Appropriate?

[kaufmannphillips]

Looking at the forum here, I realized that "Roman Catholicism" has its own category apart from "Christianity."

Is this appropriate? Or should this be relocated to "Denominations"?

[TK]

i agree with you, emmett.

TK

[steve]

I don't think the inclusion of the Roman Catholic category was intended to cast aspersions on that denomination or to suggest that Catholics are not Christians. I believe that Roman Catholicism is a special category because it is a church that makes unique claims for itself, which lots of people wish to discuss. If the Southern Baptists, the Church of the Nazarene or the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination made similarly unique claims for themselves, which attracted a lot of special interest and discussion, I would favor including special categories for them as well. If we had only one catch-all category for "denominations" it might eventually become so cluttered and diverse (like our eschatology category) that those who wished to read and interact about Catholicism might have to hunt down the relevant threads with difficulty. I would favor keeping the Roman Catholic category and then add categories for other denominations as the interest arises.

[kaufmannphillips]

Hi, Steve,

Your comment about the clutter makes sense. Would it be troublesome to create new sections on the forum for "Denominations" and "Eschatology"? Then subheadings could be created within those.
------------
Thinking again: maybe a catch-all like "Denominations, Sects, Movements, Religions, and Philosophies"? Longish, but then there's no quibbling over stuff like "Where do we put the Jehovah's Witnesses?"

[steve]

I would not object to that at all. However, the "Roman Catholic," "Jehovah's Witnesses," and such categories are already sub-categories in a section called "Religions and Philosophies." I am not sure what more should be done to implement your suggestion. By the way, Hi Emmet. It is good to have you among us here.

[Jill]

.

[kaufmannphillips]

steve wrote:
I would not object to that at all. However, the "Roman Catholic," "Jehovah's Witnesses," and such categories are already sub-categories in a section called "Religions and Philosophies." I am not sure what more should be done to implement your suggestion. By the way, Hi Emmet. It is good to have you among us here.

Thank you, Steve. It's a privilege to participate in discussion here.

Please pardon my taking another run at this... (I'll avoid belaboring the issue beyond this.)

As it stands, there is a section for "Denominations" under "Church Life"; under "Religions & Philosophies," there is a section for "Roman Catholicism," along with sections for non-Christian religions and a section for "Christianity." This format might be construed (however wrongly) as telegraphing the notion that Roman Catholicism is a separate religion or philosophy from Christianity.

Turning the "Religions & Philosophies" section into the broader category of "Denominations, Sects, Religions, & Philosophies" might defuse some tension over labelling a group as a denomination (~in-group) or a religion (~out-group). The three threads under "Denominations" in "Church Life" could be relocated somewhere in that section, under "Other" or in sub-categories of their own.

Somebody else might have a better idea, though.

[steve]

I can see your point of having "Christianity" as a separate category from "Roman Catholicism" might offend adherents to the latter, although I think some Roman Catholics might be equally offended to have their church included under "Denominations," since they consider denominations to be a strictly Protestant phenomenon.

I suppose the best improvement might be to eliminate the "Christianity" folder, since most of the other categories are subcategories of that general field anyway. Finding alternative folder for those few threads that are in the Christianity section might be relatively easy. I myself will not have time to make these changes right away, but if one of the others who have this power wished to do so, I would have no objection.

[kaufmannphillips]

Id'e be heart sick if the main index board was changed that dramatically at this point, and
would hope that the Religions & Philosophies section was merely missing a topic for the 7th Day Adventist for instance, and not to disturb it much. I was so disappointed when RND had put his 7th Day's way up, hidden in the Denominations sub section. The 7th days, now that RND has shared so much literature about them, 7th Day Adventists seems consice enough to be in the Religions & Philosophy section. I've enjoyed having some company down here in Religions and philosophies though. (Hi Tom! ).

Emmet, what a mysteriously good looking Avatar photo you've attatched. I am heart sick however that you have suggested that the Roman Catholic Church is even christian by welcoming it up into the main categories of the forum. What you have suggested is quite a hurtful message to those already welcomed into the Religions & Philosophy section. Even more so... the all who may be in agreement if this. Your choice.

Maybe I can offset the quality of my posts with my good looks?

How do you feel about my idea about a revised category (posted directly above)? Would "Denominations, Sects, Religions, & Philosophies" seem to be a neutral category for discussing different groups?

[kaufmannphillips]

...although I think some Roman Catholics might be equally offended to have their church included under "Denominations," since they consider denominations to be a strictly Protestant phenomenon.

"Denomination" might imply a level of equitability that some Catholics might balk at.