I'm new here so forgive me if this subject had already been discussed
It's been discussed over and over and over...
but why is there a religion forum on a science site?
Probably for the same reasons that there are 'Science & Society', 'Ethics, Morality and Justice', 'World Events', 'Politics', 'Business and Economics', 'History', 'Free Thooughts', 'Art and Culture', 'SciFi and Fantasy', 'Alternative Theories', 'Parapsychology', 'UFOs, Ghosts and Monsters', 'Conpiracies' and 'Pseudoscience' forums.
It seems to attract religionists who then go on to cause havoc and devastation elsewhere
Atheists are attracted too, and they are typically just as ignorant and ill-informed as their opposite numbers. Whatever havoc might ensue is the result of endless back-and-forth ego-battles, and we see that happening on most of Sciforums' fora. I mean, just look at 'politics'. (I consider that forum to be an absolute shit-hole.)
like the comparative religion forum.
Actually the 'religion' forum seems to host better discussions than 'comparative religion'. I'm still not sure why there are two religion fora. Presumably the motivation at some point was to separate the more academic and scholarly discussions from the incessant atheist/theist battling. But it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. It probably can't, because so few Sciforums participants have any real exposure to the academic study of religion. Discussions on Sciforums are always going to be lay-people's discussions. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If it's fun, and if it's occasionally even educational, then what's the harm?
I would suggest canning it entirely.
Unless that's accompanied by an entire redesign of Sciforums that includes the elimination of all the non-scientific fora, that idea would just seem to be an expression of atheist intolerance.
I'm going to repeat something that I said before:
The religion forum has arguably been the most intelligent forum on Sciforums. I mean that quite seriously and quite literally.
Religious discussion is much more open to lay participation than scientific or mathematical discussion, since so much in science and mathematics is initially counter-intuitive and often requires years of university study before anything of real substance can be said. Discussing religion doesn't presupppose specialized education in religious studies, theology or the philosophy of religion in quite the same way. Everyone already has some experience with religion, has some exposure to it, and has views about it.
It's true that many of our Sciforums participants are more or less established in their broad 'atheist' or 'theist' positions. Christians aren't likely to stop being Christian through reading Sciforums, and atheists aren't likely to suddenly start believing in God. If anyone is expecting those things, they are unrealistic expectations.
What does happen though, and anyone who reads the religion forum can easily see this happening, is that both theists and atheists grow in their views and become more sophisticated as they try to respond to the views of their opposite numbers. What our moderators don't always understand or appreciate is that rather sophisticated philosophical and theological issues are often raised during the course of these discussions. And they are being thought up by intelligent and creative laypeople themselves, they aren't being imposed by teachers on high. There's an intellectual dynamism in the religion forum, as people try their hardest to craft and critique arguments, that's enjoyable to watch and to participate in.
