* (Robert Dawson) writes:

* Hi all. I have been reading newsgroups for a couple of years. As a
Computer Science student at uni it is one of the great procrastination
tools that I have found. I have gone to and from various newsgroups, and
have only recently got in to the flow of Aus.Religion.Christian.

* Since arriving I have asked a couple of different questions, got some
great advice, but also seen some terrible bickering and fighting from
“Christian” brothers and sisters. I have just come to the stage of asking
you all what is the point of this all? What are we doing this for? I am
asking this mainly towards thee Christians here…. so I also ask you….
How is this bringing Glory to God?

[ nostalgia alert ]

Although a few people have replied already, I thought I would add my 2
cents since I was around when the group (actually, aus.religion, rather
than aus.religion.christian) was created. (Gee, that makes me a patron
saint, doesn’t it? 🙂 Actually, Richard Kerr is the only other person
I know who was on the net at the time who still posts. What about you
Danny?) Aus.religion was created as a forum to discuss religion and
then later a.r.c as an offshoot to discuss Christianity specifically.
It was never conceived as a place for Christians to post to encourage
each other, believe it or not. The parent group actually was created
(sometime in 1988, I think) as a result of a flame war (yes, I admit I
was intimately involved in this) in aus.flame which had a religious
flavour to it (basically some guy having a go at me because I’d stood
up for my faith). I think there was also the odd religious (mainly
Christian) issue spilling over into aus.general, so it was decided
(there weren’t many of us in those days so agreement came quickly) to
create a newsgroup specifically for the purpose of religious
discussion. Rev Dr Phil did the dirty deed and here we are. In other
words, this group was founded on debate.

I think it is definitely worthwhile (and perhaps lacking in the internet
sense) to have forums where Christians can meet in a more positive way
(like Home Groups/Bible Studies). I doubt that this newsgroup would ever
work in this way (apart from its history) because we don’t close this
groups to people who aren’t Christians and there is always the possibility
of muck stirrers/spammers/etc coming in. Perhaps something like Rowland’s
clergy mailing list is the sort of thing where what you are suggesting
works better. Mailing lists that I’m on are certainly more genial forms
of communication than newsgroups.

* I guess that the main reason that I came to A.R.C was to see how different
a Christian newsgroup can be. I came here expecting to see people
displaying the fruit of the spirit (especailly love) and seeking the
truth.

Sorry, your expectations are/were certainly different to this group’s
defacto purpose. This isn’t a “christian” newsgroup, per se, it’s a
newsgroup about Christianity.

All that said, even when debating/discussing, it is important that we
aren’t seen as merely bickering. If we can’t argue nicely, then there’s
not much point. Our so-called “Christianity” is on display for the whole
net to see and our readers will be the judge of whether we have anything
of value to say. The odd encouraging post doesn’t hurt either.
regards,

Callum