crfriend wrote: ↑Sun Apr 27, 2025 5:13 pm
Philosophically, I do not like shutting down civil discourse -- but sometimes the "needle just never moves" and rehashing the same old arguments never bears results. There's precious little new thinking on the matter, and different translations from the KJB get routinely trashed. Similarly, arguments about the applicability of the passage in the context of modern society go unnoticed and unheeded. If somebody has drawn new thought and new perspectives from the discussion, good (!), but overall there seems to be no real motion on changing attitudes and thinking. Which, given what we're being subjected to now, is not entirely surprising.
That's fair, but my assessment on this thread has been that there has been little theological debate and argument. Mostly among the religious [Christian] members, it's been discussion about how they have reconciled their skirt wearing with their faith. It seems to be the non-religious members that are taking the biggest issue with the thread.
My argument is that perhaps these non-religious members should just focus on other threads more of their interest rather than raining down on this one.
Consider that while many of the long standing Christian members here (Jim, John, etc) have more or less come to peace with this matter [of men wearing skirts], many newcomers to the forum may be only on the first few steps on that journey.
These newcomers may be in those first few steps of the process of
deconstructing a lifetime of thou-shall-nots, and only just now exploring the idea of wearing the clothes they feel truly express how they are. How will it bode with these new members if they can not freely have open discussion with some of the "old hands" here?
I can understand that many members here don't want to forsake their faith just to wear a skirt, and yet there are nagging verses like the one this thread is about that appears to be an obstacle to overcome. Threads like this can help newcomers and more seasoned members alike navigate this issue.
Furthermore, if as many here suggest, we are going into hard religious "neo-con" territory (American Taliban, etc) as a society, then I'd argue these kind of discussions are more important that ever. Like it or not, religion isn't going anywhere, it's been around since the dawn of civilization and will likely be around for a long time into the future. We as a people need to be free to explore this complex matter and how it works into our modern lives. Shutting down the conversation just creates another warring tribe that we can't interact with. It doesn't build bridges, it builds walls and further reinforces echo chambers on both sides, religious and non-religious alike.
I humbly ask the mod team to let this topic stand (provided it stays civil), and also humbly ask those who are bothered by the discussion, to do the gentlemanly thing and gracefully bow out of this particular thread.
