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In FAQ it says:

For the purposes of this site, any group that identifies themselves as Christian are to be considered part of that set. This is critical!

Well, on one hand I do consider myself to be a Christian, so I think according to this definition above, I am "part of that set".

However, I genuinely believe that if a person has never prayed to Jesus and willfully teaches that praying to Jesus is wrong, that kind of person is not a Christian. So, unless I go against my consciousness, a thing which I really don't want to do, I don't meet the above-stated requirement.

So does it mean I have no right to answer questions here?

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    No, it doesn't mean that, as has been explained to you repeatedly in chat.
    – TRiG
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:25
  • @TRiG - In chat I got more confused than clarified. Plus. the structure of chat is quite cumbersome to me. Therefore, I want to have explanations here.
    – brilliant
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:36

5 Answers 5

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Who are considered Christians here?

For the purposes of this site, any group that identifies themselves as Christian are to be considered part of that set. This is critical!

how is this relevant to be "allowed to answer questions"? I'm an atheist and even I am allowed to answer..

Context! ;)

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  • How is being an atheist relevant to being allowed to answer here? You may well be an atheist and at the same time consider all those who claim that they are Christians to be Christians, and, thus, you would meet that requirement in FAQ. However, my case is different.
    – brilliant
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:34
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    You're trolling now.. How is having a different definition of christians relevant to being allowed or forbidden to answer here? How is having any other opinion/definition of sth. relevant to being allowed or forbidden to answer here?
    – user301
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:36
  • Well, that's what I read from the FAQ section: "For the purposes of this site, any group that identifies themselves as Christian are to be considered part of that set" Did I misunderstand it? Why do you say I am trolling?
    – brilliant
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:38
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    Yes you did misunderstand it
    – user301
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:42
  • So, please, enlighten me with the correct understanding.
    – brilliant
    Oct 6, 2011 at 1:55
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You have every right to answer on-topic questions here.

The problem is that you have not been answering, you have been asking. The questions you have been asking are mostly off-topic. Nobody is granted the right to ask off-topic questions. It also follows that answers that are off-topic are not allowed.

Trying to form (either through questions or answers) a definition of "true Christianity" is off topic. If it goes against your conscience to participate without having posted such a definition then nobody is forcing you to participate.

However I think that in bringing up the issue of going against your conscience is irrelevant because nobody is asking you to change your personal view of what a true Christian. There is no tenant that participants must hold any particular view on that issue. Answering (or asking) other questions here does not bind you to some statement of faith contrary to what you may believe.

As Mason said you have to be respectful. You can even talk about the differences between the beliefs of different traditions/faiths, but if you can't do this in a way that is respectful then your only alternative is to leave it well enough alone.

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There are lots of different ideas of what it means to be a Christian. Like you, I don't think that anyone who calls themselves a Christian suddenly becomes one. But when this site was first being discussed, at the "define" stage, we had to confront the issue of how to define a Christian for the purposes of this site. A very broad definition was decided upon as otherwise the debate about how to define the site could have gone on unendingly and the site would never have got off the ground.

As Caleb said in his answer, there is no requirement for an individual to subscribe to the self-identifying definition of "Christian" in order to use this site. But the fact that you're raising this issue does raise some further questions, I think; because if it isn't clear that you don't need to subscribe to the site's definition of Christianity then something is wrong. If that's the case I think we should discuss it in a separate thread.

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  • +1. Some people seem to have difficulty with the (to me) quite simple concept that words have different meanings in different contexts.
    – TRiG
    Oct 7, 2011 at 11:52
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Yes, you have the right to answer questions here. But you're not allowed to be disrespectful in your answers.

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  • So it's all about simply being respectful? Why then specify this point about Christians being anyone who identifies themselves as Christian (in the FAQ page)? Isn't being respectful an overall requirement for all the users anyway? I mean I don't mind being respectful to anyone here, even toward those who don't identify themselves as Christians, but I still believe that not everyone who identifies himself as a Christian is in fact a Christian.
    – brilliant
    Oct 6, 2011 at 3:41
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    @Brilliant: It's specifically mentioned on the FAQ because of the F part: it's something we frequently see problems with.
    – Mason Wheeler Mod
    Oct 6, 2011 at 4:14
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    @brilliant "I still believe that not everyone who identifies himself as a Christian is in fact a Christian" - I believe that too. But I don't see how that relates to being allowed to ask or answer questions here
    – Waggers
    Oct 6, 2011 at 11:21
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We've talked this over many different ways in chat.

Moderators (and the community) does not revoke the right to ask and answer questions (except in certain rare circumstances). We do, however, revoke the content of the posts if it is worded in a way that causes any given group of "Christians" (Defined per the [faq]) to be excluded as "Christians".

To put this another way, we always allow you to ask or answer questions. However, if the question or answer causes another group of "Christians" (defined per the faq) to be viewed as non-Christians, the content will be removed, edited or revoked.

If you're having difficulty understanding this distinction, this site might not be for you.

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