Let's make this forum more Buddhist!

[SarathW]

If people want to talk politics they should be able to.

Perhaps these talks should be limited to "Small talks"

[Caodemarte]

Connection to Other Paths has a fair number of attacks against other religions or sects without even an attempt to explore connections, comparisons, or relevance to Theravada Buddhism. I would suggest yanking such posts.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Connection to Other Paths has a fair number of attacks against other religions or sects without even an attempt to explore connections, comparisons, or relevance to Theravada Buddhism. I would suggest yanking such posts.

I would consider moving anything particularly contentious to the News, Current Events & Politics section (at which point it's then up the individual whether it appears or not).

That said, what constitutes "attacks against other religions or sects" can be a very subjective matter. There's one religion in particular, where merely even mentioning its name is usually enough to commence an influx of complaints from some quarters about discrimination and phobias against it, regardless of whether or not the Terms of Service have been violated. As I've said elsewhere, I don't intend to reward weaponized outrage, nor tilt the scales in any particular direction, so what applies to one non-Buddhist religion, will apply to all.

Metta,
Paul.

[Mr Man]

There's one religion in particular, where merely even mentioning its name is usually enough to commence an influx of complaints from some quarters about discrimination and phobias against it, regardless of whether or not the Terms of Service have been violated. As I've said elsewhere, I don't intend to reward weaponized outrage, nor tilt the scales in any particular direction, so what applies to one non-Buddhist religion, will apply to all.

Hi Paul
Which religion is that? I don't think what you are saying is true.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Mr Man,

Which religion is that?

I don't intend to mention it, for the reasons stated above. Besides, it doesn't matter, because I'm advocating for equal, not unequal treatment of non-Buddhist traditions in the eyes of the Terms of Service. Do you object to that?

I don't think what you are saying is true.

Well, that's just par for the course coming from you, isn't it Mr Man? I don't expect you'll pack away your long-held mistrust any time soon.

Do keep in mind however, that I see the reporting of posts, whereas you do not...

Metta,
Paul.

[binocular]

if the forum could just return to exploring the Dhamma that would be good.

But what would that be -- "exploring the Dhamma" -- in an environment where there exist no teacher-student relationships?

[Crazy cloud]

If one doesn't have a teacher one make use of the 5 precepts and the 3 refuge

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

If one doesn't have a teacher one make use of the 5 precepts and the 3 refuge

Indeed...

Whatever Dhamma & Vinaya I have pointed out & formulated for you, that will be your Teacher when I am gone.

Metta,
Paul.

[Mr Man]

I don't think what you are saying is true.

Well, that's just par for the course coming from you, isn't it Mr Man? I don't expect you'll pack away your long-held mistrust any time soon.

Do keep in mind however, that I see the reporting of posts, whereas you do not...

Rather than personal attacks perhaps you could instead just support you claim Paul?

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Mr Man,

What "personal attack"? Please stop being so dramatic.

I'm not giving you the moderator logs.

Metta,
Paul.

[Mr Man]

Greetings Mr Man,

What "personal attack"? Please stop being so dramatic.

I'm not giving you the moderator logs.

Metta,
Paul.

So you cannot support your claim. Fair enough.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Mr Man,

In turn you can't support your claim it's false... so what of it?



Does your portentous and pernickety interrogation make this forum more Buddhist?

Or is it just more inane weirdness?



Metta,
Paul.

[Caodemarte]

.....That said, what constitutes "attacks against other religions or sects" can be a very subjective matter. There's one religion in particular, where merely even mentioning its name is usually enough to commence an influx of complaints from some quarters about discrimination and phobias against it, regardless of whether or not the Terms of Service have been violated. As I've said elsewhere, I don't intend to reward weaponized outrage, nor tilt the scales in any particular direction, so what applies to one non-Buddhist religion, will apply to all.

Metta,
Paul.

I don’t think attacks are subjective or even subtle, but pretty obvious. In any case, if a posting or thread does not have a connection to Theravada, does not explain why it has a connection, or makes no attempt to be relevant to exploring the connections I suggest moving or deleting it.

[binocular]

If one doesn't have a teacher one make use of the 5 precepts and the 3 refuge

How can one take refuge without a teacher?
-- Anyway, this is for another thread ...

[binocular]

I do not mind friendly competition, but that is not at all what I find on DW these days. In order for debates/discussions to be fundamentally friendly, participants must be united under a rather obvious common goal,

... and not just any goal, but admirable friendship.
While admirable friendship may not be the goal of the Path, I think it should be the goal of Buddhist social venues.

What we have on this forum are people with such fundamentally different modes of operation that disunity is just a matter of fact, and that lack of commonality is grounds enough for some to settle for blood when knowledge does not seem viable. Yes, "Dhamma of the Theravada" is the theme of this forum, but we have seen over the years that there are various ways to utilize the Dhamma. Out of respect for this diversity, we seem to have distanced ourselves from reaching a consensus on that issue. People can literally both be talking about the Dhamma but have zero grounds for agreement.

I think people generally consider eachother to be expendable. In online settings, to some extent, this is probably an effect of online interaction where one can just put someone on ignore, people get banned, and such. It can also be due to not having any common ground; or due to a type of pyramid-building mentality (where there is common ground and that is to build the pyramid, but the workers are just expendable, even if necessary entities, so who cares if some get killed in the process).

I think there's quite a bit of (unacknowledged) cynicism and despondency, and a trend seems to be to simply see them as the individual's fault and to trivialize or taboo the discussion of them.