Religion

However, on the opening page for the Group it states: "This is a group, not a forum. Groups often serve as safe havens for members who share similar interests and viewpoints. Individuals who post messages contrary to a particular group's stated purpose can be excluded from posting in that group."

Given that any posting in this Group raising a religious question is met with a series of posts attacking the poster as another mindless deist, the Religion Group is obviously not a safe space to discuss religious issues. If the Group Hosts intended the Group to serve as a place for DU members to seriously discuss religious issues, they would have stepped-in long ago.

The real purpose of the Religion Group seems to be to convince anyone who stumbles on DU that Republicans are correct when they tell people in my part of the country that Democrats are anti-religion. When I first found DU, one of the things that interested me was the happy realization that there were interesting discussions about religion issues going on between progressive people in which everyone respected the beliefs and non-beliefs of others. If when I first found DU, I had read multiple posts in the Religion Group attacking all religious people as unintelligent, I would have concluded DU was a bigoted site and moved on.

I do not find arguments challenging my intelligence to be persuasive. Also, I do not post on DU to be told that I am unintelligent. As a result, I try to make it a point not to post in this Group. I rely upon DU as a beacon of hope down here in south Arkansas. If I often posted in this Group, I would have to give up on DU. It is difficult enough to realize that many in DU are convinced that I am a hopeless moron.