Well, I thought we'd start this up, and check on interest. I know Elfear wanted to discuss Evolution and Creation. As long as this isn't a "discussion" board, which allows all users to post when they feel like it, I'll have to add you to the board before posting.

I wouldn't mind a board on faith. Not faith vs. anything, but just faith.

Any aware that we are averaging 13.75 posts per day? Wow, way to go guys!

It's be a lot less if we stopped running in circles.

Do you think we should have an OOC board, lol? Someplace for just general chit chat and the like?

Well, since we have people from 2 or 3 (maybe more) sects of christianity, and at least 1 or 2 non-christians, I'd kind of like to see a board dealing with how people's religions address homosexuality, and their own personal opinions on the issue.  Though I'd rather wait to see if anyone else wants to discuss it before setting up a thread with that much potential controversy.

Personally I would post all the Bible passages I can find against homosexuality: alot.
Then I would post all the Bible passages that exist period promoting homosexuality: zip.

For the record, can everyone state their religions and/or denominations?

I for one am Reformed Episcopal.

But there is more to homosexuality than mere condemnation or condoning.  It may be an interesting topic.  You could do the same with abortion, the death penalty, etc. so long as people try to refrain from flame wars.

For the record, I am Christian.

I'll think about the homosexual thread tonight. I'd like to make sure on how to put it up without it looking like it's a hate thread, as that is an extrememly hard subject to discuss without getting someone upset.

A discussion on the Bible Code books would be interesting.

Bible Code books?  What are those (the term doesn't ring a bell)?

I would suggest avoiding a thread on homosexuality. Especially since we don't know if we have any homosexuals here, and we've already seen people would have a desire to try and prove it wrong, instead of just discussing it.

Marok, the Bible Code is a type of code found in the original texts of the first five books of the Bible extrapolated using computers.  I don't know how true it is, and it isn't really a form of religion, but I've read the books and they are fascinating.  They also give exact predictions for things in the past (from assassinations to the Twin Towers, from the Bush/Gore election, etc.) to things to come.  It's definitely not accepted by any religion, but a good read for anyone interested in that kind of thing.

You can find the Bible Code and the Bible Code II on any bookseller web site (or bookstore).  Try Amazon.com

I have a couple of (thankfully) less controvercial ideas to throw out there for future threads.

First, inspired by the LDS theology discussion, I for one wouldn't mind seeing a couple of other religion-based threads, where people could discuss, clarify, and ask questions about the customs and beliefs of other faiths/sects.

Another would be a bible discussion thread.  People could either discuss their thoughts on the bible, its significance for them, or, how (if at all) criticism of the bible affect their faith.  Any takers?

Actually, the bible code wasn't used to predict these things. They could only be found, after the events happened. Or in other words, if the significance was understood, then you could search for those codes. But you have to be looking for something to understand it.

I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but I was thinking of maybe a general discussion thread, to be used for questions that weren't topic-worthy; things like, "Who wrote such'n'such book".

I also wonder if anyone would be interested in a 'Religion in Gaming' thread, to discuss how religion affects roleplaying, how to roleplay religious characters, ideas for unique religions in campaigns, etc.

Those are really good ideas.

We seem to be focusing a lot on Christianity.  How about a thread dealing with other religions, like Marok suggested.  I know next to nothing about the Islamic faith, but I do not want to limit it to just that.

I don't want to put alll 300 + cults and religions in their own thread. So I'll take requests for each faith as they come. Islamic is the first.

I beg to differ.  Many of the things were found ahead of time and warnings were given.  If you read the books, they give a detailed account.  It lists many predictions over the next couple years, including a smallpox outbreak in 2005 and two nuclear detonations in 2006, both in Israel and New York.

That said, in the second book, he discusses the Bible Code's "key," which would unlock things and tell exactly what to look for and how to use it for predictions ahead of time, and he goes about describing the Code's directions about where this key is located.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:01, Mon 28 June 2004.

Please note that it is a common misunderstanding that "Islamic" is a word.  When I was a student of international religions, I was taught that Islamic is not a word at all.  It is simply Islam (as a religion), and the Muslims are those who believe in Islam.

Similarly, in an earlier thread someone stated that Buddhism was more of a philosophy than a religion, but that's not entirely accurate.  Buddhism is separated into two primary ideological groups.  One of them is more philosophic in nature (Theravada / Hinayana); the other is more religious (Mahayana).  There are also other variants, such as Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, and Pure Land Buddhism.

Two things:

The Homosexuality issue once more ^^

and

Will ALL non-Christians, including those that remain entirely faithfull and good to their own religion, go to hell?

I'll open a homosexuality thread on Monday.

Christianity: Monotheistic or Polythiestic?

There's my request :)