Is there a need for a Christian Autism/Asperger's forum?

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I've noticed that whenever I've mentioned that I'm a Christian here on wrong planet I'm assaulted by mocking atheists. It reminds me of when I was a kid being bullied for being different.

I'm wondering if there are folks with autism/Asperger's out there who really need to be able to connect with others but who are being driven off wrong planet by this. I mean, I'm a lot tougher now than I was as a kid but even I don't see much point in posting anything here in wrong planet's politics philosophy and religion section.

I do have a very new forum of my own (link is in signature)which is a sort of online writers group, and it has a section specifically for the writer with Asperger's/autism, and sections for Christian writers. But I'm wondering if I should add a few new sections for Christians with autism spectrum disorders, so that they can have a forum where they can be openly Christian without being attacked.

I'd love to hear the opinion of other Christians (if any are still here) on this. Rude atheist opinions, not so much.

That could be very useful. While SOME of the A-crowd are capable of intelligent and productive discussion and will actually do it, it is not easy to have a serious talk on faith related issues without inburstings.

By the by, my wife is out of Crystal Falls - don't know Daggett

There are tons of religions. If we added a board for one specific religion, we'd need to add boards for each religion. If you're getting personally mocked by people, you should report it to the moderators.

There is a book (an allegory) titled The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It is the (religious science fiction) story of Christian going on a walk to Celestial City. Christian, along the way, must travel through a town called Vanity Fair; also, toward the end of the journey Christian and his companion at that time, Hopeful, are confronted by a person called Atheist. Christian goes on the walk in part 1; his wife, Christiana and their four children, go on the walk to Celestial City in part 2 . In my opinion, Asperger's/autism is Asperger's/autism. I do not see it as Buddhist Asperger's/autism vs Hindu Asperger's/autism vs Mormon Asperger's/autism vs Christian Asperger's/autism. Recall reading a book titled Nerves In Collision (about the many non-convulsive epilepsies) by Walter C. Alvarez, M.D. Dr. Alvarez, M.D. directly addressed the idea of the neurology of epilepsy as hinted at in the Bible vs what is known today about the neurology of epilepsy. I responded positively to what Dr. Alvarez, M.D wrote about the topic because I felt he was trying to be as honest as possible about the subject. Dr. Alvarez, M.D. was not driven by a theological or a political agenda. I also recall reading a book by Dale Carnegie about friendships and people. Dale Carnegie also addressed the topic of how society is described to be according to certain books, including the Bible, and what actually happens in everyday society and the possible thinking/lack of thinking behind everyday life. People are free to set up their own talk groups and if they wish, they can choose to allow only certain ideas to be expressed - aka intentional censorship - I suppose. It's up to them. For some reason, I personally prefer open discussions myself. I also realize that with open discussions there can be occasional, unwanted flak which can enter the discussion process. If a person sets up their own discussion board, that flak can be addressed in terms of footnotes/questions/whatever or if the flak is clearly hostile/malicious, the posts can be deleted by the moderator and the tomato throwers banned from posting there. The Pilgrim's Progress book by John Bunyan clearly suggests that the path to Celestial City is not smooth all the time but full of dangers here and there. That's probably why the book is still in print - it says something about life and the known difference between a Christian world view vs other non-profit religions/non-profit faiths/non-profit philosophies/non-profit politics world view. Alex said there are tons of religions (2010). Alex is absolutely right.

Last edited by pgd on 25 Dec 2010, 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I know I've head the suggestion that PPR be split before, with politics and personal philosophy being separated from religion so that the religious and the non-religious would only encounter each other by design. I don't think this is a bad idea, the two types often don't get along all that well.

But the non-religious people would still post in Religion.

It would indeed be quite nice, but if we were to set up a specific forum for Christians we'd have to do so for other major religions as well, and that would probably be more trouble than what it's worth.

We'd need one for atheists as well

Already GOT one for atheists!

Since your forum already has a section for Christian writers, you already have a target audience. It sounds like you are looking for a place where you can share your Christian faith with others on the Spectrum without opposing views. I have seen some posters, here, looking to gain this through private messages, so this suggests that there are some that are looking for this. Some Christian Aspies may not feel comfortable in the church environment, so this may also be an opportunity for them to share their beliefs with others online that they don't normally participate in.

The big issue is that people are hard to exclude. The best idea I can see is just a separate forum from PPR labeled "Spirituality", which would focus on the less intellectual sides of religion. Separating religious from PPR makes no sense, given the overlap between religion and philosophy (philosophy of religion) as well as the fact that theology can also be a relatively analytic subject.

I like it.

Its not unreasonable to have one forum thats a kind of haven, and another thats a free for all.
The same person can take refuge in one and it duke it out in the other.
It might be better to label a new forum "Spirtualality" rather than giving it a christian label, so it stays inclusive.

Yes, they could, but it would require that they deliberately enter that forum and engage with the religious, which clearly establishes their intent. That would make it much easier from a moderation perspective to request that a poster back off, or allow people to discuss their faith without being challenged on it. Under the current system that would be impractical, and has resulted in persistent atheists being banned rather than deal with the constant complaints their interjecting generated.

anyone who has any sort of religious belief here gets flammed, its nothing new

But it does get old.

No.