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Originally Posted by davem
If you introduce a subject onto a public forum (cast your pearls before swine as t'were) you have to be prepared to have your points challenged. You also have to be very careful to distinguish between what Tolkien said, believed & intended & what you yourself believe & intend. If you say 'This reminds me of 'x', that's fine. If you say 'Tolkien intended ''x'', or 'This is Tolkien's inspiration for "y"' Then I'm going to ask you for quotes & references. So, its not a ''free for all" here Statements about Tolkien himself must be factual - & I think you'll find those are the only statements I've challenged. If I repeat myself on this thread I'm sorry but my feeling is tha claims made about Tolkien & his work have to be supportable - we can interpret the work in any way we choose, but we can't just make up things about the man himself.
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As I said, I understand your point here and agree with it, so no arguments from me on any of this. I'm just not sure that it needs to be continually restated. There is no problem with challenging statements made by others. That is a normal and healthy part of Downs discourse. It only becomes a problem when the challenge is made in an abrasive or disrespectful manner.
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Originally Posted by davem
Both were criticising me for being 'disrespectful' about the Bible - & I'd picked up that that feeling was prevalent among some members. I then made the point that if I had said the same things in a Tolkien & Shakespeare thread no-one would have taken my comments as being 'disrespectful' to Shakespeare, but as an 'attack' on the way Shakespeare was being used.
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As far as the moderating team is concerned, the earlier problems arose not because you were being disrespectful about the Bible, but because you were being disrespectful of other posters and their opinions and beliefs. That is not acceptable on this forum, whether you are discussing biblical parallels, Shakespearian parallels or whatever.
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Originally Posted by davem
You'll notice that while I gave the text of the rep comments & pointed out the first was unsigned I didn't give the name of the person who gave out the second.
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It makes no difference. The point is, they were private communications from other members to you and should not have been repeated openly without permission.