Can we make MN less hostile?

[MaxPC]

And I believe we can challenge opposing views but how we do it and the words we use I believe is important and should not violate scriptures on how we express our beliefs.

Col 4:6 MSG says - 'Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.'

Amen and indeed.

[Verity]

I was rather amused to sign in after an absence and find this thread revived. Several weeks ago I wondered if it would be helpful to get this one going again, with the overriding tone of MN at the time. Still not sure if the air has cleared, I need to stroll around a bit more...

It would be interesting to know how many seekers frequent MN on a daily basis. There are a lot of people out there wanting something more, something better, something solid. Anabaptism appeals to many, not only because of the "simpler life" cultural aspect, but because it is supposed to be genuine Christianity. Literal living out in shoe leather all of Jesus' teachings.

If you are here learning and seeking and longing- there are many genuine Christlike people in the Anabaptist world. You won't find a perfect church composed of perfect people. But you can find a good church composed of good people who will walk with you toward Heaven. The squabbles and nuttiness that abound on MN are typical of what you may find in any Anabaptist church. But you know what? You can always walk away and take a breather. You don't have to participate in that in order to be a good Christian or full-fledged Anabaptist. Anabaptist love to argue because they love what they believe. If you enjoy passionate, unique, eccentric thinkers you are in the right place.

If you can survive MN, you'll do just fine.

[temporal1]

I was rather amused to sign in after an absence and find this thread revived. Several weeks ago I wondered if it would be helpful to get this one going again, with the overriding tone of MN at the time. Still not sure if the air has cleared, I need to stroll around a bit more...

It would be interesting to know how many seekers frequent MN on a daily basis.
There are a lot of people out there wanting something more, something better, something solid.

Anabaptism appeals to many, not only because of the "simpler life" cultural aspect, but because it is supposed to be genuine Christianity. Literal living out in shoe leather all of Jesus' teachings.

If you are here learning and seeking and longing- there are many genuine Christlike people in the Anabaptist world.
You won't find a perfect church composed of perfect people.

But you can find a good church composed of good people who will walk with you toward Heaven.

The squabbles and nuttiness that abound on MN are typical of what you may find in any Anabaptist church.
But you know what? You can always walk away and take a breather.
You don't have to participate in that in order to be a good Christian or full-fledged Anabaptist.

Anabaptist love to argue because they love what they believe.
If you enjoy passionate, unique, eccentric thinkers you are in the right place.

If you can survive MN, you'll do just fine.

Verity,
For me, the initial “Welcome to MN” thread reflects what brings folks to the forum.
It’s now at 54 pages, and not difficult to review.

The majority interest is in learning about CMs/Anabaptists, also, about CMs looking for interaction with others, esp growth in faith.
i don’t recall 1 new member joining with the desire to argue or even discuss politics! On MN or the former MD.

Oddly, the volume of posts regularly stays with politics+current events.
Much of this is accomplished by a few non-CM members, i’m one, but, a number of devoted CMs contribute (adding great input+insights).

If you review the Members page, you can see how a few members post the most volume.
Many members post infrequently, many not at all, many read-only.

For myself, i’m most interested in CM views on every topic.
MN isn’t an encyclopedic resource. Those exist, and are valuable. MN “fleshes out” how faith works in everyday lives.
Real life is organic, not fixed, not sterile.

In the past, it’s been stated/warned, MN is not a single church.
It’s important to understand that. Otherwise, it’s going to appear nothing less than chaotic. This is a Mennonite discussion forum wherein Mennonites invited “others.”

In earliest days, these were CM teens experimenting with the internet. It was mostly friends+family enjoying each other.
They had no idea their fun experiment would last a year! Well. For better and worse ..

i came along just as many of the originals were moving on to work, marriage, families .. others have stepped up .. the forum morphs and continues. The average age is greater than original. Not as much fun+games as the original.
There were conflicts, there are conflicts.

Warts+all, in my view, “the glue” that holds the forum together is the mutual interest in Jesus Christ. This remains.
The eye doesn’t stray far from this.

Welcome to MN.

[Verity]

I was thinking of the many visitors who never join. On any given day if I pop in there are between 15-25 visitors. That's a lot of traffic. I personally know some folks who are seeking and stop here to get a feel for things in various settings. MN is a safe place to do that, which is great.

It can get wild, when you are with humans life typically does. Some like it wild, others like it tame. I have yet to be in a church- any denomination- where things didn't get hot at times. I like warty folks, as long as I can have a break from them sometimes (myself included) .

[steve-in-kville]

I was thinking of the many visitors who never join. On any given day if I pop in there are between 15-25 visitors. That's a lot of traffic. I personally know some folks who are seeking and stop here to get a feel for things in various settings. MN is a safe place to do that, which is great.

It can get wild, when you are with humans life typically does. Some like it wild, others like it tame. I have yet to be in a church- any denomination- where things didn't get hot at times. I like warty folks, as long as I can have a break from them sometimes (myself included) .

Back when the CAM thing was kicking off, we had over 700 people on here at once. That was a wild ride

[Josh]

MN is, generally speaking, a terrible representation of things for seekers.

[Pelerin]

I was thinking of the many visitors who never join. On any given day if I pop in there are between 15-25 visitors. That's a lot of traffic. I personally know some folks who are seeking and stop here to get a feel for things in various settings. MN is a safe place to do that, which is great.

Most of those 15-25 visitors are automated bots, not real people.

[Judas Maccabeus]

MN is, generally speaking, a terrible representation of things for seekers.

Of course, in an average church, you won’t have people pushing Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism or any such thing. That is what generates the fire.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I was thinking of the many visitors who never join. On any given day if I pop in there are between 15-25 visitors. That's a lot of traffic. I personally know some folks who are seeking and stop here to get a feel for things in various settings. MN is a safe place to do that, which is great.

Most of those 15-25 visitors are automated bots, not real people.

I do not doubt that. You can browse without any signin.

[temporal1]

MN is, generally speaking, a terrible representation of things for seekers.

On MD, i witnessed lots of CM ministering to new members, on open forum, often in PMs, emails, real life.
i valued that, even tho i was not part of the private communications. If i recall, you benefited from this. At least, that was my perception. (???) .. no need to respond.

i think one difference is, MD had a category for initial introductions that every new member was invited, not required, to share.
some would share a few words, some would share a lot, ask a lot. This opened doors for CM and other forum leaders to respond.
i was always touched by the personal aspect. Human to believing human. lesterb was often involved. he wasn’t alone, or the only one. This meant a lot to me. Personal outreach. i believe it was effective. Most seemed genuinely grateful.

Don’t most arrive with questions? Problems to solve? (Most non-Mennos.) Fewer arrive with an agenda to sell. It was almost a non-issue. i don’t conflate honest discussion with deliberate promotion. However, that can happen! There’s reason for caution.