Hello, Catholic and Orthodox Christian Group

[Skinner]

I understand that out in the "real world" there still exists a significant level of animosity between believers and non-believers, particularly among certain segments of society. That sucks -- believe me, I know. We all hope that someday soon we can all live in a society that is truly accepting of all worldviews. It is a sad fact that even Democratic Underground does not always live up to this ideal, and it is made more difficult by the fact that we exist in a society that does not live up to the ideal. But it is our intent to do what we can to make DU live up to that ideal. We believe that all of our members are capable of respecting the beliefs or lack-of-beliefs of everyone here. And by "all members" I mean everyone: Believers should respect those who do not believe, and non-believers should respect those who believe. We don't expect you all to agree, but we do expect you to disagree in a mutually-respectful way.

This is a friendly reminder.

The purpose of this Group is to discuss topics of mutual interest relating to Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.

The purpose of this Group IS NOT to discuss idiotic posts by non-believers, to ridicule or attack other members of DU, or to whip up feelings of victimization. Here is the mission statement of this group:

The DU DU Catholic and Orthodox Christian Group is for those who wish to hold respectful discussions of Catholic and/or Orthodox Christian beliefs, share faith experiences, post prayer requests, discuss Catholic/Orthodox liturgies, traditions, saints, etc., talk about Catholic education or organizations (Knights of Columbus, Pax Christi, Legion of Mary, the Catholic Worker movement, etc.), or in any way positively explore issues having to do with the Roman Catholic Church or any rite of the Catholic or Orthodox Church.

Participants need not be practicing members of one of the Catholic or Orthodox rites but should be respectful of the beliefs and structures of the rites, especially in advocating any changes, such as allowing women to serve as priests.

This group is intended to be a venue for those who desire to discuss stated topics and is not intended as a forum to argue against Catholic/Orthodox belief or the Catholic/Orthodox Churches, members, or clergy.

As the administrator of this website, it is my job to make sure that the mission statements of the various DU Groups are enforced. You should probably know that we intend to block individuals from this group who violate the mission statement of this group.

Furthermore, we expect all members of DU to treat each other and our differing worldviews with respect when participating anywhere else on this discussion forum.

Most people in this group and on DU are productive members of our community. But I am concerned that there is a very small number of people who have been deliberately whipping up feelings of ill-will between belivers and non-believers. At this point, there are some who are in danger of being banned from this website, and part of the reason for this post is that I hope we can avoid that outcome.

Thank you for your understanding.

Skinner
DU Admin

[demosincebirth]

1. Sounds good to me