Is there a good online forum for religious debate?

Have you tried Fluther?

It depends on what type of debate you’re looking for. If you’re looking for largely, but not entirely, atheists to examine things logically, Fluther is really good. But if you want lots of Christians – and almost entirely Christians, not Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhist – then I think Soapbox (is it soapbox??) is good. If you’re looking for neither atheists nor Christians to be the majority answering, I really don’t know.

Having said that, as far as I know and based on my own theological questions, there are no jellies who have any kind of degree in theology or religious studies, so the responses here aren’t going to be that refined.

@MyNewtBoobs Good point. However, there are several Christians on here who seem pretty knowledgeable, I ask questions directed at them all of the time. It seems several are very shy to respond, because atheists might jump in and ridicule, and they PM a lot of the time. There are several who will voice their opinions though. But, I don’t know if I have ever seen Christians debate each other much on fluther. Never though about it.

On ocassion I’ve posted in yahoo answers, but it’s basically just trolls and angry people looking to tear each other a new one. I wouldn’t exactly call what they do debating. Religion is a tough subject to debate intelligently. You could always try “answers in genesis” if you’re looking to debate Christians, but I can’t promise you’ll find a rewarding experience.

@MyNewtBoobs I was going to give @everephebe‘s answer as well. We’ve actually got a fair number of Christian apologists here, some who are very well informed, If someone is truly looking for debate, it is necessary to have an opposing view. I know some people use the word debate when what they really want is a mutual admiration society where all those who agree express their support in their own unique words, but that sort of thing is really not what the word “debate” means. I’ve seen and participated in some humdingers of religious debate here.

@ETpro @JLeslie I’m not saying they aren’t well informed for laypeople, I’m saying if you’re looking to have a debate on the same level one would get between two professors in a Religious Studies department (or even two theology/religious studies majors), that’s a totally different issue. I’ve asked a couple questions hoping to get that level of answer, and the best answers were a couple levels above “Because Christians are selfish assholes” – which is exactly the opposite of what I was looking for.

@MyNewtBoobs I agree we might not have clergy on the site, but filmfann, plethora, captainHarley, and several others certainly give a serious christian perspective. And qingu has a ton of biblical knowledge, but hates the abrahamic religions.

I actually asked because I’m sort of frustrated with religious debates here. Too many people who think that respecting their opinions means not giving their views any critical thought. I’m looking for a place where people like to pick things apart. That being said, I do want people with all sorts of points of view… otherwise its not a debate.

Nah, I wouldn’t say fluther, too unbalanced religiously… perhaps www.religiousforums.com ?

@roundsquare Just curious, can you name 3 or 4 questions you are interested in debating? I am not trying to debate them here, just wondering though.

@MyNewtBoobs Sorry to hear you’ve drawn such disappointing results. I don’t know of any professors of theology here, nor can the atheists amone us claim anyone of the renown of a Professor Richard Dawkins, writer Christopher Hitchens or Stephen Hawking, PhD.

@roundsquare and @MyNewtBoobs We have @Mattbrowne who is a legitimate scientists and very well informed Christian. I am not sure what @iamthemob believes. He’s an attorney, and so well educated, and he’s quite capable of arguing for or against religion. He will take either side if he detects logical error or false claims by someone on the other side of the issue. I don’t want to slight anyone by leaving their names out.

@augustlan would probably know if there are any theologians or Doctors of Divinity present. I can look back at some of the more eeiudite discussions of the existence of or nature of God, and find many more names of very well educated and biblically knowledgeable Christians here. Some even bring in knowledge of the ancient Torah and early Grek and Aramaic translations.

If you invite some of those people as well as some of the more well-informed atheists and agnostics to respond to a question, you should expect a higher level of debate, and not school-yard insults. I’ll be happy to look up more great religious denaters from those past threads and post them for you if you would like.

Just one question? One bad question and you give up on religious questions here? I mean I agree there might be better sites for what you are looking for, but some religious questions have good debates here.

I’ve asked Christians about animals going to heaven, evolution, stem cell research, and more. All good threads.

