Pulling a thread
One of the first things I did in the spirit of religious exploration was to start a thread on the topic on a forum that I frequent. Although it’s a gaming forum its members post on a number of topics, including an often-heated Politics and Religion board. Threads that touch on religion often end up falling into the well-worn Atheists/Theists arguments and I was hoping to avoid that.
I opened the thread with much of the text from the first post on this blog, and a call for others to post their stories of religious discovery or disillusionment while remaining respectful. I wasn’t certain how it would turn out.
The results have been much better than I ever expected. Forum members posted dozens of very personal stories, sharing with a mix of friends and near-strangers. I learned surprising things about people that I didn’t expect. It’s easy to assume that people who share your interests and opinions would share other similarities, so it was eye-opening to see people I assumed were atheist or at least agnostic turn out to be deeply religious.
The thread did slip a few times into heated debate, but after tempers cooled it has continued as a place where people from various different religions, and those with no religion, can ask questions and discuss the intricacies of their beliefs.
