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Is it possible to have a forum on faith, religion and spirituality?

Discussion in 'Empty Closets Help and Feedback' started by Purplefrog, Aug 20, 2014.

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  1. Purplefrog

    Purplefrog Guest

    Being a member on here for a while, quite a lot of people (including myself) have had to, and are, working through issues around their faith and coming out.

    I think certainly for myself and others, the tenets of one's faith has provided a big barrier for people to not only come out to others, but to come to a place where one is able to accept oneself, before then starting to come out.

    Religion can and does, create a lot of shame around certain aspects of one's identity generally, and I was wondering whether creating this forum might be looked into?

    Thanks
     
    #1 Purplefrog, Aug 20, 2014
  2. Martin

    Martin
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    Hey,

    We're always happy to hear suggestions for what people would like on the community page, and this sounds like a relevant area of support that could fit in quite well.

    I think the first thing that would be useful to know is what the demand is. If there are members reading this who would find it useful, and/or have noticed a lot of spirtual-themed topics of support in particular forums then that would be useful information. There's always a difficult weighing of the pro's and cons when exploring expansions to our forums, and the most essential consideration is ensuring that there's the demand for it to be there, otherwise we'd have an inactive forum that would inadvertently drive people away because it doesn't look like it adequately caters for that target group.

    So, yeah, some initial ideas on the support for this from members would definitely help the staff. :slight_smile:

    Martin.
     
    #2 Martin, Aug 20, 2014
  3. TJ

    TJ
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    While I'm not religious, nor have I ever had problems with my sexuality and religion, I can definitely see this as being a very relevant subforum.
    I can think of plenty of threads off of the top of my head that have had to do with religion and its positions and effects on sexuality.

    However, a great number of those threads also have to do with a parent's religious views, so they can fall into Coming Out Advice or Family, Friends, and Relationships.
    Definitely just need to hear from people who think it'd be useful.
     
    #3 TJ, Aug 20, 2014
  4. phoenix89

    phoenix89
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    I know when I came out it was very difficult when it came to my religion. I have 8 threads dedicated to my faith. As these threads go on you, watch as I start to become more accepting of myself, but that came at the cost of faith. As I gained confidence in my sexuality, I lost it in my faith, and now I am no longer a Christian.

    I came to the point where I had to chose. This was not a choice that I wanted to make, and something that I do not want anyone else to experience, but sadly that is not the case. As long as being GSM is considered a sin, there is always going to be tension. I think that it will be nice to have a place for people to come and discuss their struggles.

    I am still struggling with this, a lot more than I am letting on too. I try not to let it show, I am trying to not it bother me, but as I am writing this I am crying because this is something that hurts more than I can explain, and it is sucks, and there is nothing I can do to change the pain that I am feeling. However, I can use that pain to support others and it will be nice to have a place to support each other.
     
    #4 phoenix89, Aug 20, 2014
  5. Chip

    Chip
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    The admin team is currently discussing this issue.
     
    #5 Chip, Aug 21, 2014
  6. PatrickUK

    PatrickUK
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    #6 PatrickUK, Aug 21, 2014
  7. Purplefrog

    Purplefrog Guest

    Thanks, I realise religion can be a very contentious issue - which one could argue, is why adding God/religion into the mix of coming to terms with one's sexual orientation is so incredibly difficult. But I would argue that not discussing these issues gives them only more power. That is not to say however that I don't recognise various threads have already discussed issues around faith.

    But, having a central forum of contact relating to religion and faith would enable people to easily go to discuss issues directly affecting them (c.f. the existence already of LGBT in Later Life and the For Friends and Family of LGBT People forums).

    In terms of policing potentially inflammatory and disrespectful comments - may I suggest looking at a forum such as Ship of Fools as a potential model for this forum? Ship of fools is a long established forum for discussion of numerous aspects Christianity, with members holding varying perspectives of their faith. A quick search around the site, one can find some of their policies and guidelines for managing participation on the site (see e.g. 10 Commandments which applies for the whole site, and under the "Purgatory" board (the serious discussion board) there are further guidelines.

    With regards the issue of whether there would be enough interest in this forum, a google search specific to Empty Closets site using the key words "Christian", "Islam", "Jewish", "religion", "faith" etc does yield a sizeable number of results for previous threads (in the 1000s for each keyword) on this site mentioning and relating to these issues.
     
    #7 Purplefrog, Aug 21, 2014
  8. ffxii

    ffxii
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    I can't say much, just that I'd really like to see this forum happen. :grin:
     
    #8 ffxii, Aug 21, 2014
  9. Fairybread

    Fairybread
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    I honestly thought there was already a section for this xD I guess not. I think there's a need for it, and if not a need, definitely a place for it. Im not as active post-wise as I used to be, but I still hang around, and I often see posts relating to faith. I think that struggles reconciling ones faith with ones sexually/gender identify is a fairly common topic among the lgbt community.thats my 2ยข worth, anyway.
     
    #9 Fairybread, Aug 22, 2014
  10. 101DeadRoses

    101DeadRoses
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    I think we should have one, for the religious among us to express themselves.
     
    #10 101DeadRoses, Oct 10, 2014
  11. FireSmoke

    FireSmoke Guest

    I think it is a great idea but it is better not to talk about Christianity only.

    Religion in general.
     
    #11 FireSmoke, Nov 1, 2014
  12. Curtis16

    Curtis16
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    I would love a forum on this subject!
     
    #12 Curtis16, Nov 5, 2014
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