Just a short grumble. I used to get a big chuckle from putting smart arse comments about evolution and atheism and such in my sig until I was told by a mod in no uncertain terms to knock it off or go somewhere else. And fair enough anyway, there are places for that sort of thing and this isn’t one of them. Having said that, the reason I ever did it in the first place, was cos of all the smart arse sigs that went the other way and bag (pay out on) religion. No way you say, you’re just being over sensitive. Um, ok, how about:
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” - Steven Weinberg
Anyways, my point is not to say ‘sir, sir, he called me a name’. My question is this - the whole rule about not taking cheap shots at other peoples beliefs - does that apply to everyone? Or just to the religious people? Does it cut both ways? On the other side of the coin though - to be fair to the mods as well - it would be silly to expect the mods to check or know about every sig on BA, I just mean on a more general level, is there an effort to moderate sigs of this flavour from all camps?
As a community paid for by Blender Foundation and donations, it is a voluntary global village of people who share a love for Blender. Harmony and collectivism is a strength and is to be cultivated. A signature is your stamp, your mark, your distinctiveness within our BA community. I had a sig once that called out certain people who I feel contributed greatly to the world - “Martin Luther King, Einstein, Jesus, Bill Gates - one man, one lifetime, full of accomplishment. How about you?” and a person took exception to it because of the Jesus/religious wars/spanish inquisition/and all the atrocities that have been in the name of religion. I cannot disagree; those events are fact, and while I don’t think Jesus would have wanted that to happen in his name, it certainly is wayyyyy off topic of Blender, and distacting.
So, while we do have freedom of speech, that freedom also carries the responsibility to be accountable for what you say, and should promote cohesiveness. So if your sig was “I love helping people as long as they are not French” you are causing a conflict - you are trying to be a member of our village, but only a subset; sort of like trying to set up a camp that fragments the community into French and non-French. With 50,000 members, if even a small percentage did that, we would be so fragmented that we would lose our unity.
So, if your sig does not help, but hurts and offends, why have it? God knows there is plenty of that stuff going on around us. This is a Blender forum, not a place to start a crusade. Ooops, there I go again, using a religious term. I should have said “jihad”. Oh wait, that’s religious too.
Religious views are dangerous in internet communities, and that includes the views of atheists. Religion is a touchy subject, and one that can explode rapidly.
For a taste of what happens when online religious “discussion” goes too far, check out some of Kansas_15’s old threads.
Blender’s forums are not the place for religious discussions, purely because of the nature of this community (ie: we talk about a 3D application/art), there are plenty of forums out there that deal with religious subjects, this is just not one of them.
Even so, completely censoring every topic that barely touches on the subject will cause trouble also, so it’s a big balancing act for the mods, not to mention a lot of art is religious or anti-religious in nature.
Basically there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, and some signatures/posts/threads cross them, and that is that.
By the way this thread will probably get locked too
We have made the rule to keep religious beliefs/discussions/signatures out of BA for many reasons.
First off, all discussion revolving around religion turn to flame wars. Always have, always will. There are just too many religions and too many beliefs within each religion to have cohesive discussions about them. Especially on a global forum such as BA.
Signatures are also not allowed in this forum which promote religion, discuss religion or bash religion. Mostly because of the reasons given above.
Please don’t think that the admins and mods here are against religion. If you have a belief, that is fine. However, this is not the forum nor the place to discuss these issues.
If you notice a signature or thread within BA that you feel is a bit iffy, or outright against the policies of this forum, then please report it to one of us and we will take care of it. That is what we are here for.
I must say that personally the sigs doth bother me half as much as half the off-topic discussion ending in “I’ll pray for you”, “God will fix it”, “Have faith…”
I trully understand the need for keeping harmony in a communtiy, and therefore sigs that are destructive in anny way can/will be offensive. But as a Belgian with semi-jewish roots and strong atheïstic roots I do have problems with the God will save us responses we often get in off-topic discussions. It might seem strange to people living in a country where speeches allways end with “God bless al…” but that’s the way I feel. But if you want to seggregate religion and BA, we might allso reflect on that issue.
Cool, hope it didn’t come across too prickly, I was trying to walk on eggs but I was born with elephant feet I’d have to agree on all of the above. To confirm, re religious discussions, I don’t think there’s any point starting one if it just rubs people up the wrong way. Heck, I’ve even PM’d “certain people” arguing things I agree with and suggested strongly that they tone it down. Re the mods, sorry guys I didn’t mean to paint you as the antichrist
I think sometimes people just sort of forget that they’re in ‘mixed company’ here, and they chuck stuff they heard somewhere that sounds cool to them in their sig without realizing that for people like me it can be a bit harsh.
Re becoming a self appointed sig hunter so to speak… I think that would be definitely crossing the line into over sensitivity, I just thought releasing a little ouchie might help people see things like this from an angle they might not have thought about before.
I have to agree with Blenderer, personally, I find shots from both camps funny, as long as they’re well done. But it takes knowing other people might not. (Thus the reason mine is empty. I’ve got an off sense of humor, so I can’t really think of much witty that wouldn’t likely offend someone.)
I’m all for live and let live… but some people hold their views closer than I, so I respect that.
The thing is, when you post a religious comment, you post it knowing that you will have to defend it. Sigs are cowardly because it’s like taking a cheap shot. No one can respond without posting in an unrelated thread (derailing) or starting a new one (spam). It’s just a soapbox where one can flame with impunity.
Why should someone saying God bless offend an atheist, they don’t believe He exists… so why are they offended by something they don’t think exists? I don’t think aliens exist so if some alien believing guy says the “The Truth Is Out Their”, or “May the Klingons Protect you and the Vulcans Teach you” I would take it as encouragement, because that was the true intent, something to give hope to someone in distress. Why would someone get offended over something positive?
jb, because it gets very tiresome and insulting after a while. I fail to see how this is hard to comprehend, because basically it’s someone continually telling you that you’re wrong.
It’s just common courtesy to leave the subject alone unless it is invited. Since this isn’t a religious discussion board, it’s not welcome.
Aside from this it just makes things easier to cut out all of them, because if you allow “god bless you” then why not extracts from the bible? Etc, etc.
So, please leave the subject of religion unless it is invited. There are many places it’s welcome, take it there. I’ll happily discuss these things, but not here.
I believe in God and the Bible, and I say God bless. That is what I do. My intent is not to offend, if you become offended, then the problem is not me, it’s you.
that is my peaceful salutation which is the greatest salutation you could give a human, according to what I believe.
If a simple God bless becomes a ban/lock issue, I’ll just leave this community, software, whatever.
Some people believe in Aliens, Evolution, that life as we know it just appeared outta nowhere, whatever. No matter what you believe, if someone means well, take it as that: “meaning well”.
I wouldn’t come on here trying to recruit anyone into my belief system, but I would not change what I am and how I salute.
So, don’t bother correcting me for saying God Bless, just ban me and I’ll never come back here.
I’d have to agree on all of the above. To confirm, re religious discussions, I don’t think there’s any point starting one if it just rubs people up the wrong way. Heck, I’ve even PM’d “certain people” arguing things I agree with and suggested strongly that they tone it down. Re the mods, sorry guys I didn’t mean to paint you as the antichrist 