@JLeslie One really horrible one, 2 or 3 bad ones, and a large handful of others (although the handful I didn’t ask, just observed others’ answers).

I think Fluther is a good site and forum to have a religious debate. Just frame the question thoroughly with enough clarity and put it in General Section. Plus the Mods would strike down any unrelated post as well. I think jellies here are naturally fair-minded and can be fair-minded if they really want to.

There is no such thing as a good online forum for religious debate.

There are a few which I read from time to time which you may find interesting. They have contributors from a wide variety of doctrinal perspectives.

you can look through the forums at:
www.bible.org

www.theologyonline.com

tcpc.ipbhost.com

@JLeslie Question wise, really most of the questions that come up on fluther I find interesting. Its the debates themselves that end up getting to me.

@ETpro I agree, there are many people on fluther that I end up enjoying debating. The problem though is that there are many people on fluther who get defensive when their views are looked at critically and end up ruining the experience for me. There is a good chance its really my fault in the sense that maybe I’m too blunt or I don’t add enough “I respect your belief but…” type clauses, but quite honestly I want to find a place where I don’t have to do that (it does exist e.g. on college campuses with the right group of people). I don’t understand people who come onto a debate/discussion website, state a view, and get mad at people who debate/discuss their view (unless discussion has become reduced to a statement of one’s own views and nothing else).

So maybe I’m looking for something more academic-ish. I’m not sure.

@roundsquare I see. Thanks for the added detail. In that case, I fear you are on the wrong planet. You need to expand your search to include Vulcan, and Heaven if there is such a place. I’ve found such defensiveness to be common even among the most erudite and educated crowds. :-)

I would guess fluther probably has a fairly high education level on average.

In your question you need to say you prefer people not criticize anyones opinion, but rather allow people to state their views freely, and that follow up questions for clarification are fine. It usually works pretty well.

I really doubt there is a rational type religion or political open forum. You first need rational and fairly intelligent non-biased individuals and no trolls. Too many times on different forums I have seen the supposed “atheist” when in truth, it is an insane user attacking religion, spirituality, and most anyone and any idea considered good and decent. I wish there was a quality forum like you and I and other rational religious users might want, but I have searched off and on for a few years with no luck.

@seperate_reality Like I said, Earth is the wrong planet for that—at least at the present time. At least onn Fluther you have the protection of good, sensible moderation to stop the trolls and hate mongers from ruining the day. I am guessing that flawed as it may be, this is about as good as it gets. Might as well post your discussions here and just do your best to ignore the ignoramus answers. Phrasing the question and details carefully will probably help a great deal in letting users know you are looking for a well-thought-out debate and not argument by assertion and ad hominems.

Thanks for the encouragement ETpro. Maybe I will give it a shot here even though I have my doubts.

ETpro, I’m testing the water, so to speak, on here with two questions of my own. I know from other forums like this, there is at least one resident insane troll who uses a few different handles to attack any and all religious, spiritual, type questions. Someone might think that there are numerous atheists or trolls, but in reality it is only one trouble maker. It’s a troll type of forum illusion.

@ETpro Fair enough. I suppose I’ll work on my spaceship…

Anyway, I’ll continue to play this game on fluther. I’ll let you folks know if I find a good site.

@seperate_reality and @roundsquare As an atheist who has also been a biblical scholar and has respect for varying views, I will look forward to chiming in but if I disagree I will do my level best to not be disagreeable in doing so.

Any forum you can find, so can the handful of insane trolls. I know the longer I am on a forum, the more these trolls hammer it. The insane want to stop any and all truth and redistribute false information. These want to knock out the good and perpetuate the bad. I could easily tell there was an insane resident troll on here just by scanning the main page and seeing his handy work, which is asking questions designed to bring someone down. Go through the questions and you can easily spot these troll questions. It causes the unsuspecting person who wants to answer the best he or she can relive an upsetting time in their past. These are not all sincere questions where a person needs advice. It would not surprise me, if one or more users on this forum trying to help by reading and answering these type of questions to start having headaches and or getting upset at their family and friends and not know why. The insane troll knows why and also why he or she spends so much time and energy on pumping out these evil intentioned designed questions. Insane? I agree. ,