[jeanb]

While I respect people of faith, I come here for PD posts. Frankly I am uncomfortable when the topics and threads turn to religious discussion. So I did a few web searches and found the following websites where such discussions may take place in locations where all those posting are interested in such topics:

According to DOCJOHN

- Posts of a mostly religious nature should be made to the Spiritual Support forum

[paula_w]

i am uncomfortable separating faith from chronic illness. You have the option not to read it instead of trying to censor others. THat's exactly why i like to study it. Your agenda is to remove it. That is censorship.

we are not fair game for removal and will fight back. i d on't want to cause a ruckus, but your discomfort is not the focus here. Stay away from the post....skip it.

Some of us get great benefit from it and it's completely on topic for a chronic illness to include a faith factor. it 's very infrequent and your discomfort does not trump it.

[jeanb]

when you start a religious discussion in the middle of a pd thread, as often occurs, how is anyone to know?

this is a pd forum. not all here are Christians.

Originally Posted by paula_w

i am uncomfortable separating faith from chronic illness. You have the option not to read it instead of trying to censor others. THat's exactly why i like to study it. Your agenda is to remove it. That is censorship.

we are not fair game for removal and will fight back. i d on't want to cause a ruckus, but your discomfort is not the focus here. Stay away from the post....skip it.

Some of us get great benefit from it and it's completely on topic for a chronic illness to include a faith factor. it 's very infrequent and your discomfort does not trump it.

[paula_w]

Originally Posted by jeanb

when you start a religious discussion in the middle of a pd thread, as often occurs, how is anyone to know?

this is a pd forum. not all here are Christians.

that's right none of us is the same; and i would never request that anyone of a certain faith be censored. We all have to read things we don't agree with. i would never ask a certain group to be silenced. That's censorship. You wouldn't ask anyone else to not talk about faith.

again, skip over it. i'm not thrilled at everyone's posts but wouldn't disallow their thinking.

[Bob Dawson]

I would not want people coming on here and advocating Catholic over Protestant, or Jewish as compared to Muslim, or the true meaning of some contested religious controversy; but I can't separate belief and mind and spirit and body; it is faith more than anything that carries me through, even though I am not part of any church or organized religion; I marvel at the Majesty of Creation; the staggering fact that the universe is there; and I feel the urgency of the need for people to treat themselves and others with a higher spirit that we usually see; and I think, for example, the Amgen GDNF experiments, or rather the way in which the volunteers were treated, was a dark example of - darkness; of life without love; it was an affront to the dignity of all mankind; and there is a great need for human kindness in the world. I believe that spirit and energy and love have been keeping me alive.
At what point is that considered to be religious, and therefore unacceptable?

[paula_w]

it spills out because it really is about love, hope and peace.

[jeanb]

i can only respectfully say that as a person who is not Christian, I am uncomfortable when PD threads to turn into proselytizing. Because I understand that not all here share the same beliefs and faith, I have provided info about the NT spiritual forum because it is my understanding that that is where those discussions should take place:

From a post by DOCJOHN

- Posts of a mostly religious nature should be made to the Spiritual Support forum

[reverett123]

I think that that phrase is a key. As a general rule, why not follow the tone of the original poster? We have tried to do that in the past. I have apologized many times to Ron for hijacking his threads. Now, it may be different after 20 or 30 posts, but by then it has morphed.

On a more personal note, however, this is a good time for me to comment on something that has been bothering me. NeuroTalk has been changing and not always in a way that I welcome.It has always been a place for we of a techie nerd-like bent to discuss PD. In fact, it has been about the only such place. And that has made it special, but it has been eroding. A lot of old heads have quietly disappeared and some have confided in private that this is why. If NT simply becomes a tiny version of Patients Like then we all lose. Over there it is impossible to have a serious discussion because of a half-dozen posters who immediately move onto the thread and joke it into oblivion. They don't respect the original post.

Also, be aware that this forum is just a tiny part of a huge site with areas dedicated to faith and just about everything else.

[Bob Dawson]

..this is a pd forum. not all here are Christians....
The only thing we have in common is Parkinson's Disease. When I joined here, I was gung-ho in favor of Mirapex and I thought that the Pharma companies were spotless clean scientists working for the betterment of mankind, and I stayed away from this site at times because it seemed to be full of unrepentent hippies who were promoting herbal tea and meditation and even exercise, when I knew that the problem was chemicals in the brain and the solution was to put more chemicals in the brain. It was like two different religions. I changed a lot of my opinions after reading what was said here. But personally, the only thing that has worked for me really well is the Continuum Movement, which to some others seems like some crazy made-up magic; but which I experience as a life-saving anchor. And I do encourage people to go have a look at some of the mind plus body plus spirit therapies that work wonders for many, so that may seem like proselytizing; whereas other people religiously believe in science, and try to persuade or require that nothing can be tried except "evidence-based medicine", which means Big Pharma only - and then I see their methods, and they don't have much evidence at all; but they have a quasi-religious belief that if a scientist said it, it has to be the only pathway to enlightenment, and everybody else is a quack.
So the only thing we all have in common on this site is PD. Everything else, we've got all kinds of people here, and every kind; and if it weren't for PD, we would not have anything to do with each other at all. So I don't want to go to another site and talk to a bunch of religious people. I want to talk with some Parkies. And they, and I, all bring with us our ideas and prejudices and wrong-headed beliefs and baggage and hope and fear.
And yes, I have become more religious, but it does not come from the religious recruiters. My changed sense of the world started with PD. The only thing we all have

[paula_w]

i'm pretty good at apologizing when i offend. Don't let people leaving and blaming others damage the reputation of this forum. they are not builders, they are destroyers. you can build people up or you can tear them down. accept no blame for people who can't see that people aren't perfect.