry toward the aim of PROFIT! The owner bought the site and fully intends to make some of that cash money running it. All else falls to the wayside. "Feed and clothe the hungry and naked..." LOL!

 

[AV1611VET]

It is simply a ministry toward the aim of PROFIT! The owner bought the site and fully intends to make some of that cash money running it. All else falls to the wayside.

This isn't even close to the truth.

Supporting membership here is $20.00 per year -- (compared to $50.00 on another site), and for a one-time payment of $50.00, you can get a lifetime membership for the life of your account.

They didn't have to do this.

They could have just left it at $20.00 per year.

 

[contango]

This isn't even close to the truth.

Supporting membership here is $20.00 per year -- (compared to $50.00 on another site), and for a one-time payment of $50.00, you can get a lifetime membership for the life of your account.

They didn't have to do this.

They could have just left it at $20.00 per year.

It would be interesting to know how many people pay the $20/year and what it costs to run the site.

I imagine bandwidth could be expensive. I'd also be interested to know what you get for the "supporter" premium because from what I can see you get a green tag under your name (if we want to be spiritual about it we could comment on the "give so your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing") and a lack of adverts.

If I don't care about the green banner that does little more than tell people I handed over some cash, and use adblockers (which I do, as a matter of routine, because I'm sick of online ads everywhere) what do I get for the money?

ETA: Instead of reminding me that I'm using ad blockers (I know, and have no intention of turning them off), why not interact with the ad blocking companies to get an exemption under their option to "allow non-intrusive advertising"? I have no intention of turning my ad blocker off because I'm heartily sick of ads that spam me with third party cookies, or that decide that what I really need is to have a video automatically play (with sound, obviously) and the like.

 

[contango]

We can pray more effectively for someone if we know what they claim.

I doubt that to be honest. God knows what they are regardless of what they claim, and if someone claims to be a Christian lesbian struggling with her same-sex attraction when they're really a teenage boy with nothing better to do I don't suppose our beliefs regarding their situation will make much difference when it comes to what God does as a result of our prayers.

 

[AV1611VET]

I'd also be interested to know what you get for the "supporter" premium because from what I can see you get a green tag under your name (if we want to be spiritual about it we could comment on the "give so your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing") and a lack of adverts.

You get the 15-second delay between posts lifted.

A BIG PLUS with me.

Which is something the other site does not do.

If I don't care about the green banner that does little more than tell people I handed over some cash, and use adblockers (which I do, as a matter of routine, because I'm sick of online ads everywhere) what do I get for the money?

The privilege to invest in the Kingdom of God with your finances.

You support yourself and others who are spreading the Gospel according to the Great Commission.

You are laying up treasure in Heaven.

As the saying goes with regard to missionary giving:

If you can't go in person, go in purse.

 

[AV1611VET]

... and if someone claims to be a Christian lesbian struggling with her same-sex attraction when they're really a teenage boy with nothing better to do I don't suppose our beliefs regarding their situation will make much difference when it comes to what God does as a result of our prayers.

If someone is claiming something he isn't, then God can handle the situation.

If "Joe" is requesting prayer because "Joe" has cancer ... but in reality "Joe" just wants attention, then the flood of prayers going to God could just spark an undesirable result for Joe.