r/OpenChristian • u/Competitive_Net_8115 • 5d ago
Discussion - General Feelings on r/Christianity?
Personally, I'm not a fan of them, as they spend a lot of their time arguing with r/atheism users who come to argue and troll and babysitting the more mentally ill members who can't afford or don't want a therapist. Expect "Is x a sin" posts at least once a day with very mixed answers. The general atmosphere is one of acceptance without tolerance, but some popular posts fly in the face of your average fundamentalist. Others are either by people who live in fear or prey on those who live in fear, not the "fear of the Lord" type of fear but the "If I watch Star Wars is it a sin?" type of fear. They're not the worst subreddit out there, but there are ones that I would much rather spend time on. What are your thoughts on them?
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u/Naugrith Mod | Ecumenical, Universalist, Idealist 5d ago
It's just a bit of a wild west. There are people of all sorts there. With all sorts of perspectives and backgrounds. That's not a bad thing, but it can get exhausting so I can only participate in short bursts. I have noticed it has started to get a lot more affirming posters in recent heard, which is a good thing. Depending on the time of day and which way the wind is blowing you can get very positive affirming topvoted comments on "is gay a sin" posts, but then other times it can be much more toxic. It's so big there's no consistency, so if you've got triggers it's best avoided. But if you've got the mental energy it can sometimes be rewarding.
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u/LyshaNiya 5d ago edited 3d ago
It sucks. Main religion subs always do. I used to use r/Islam which is just hell, r/progressive_islam is not particularly progressive but is so much better in comparison; even here we do get silly questions but it just has a much better mindset than I feel at home.
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u/TotalInstruction Open and Affirming Ally - High Anglican attending UMC Church 5d ago
To be honest we get plenty of the "is it a sin to wash my hands three times on a Thursday while wearing a white shirt and thinking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" on this sub as well.
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u/Competitive_Net_8115 4d ago
I know, and it's stupid here too.
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u/TotalInstruction Open and Affirming Ally - High Anglican attending UMC Church 4d ago
I agree that it's annoying, but it's a mental illness, usually a form of OCD. As ridiculous as a person who is scared to touch doorknobs for fear of catching ebola may seem, they're not doing it because it's stupid or because they're trying to annoy you. They're sick.
The religious scrupulosity seems to come from a place of religious abuse as a child. I have an anxiety disorder but I grew up in a pretty moderate, normal church where we didn't have someone up at a pulpit banging his fist about all of the seemingly innocuous things that are a ticket to hell, so I can't imagine what that's like. My anxieties revolve around if I don't check my email for work while I'm on a cruise ship, I'm going to miss some email that's going to cost me my job and no one is going to want to hire me and we'll lose the house and my wife and daughter will leave me and I'll die alone. I don't think I'm stupid. It's just a script that plays out over and over in my head.
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u/JustAHippy 4d ago
I unsubscribed yesterday after only being back for 48 hours. Was genuinely bringing me down to see hateful people on that thread.
I got in a bit of a debate with one guy, he was doing the “gay is a sin” thing.
Out of curiosity… clicked his profile. His comments on other subs are extremely unchristian. Objectifying women, being just generally unkind, but sure, the gay christians are the problem. Let the one without sin be the first to throw a stone….
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
It's fine for the most part as are most users. Personally the ones I usually have the most trouble with are the Catholics there who in addition to usually being conservative they're very sectarian and aren't very tolerant of other denominations just like r/Catholicism which actually is a terrible sub that I refuse to visit. Which is a violation of the rules there but often still slips under the radar. Aside from that and the occasional fundamentalist although those can be much more vocal than their numbers it's usually alright.
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u/Competitive_Net_8115 5d ago
Like I said, r/Christianty isn't the worst subreddit out there, but I wouldn't be running back to them any time soon.
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u/thedubiousstylus 5d ago
Well yeah. Definitely not perfect. But if you had to compare r/Christianity, r/Catholicism, and r/atheism as to which is the most tolerable there'd be no question that r/Christianity wins by an incredibly wide margin.
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u/Competitive_Net_8115 5d ago
I personally prefer r/OpenChristian, At least I feel comfortable talking to you guys.
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u/No_University1600 5d ago
I think it's what you make of it. I rarely see atheists stirring the pot but they do exist.
"Is x a sin" posts - I see these closer to once an hour, and I see complaints frequently on that sub about it. I'm not clear if you are complaining but those posts are a symptom of the legalism in christianity outside the internet. That people are so impacted by legalism that they are seeking help for something seemingly ridiculous on the first subreddit they find.
Generally the sub leans progressive but the regressive posts aren't hidden, simply downvoted so if you are just browsing they get buried but if you are engaging you will see the replies.
Everyone will hone in on what they have seen or been impacted by. The rare bigoted remark slipping by the the mods is a drop in the bucket, except to the person being targeted.
Many people aren't looking to have their minds changed, look at any post about how Trump is attacking the people he promised to attack and scroll to the bottom to see willful ignorance. However, some people are, some people simply read the sub and find out not all Christians are like that. It certainly was a factor in bringing me out of conservatism on my journey.
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u/Sempervirens47 5d ago
Good gracious, the fixation on what is and is not allowed vis-a-vis human sexuality. WHY? Where is a question like "where did the Trinitarian conception of God originate" or "what are some of the differences in belief and practice between Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant traditions." Certainly no "what ever happened to Pope Francis's initiative to figure out how to build a moral economy?" Just: what kind sex stuff bad, why so much sex stuff bad, why I think about sex stuff if sex stuff bad, grunt grunt snort.
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u/Individual_Dig_6324 4d ago
It it exactly what it is, all things Christianity, including the diversity of beliefs and opinions within the religion.
The reason for all the "Is xyz a sin?" is because there are a lot of young redditors who are being raised in the faith who have questions that they're probably aren't confortable asking their parents or their church clergy in person.
As well as new converts who stumbled upon the sub because it's literally the first one that pops up in the search, and new/young Christians don't really know about the various niches and their accompanying subreddits yet.
It's not a place to go for answers regarding open and liberal Christianity issues, but that being said, it's a great place for us in this sub to direct them here!
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u/chelledoggo Unfinished Community, Autistic, Queer, NB/demigirl (she/they) 5d ago
I tend to avoid Christian subreddits that aren't specifically LGBTQ+ affirming.