A response to #gmc

A few months passed, and a process occurred during that time in which I transitioned from atheism to agnosticism, agnosticism to deism, deism to theism, and finally theism to Christianity.

I didn't do so on the basis of blind faith, I did so on the basis of one side having the most logical arguments for their worldview, whereas the other side was noticeably lacking.

After I came back to your room, I spent about a week there, an hour or so a day. The main reasons were because:

A) I use Game Maker, and #gmc is the best place to find help and information regarding GM.

B) I like the people there.

Two days ago (again, as of this writing) something occurred that made me leave for good. I'll explain.

One of your moderators, whose name escapes me, posted a presumably graphic pornographic picture (according to how I watched people replying to it). I have a habit of not clicking on links unless I know they're SFW (Safe For Work for you laymen). Obviously this picture wasn't SFW.

I politely asked this moderator to start putting "NSFW" (Not Safe For Work) next to his posts if he also includes links to pictures that are deserving of that tag.

After being asked if I was "gay" and "under 18" and responding appropriately, I was then asked if I was a Christian.

I said yes.

You would have thought I just beat up an old lady in front of everybody. Five people immediately jumped me out of irrational anger, making fun of my faith and me. What's more, when other people came into the conversation, they started stretching what I had previously said and began putting words in my mouth to make me look like the bad guy. With a five-on-one situation, getting a word in edgewise to defend myself was not particularly easy.

Also, it wasn't until after I told them I was a Christian did I immediately get kicked. The same porn-posting moderator, after kicking me out of the room, declared that he was "just kidding." Once I showed that he clearly wasn't kidding, he eventually kicked me again.

Not only was my faith mocked for a simple criticism, but I was declared self-righteous, irrational, stupid, and even called the f-word.

After the second kick, I returned and made the essential statement, which I'll paraphrase:

Ever since becoming a Christian, I've faced nothing but hostility. Friends have turned against me, family members have turned against me, I'm not welcome in most places. The last thing I ever thought was that a room like #gmc would be filled with intolerant, hateful, immature bigotry. I frequented #gmc because I like the people there, we've always got along (with the exception of Alonely, but for vastly different reasons). I never thought that #gmc, who I viewed as being reasonable, intelligent, mature individuals would be absolutely no different than anybody else in this world.

Christianity is the single most hated religion in the world. To be openly Christian and non-apologetic for it will either get you mocked, assaulted, imprisoned, or beheaded. Anything and everything will be done to shut you up out of a subconscious hatred for anything good, pure, and moral. No, I'm not self-righteous. No, I'm not inherently moral. I'm not anymore moral than anybody in GMC, but what I am is a Christian, and furthermore, what I am is someone who has some common sense: Posting porn in a room where posting porn was always looked down upon and not even bothering to tag it as NSFW shows where your minds are at. Am I the ontic referent for morality? No. Am I the lawgiver? No. But I do know that kids frequent that room, and you are effectively subjecting people who shouldn't or wouldn't look at that kind of stuff to your own perverse hobbies.

Lastly, a statement was made to the degree of: "We're just surprised that anybody is still a Christian in this day and age."

What I'm surprised about is there are still atheists running around who still have tired, old, cliched views of what Christianity is. You treat my faith as though it's stupid, as if anybody with any modicum of intelligence would believe it.

Most professors at Oxford University are theists. The Professor of Mathematics at Oxford, John Lennox, is a devout Christian. Many, many extremely intelligent and, dare I say, rational individuals are Christians.

Your ignorant view of Christianity as being devoid of rationality is unbecoming of supposedly smart people who work with programming languages. You clearly have a brain, and are using it for something, so maybe you should use it to learn a little more about the faith that you so readily mock with abandon.

If you have a problem with Christianity, I would be more than happy to have a chat with any of you about why not just theism, but Christianity specifically, is the more rational worldview on the planet. I haven't engaged in apologetic in some time, and would love to stretch my theological muscles a little bit with any of you.

In conclusion, I won't be returning to your room. Even though #gmc is the only place where like-minded Game Maker users congregate, I can talk with like-minded people here on Deviantart. If I need help with GML, I have Google. What I don't need, however, is a hostile environment where, at any moment, vitriol will be spewed forth like so much disgusting bile from the belly of Satan himself. I don't need #gmc, and indeed, it was better off this way that your room revealed its true colors now and kicked me out rather than having to sit around in a chat room like yours. There are bigger, better, friendlier, and more tolerant places for me to spend an hour every day or two.

Love,

Microfrog (aka. Minimuffin)

P.S. - Despite all of this, I still forgive you and your behavior. Christ told of the soldiers who had nailed him to the cross and divided up his clothes, "They know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) You don't know what you're doing, and it's understandable, which is why I have compassion for you. Because this faith you consider stupid that I have? At the center of it is a man who prayed for his enemies as they were driving nails through his hands and feet, and left him hanging and dying a slow, agonizing death. THAT'S the kind of faith I have. What about you?