toldailytopic: Why (or why not) do you support TheologyOnline?

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nicholsmom

nicholsmom

New member
Town Heretic said:
A bit like asking if you'd go to someone else's house for a party every [week, day, etc.] and not bring a gift because they're [your choice of political affiliations here]. Either you do or you don't derive benefit from TOL. If you don't then you probably aren't here. :D If you do then the question is can you or can't you afford to bring a gift to that house you've been invited to visit for entertainment, or fellowship, or stimulation, or any combination thereof.

Now some people can't. If that's the case, you contribute by trying to make the place more interesting, stimulating, entertaining, or beneficial in any way that you can. If you can do something more than that you should...even if it's only the less selfless contribution of a subscription.

That's my two cents anyway...which is about what I have in my pocket these days, but I intend on resubscribing at some level and for many of the reasons set out above.

:e4e:
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:BRAVO:
 
elohiym

elohiym

Well-known member
chair said:
TOL is fun, at least part of the time, But I won't contribute money to what is essentially a Christian site. Perhaps some won't understand this, but think for a moment.
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Okay. :think:

Other than you're a bigot, I can't think of any good reason. :idunno:

chair said:
Would you contribute to a Jehovah's Witnesses/Roman Catholic/Muslim/Mormon/Pagan organization?
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Yes! If I was using their bandwidth and interacting with their members, and if I derived any benefit from their site, I would cough up some cash (if I could afford to).
 
C

chair

Well-known member
elohiym said:
Okay. :think:

Other than you're a bigot, I can't think of any good reason. :idunno:



Yes! If I was using their bandwidth and interacting with their members, and if I derived any benefit from their site, I would cough up some cash (if I could afford to).
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This has nothing to do with being a "bigot". There has been a lot of criticism of what I wrote but no one has paid attention to the examples I brought. WOuld you donate to a Muslim/Mormon/etc. religious institution?

This is not a house party. The money is not a house warming gift. TOL is a declared Christian site. I won't donate to a church, any more than you would donate to a mosque or the Temple of Apollo.
 
elohiym

elohiym

Well-known member
chair said:
WOuld you donate to a Muslim/Mormon/etc. religious institution?
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Yes! I already answered you, and explained why.

chair said:
I won't donate to a church, any more than you would donate to a mosque or the Temple of Apollo.
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But in spite of that you still participate in services and activities at a church, a mosque, and the Temple of Apollo? :squint:

If TOL strikes you as a church, then shouldn't you stop warming our pews? :idunno:
 
C

chair

Well-known member
I do my best to present a Jewish view here, but I am aware that this is a Christian site. Perhaps I would show up in a church to join in some interfaith discussion, but I wouldn't support the church financially.

Maybe some of you (elohym, for example) would. Or at least say that they would. I won't.
 
B

bybee

New member
Well

Well

chair said:
I do my best to present a Jewish view here, but I am aware that this is a Christian site. Perhaps I would show up in a church to join in some interfaith discussion, but I wouldn't support the church financially.

Maybe some of you (elohym, for example) would. Or at least say that they would. I won't.
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I think you are in error here. You might look at it as an admission price. You continue to post here. Why not contribute?
Bybee
 
C

chair

Well-known member
bybee said:
I think you are in error here. You might look at it as an admission price. You continue to post here. Why not contribute?
Bybee
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If there was a charge, I wouldn't be here. TOL is asking for donations. I donate to other causes.
 
elohiym

elohiym

Well-known member
chair said:
Maybe some of you (elohym, for example) would. Or at least say that they would.
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I'm not saying that I would support a JW Kingdom Hall financially, because I would not attend their services or hang out at their church. However, if they had a website and if I was participating, using their bandwidth, and deriving any benefit from it, I would contribute in order to keep those lines of communication open, instead of closing them down over pennies.

chair said:
I won't.
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Then don't. You're participation, the contribution of your "Jewish view," will have to suffice.
 
The Graphite

The Graphite

New member
chair said:
This has nothing to do with being a "bigot". There has been a lot of criticism of what I wrote but no one has paid attention to the examples I brought. WOuld you donate to a Muslim/Mormon/etc. religious institution?

This is not a house party. The money is not a house warming gift. TOL is a declared Christian site. I won't donate to a church, any more than you would donate to a mosque or the Temple of Apollo.
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Donations? No.

Buying a service? Absolutely. Scripturally, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Christian actually handing money over to a pagan temple to (for example) buy some barbecue meat, and then eat it right there in the temple. So, by the same token, there would be nothing wrong with Elo going to a pagan or cultist website and paying them for services.

There's nothing wrong with me buying candles from a Wiccan. Or buying a car from an atheist. Or buying books from an orthodox Jewish synagogue. All okey-dokey.

But, hey, if you want to be close-minded and prejudiced (unlike us Christians here), that's your prerogative. Go ahead and use the site for free, and get a free ride off everyone else's money.

Now, will someone please pass the bacon sacrificed to Ishtar, and a side of painted eggs?
 
zoo22

zoo22

Well-known member
I support TOL for many reasons. I like the company. Sometimes. :plain: I've learned a lot and I think I'll continue to. I can vent. I can try to get a point I believe in across, and sometimes I think folks listen. I can learn about other people and why they might think the things they do. I can learn to turn the other cheek. I think it's helped me communicate better. Helped me listen more. In many cases, TOL's also helped me understand better the things I do believe and why... Helped me understand myself better, helped me see clearer some of the priorities I'd like to focus on in my life.

Mostly I think it can be a great place to have a conversation (yes, often heated), and for me it's been helpful in realizing how much I want to find some common grounds with people that for the most part I just don't see eye-to-eye with. That had initially been my primary reason for participating at TOL, and now it's become kind of 2nd nature. I get to hang out here with some people that in my day-to-day life I just probably wouldn't. And vice-versa. I like that.

Admittedly, sometimes it gets too much for me and I need to take a break. But it's going on a while that I've been here at TOL... And it's meant a lot to me.

Some here I definitely consider as friends.

I hope that some of you right wing fanatics are aware that it can sometimes be tough being a liberal at TOL... Feels maybe like being a salmon going upstream sometimes. And I hope at least some of you give us a nod for that now and them. Even if it's silent. :)

You do a great job, Knight (et al).
 
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Yorzhik

Yorzhik

Well-known member
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
I support TOL because it is a great place to learn. Perhaps the best place to learn. It's not that anything can be learned here, but there are things that are learned here that can hardly be learned anywhere else.
 
El DLo

El DLo

New member
One thing that I particularly like about this forum is that for the most part, everyone deals with things objectively and despite out very diverse views we all share the fact that we are human. To elaborate, someone that I have a bitter debate with in one thread could be supportive and kind in another. And when it comes to human issues, every single person is on the same page (I mean emotionally, not gay marriage and other issues like that), and I really respect that people don't build personal biases in regards to the other forum users here.
 
Stripe

Stripe

Teenage Adaptive Ninja Turtle
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
andyc said:
[U RL="ht tp://www.t heologyonlin e.com/foru ms/sh owpo st.php?p=2 306153&po stcount =1254"]It depends if we're free to say what we believe is true.[/URL][U RL="htt p://www.th eologyo nline.com/f orums/showpost.p hp?p=2 308 111&pos tcount=68"]Without having to worry about the consequences.[/URL]
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Sometimes, and yes, even when you're right, it's best just to :shut:
 
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