4

We (the moderators) plan on adding the decisions and such of particular meta questions into the FAQ. However, we wanted some community input, so we are asking this:

What do you want to see incorporated into the FAQ?

Post each suggestion as a separate answer so the community can vote them up or down individually.

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
8

Edit: This suggestion has been integrated into the site FAQ. Oct 1, 2011

We certainly need to add a bit about what it means on this site to be Christian:
If they self-identify as Christian, they are Christian for the purposes of this site.

Meta: What about groups that are not considered by some to be Christian, who consider themselves Christian?

7

Edit: This suggestion has been integrated into the site FAQ. Oct 1, 2011

The first "bullet point" should read something like this:

This site is to create a canon of knowledge ABOUT the subject of "Christianity." This is not a debate forum. Users do not expect to be challenged on their belief system, and questions asked under false pretense just to "make a point" or to challenge those tenets will be closed as [not constructive].

The premise was discussed in this meta post on:

Why is Christianity the only true religion?

This site's main challenge is to stay vigilant against the inevitable intrusion of "How can you guys believe this stuff?" questions and the more veiled "I'm making a point against Christianity" questions.

If you can uphold this behavior as unacceptable, this site will be huge.

Canonize this in your FAQ.

2
  • Excellent suggestion. +1
    – El'endia Starman
    Sep 15, 2011 at 3:54
  • 1
    You might want to add that this applies to answers as well. If I ask a question about Christianity, I expect to get a straight answer without a "... and this is why you should believe it" tone that I've seen on too many answers here.
    – hammar
    Sep 15, 2011 at 6:54
6

Edit: This suggestion has been integrated into the site FAQ. Oct 1, 2011

I'd like to see it worded so that questions and answers from all faiths are welcome, provided that the questions and answers are in regards to Christianity.

Meta: Are questions from atheists welcome here?

Maybe that question (above) should actually be one of the questions in the FAQ.

2
  • 1
    Possibly even a note about Catholicism, since their SE proposal was closed.
    – Richard
    Sep 14, 2011 at 18:19
  • 1
    Might want to be careful on how the "answers" part of this gets worded. Do we really want people from non-Christian faiths (Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, athiest, etc.) giving answers here? Even if they try to answer about from their understanding of the Christian perspective isn't their perspective likely to be a bit skewed?
    – jimreed
    Sep 15, 2011 at 16:57
5

Under Etiquette, there's a "Be nice." section. I think it would be wise to include the line:

Respect other people's beliefs.

I've seen a few posts (particularly in Private Beta and early early Public Beta) that bashed on a specific religion or doctrine. The community seems to support the idea that this shouldn't be tolerated.

Meta: Christianity.SE vs. Survivor

4

Edit: This suggestion has been integrated into the site FAQ. Oct 1, 2011

Something about "this is not a church" needs to go in there for two angles:

  • pastoral advice issue are off topic
    Meta: Pastoral Advice Questions
  • as a secular forum where any self-proclaimed christian is welcome, there are no boundaries so you get what you pay for. Some disclaimer should be made that nothing presented here is officially endorsed by anybody.
1

The What Can I Ask? section should point out that questions directed at a specific tradition or viewpoint are welcome as long as they are asked respectfully. Appropriate tagging is greatly appreciated.

Rather than pretend that all Christians are united in agreement on all issues, this site should embrace the fact that there are significant differences between traditions. ("Embrace" in the sense that the differences make this site more useful and lively even though most Christians would agree that it would be better if we were more unified.)

-1

When (if?) the Biblical Hermeneutics goes live, the Christianity faq should contain a link to it. That should help point people in the right direction before they post so we won't have to migrate as many questions.

3
  • Right. "If" seems to be the operative word.
    – Richard
    Sep 15, 2011 at 17:13
  • @Richard Based on Robert Cartaino♦'s comment at Sep 8 at 16:35 on the post you linked to, it doesn't seem like the Hermeneutics is going to be automatically closed. Given that it's currently over 85% of the way there, it's probably just a matter of time before it goes into beta.
    – jimreed
    Sep 15, 2011 at 17:24
  • Oh yeah. It's definitely not a done deal! If you look at the other side of the coin, it sounds more like it will go through. I'm curious to see how this goes.
    – Richard
    Sep 15, 2011 at 17:35

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .