What's the purose of this section?

Well but we can't even mention of God, as some members get offended by the concept of God. I've been told we can't even mention Buddha (although, to me personally it seems Buddhism is one of the few allowed philosophies in this sections. However there might be people with different perspective).. Also, mentions of any sacred scripture are forbidden as well.
So after recent misunderstanding in the thread about Spiritual gems I was wondering, what CAN be discussed here? Why call a section "spiritual sanctuary" but ban any mention of spiritual concepts? So far it seems the only thing that can be mentioned is some vague New Age atheism and nothing else.
Personally I think this section is a proof that political correctness has gone too far and made any normal discussion impossible.

The stickies at the top reveal the reasoning behind the restrictions - I view the purpose of the forum, as a place to request/express thoughts & empathy, based on the shared experience of being sentient creatures with general desires to find footholds/understanding in environments where much is out of our direct control, or impossible to find answers for with the knowledge we currently possess. Sometimes getting into the specifics of religion can get in the way of that.

I'm not a mod/admin, or making an official comment in any way - just my interpretation.

I guess I can see that, but like I said, there's no need for getting defensive if you're secure in your beliefs and accept that everyone has different views.

I wonder what exactly is allowed to be discussed here. What kind of questions are allowed? What kind of language is allowed?
It seems about 90% of topics are forbidden so it's almost impossible to have a normal conversation.
Is only new age allowed with their abstract Universe and everyone else is banned? But that is discrimination, too!

Could admins please explain the purpose of this section and tell us which religious concepts are allowed to be discussed and which aren't?

I think we need more specific rules so we know what can or can't be mentioned and so we know what exactly is breaking the rules and what isn't. Or can anyone just say "I'm offended" and the other member is supposed to be quiet?
Don't get me wrong. For me personally, this isn't about God. I see this as a question of principle, a question of how the discussion works.
And it isn't just about recent posts, it's in general, based on few occasions both here and elsewhere. To be honest, the direction we're going is quite scary.

There will ALWAYS be someone offended or "triggered" . Recently I've heard a true story about a lady saying "I love humanity" in a university class. The response of one of her classmates? "you love only humanity, not the whole planet?" and it was said in an offended tone. So... If we want to reach a state where no one is ever offended, the entire forum can be closed.

DocJohn has very clearly outlined what can be discussed in this forum here: "We're going to move forward with a new plan for this forum, for better or worse, because the current state of affairs is simply untenable. We have lost members over hurt and upset caused by this forum and by some members' focus on specific religious doctrine and dogma over the more general spirituality we've always intended here.

For example, Fuzzybears prayer to the Bear Spirit shouldn't be allowed either but just because it's a Spirit from Native American religion, no one will protest against it. If I wrote exactly

Some members have chosen to use this forum as a place to express their point of view, sometimes trying to drown out others'. Other members see this as a soap box to evangelize.

We need to go back to the original mandate of the forum -- that it is about spirituality and not specific religions. Discussion -- even positive discussion -- of specific religions or religious doctrine will not be allowed going forward. It is the specific religious talk that seems to cause the most trouble.

This means no religious talk is allowed -- no specific religious figures, texts, etc. will be permitted here. Please see the note about Social Groups to find where such religious discussion occurs within this community.

DocJohn"

https://forums.psychcentral.com/sanc...alk-forum.html

The purpose of PC is mental health support. The purpose here is not to have religious discussion or debate of any kind. The purpose of PC is for people seeking support for their mental health illnesses to have access to the support they need. Religious debate is superfluous and possibly detrimental to that.

Moderators are unlikely to see or respond to this post. If you have questions or community feedback, you would need to post it in the Community Feedback and Technical Support subforum.

If you are unsure of a specific thread that you want to create, PM an admin/moderator and ask them if it's within the guidelines before posting to avoid its removal or any controversy.

I hope this is helpful information.

Seesaw

Thank you. I won't post anything. I was just upset by what happened in the thread Spiritual Gems but it seems no one is inserested in discussing that topic. I myself will think twice before posting anything in this section in the future :-( I got quite disappointed to be honest. And I repeat it's not because of my own beliefs, which aren't clear at all.

I wasn't in that thread. I come very rarely in this forum because I don't need help in this area and I also don't have a need or desire to discuss my spirituality. I just see the lead thread, and I noticed this one and was curious by the beginning of the title.

Was your disappointment by the purpose/parameters that limit the scope of the forum? I am sorry you are disappointed. There are many other places online to discuss/debate things about religion and spirituality though. If that's an area of interest for you, then perhaps join one of those? People often express disappointment (sometimes even anger) that DocJohn has limited the scope of what PC discussions are for. However, I have watched as he has continued to develop the specificity of the scope over the years, and I find it has contributed to PC becoming a very safe space for people to share and get support. In the end he has to decide what is conducive to the peace and functioning of the community and to the people here trying to heal.

Sometimes those limitations are frustrating, but PC is not meant to be all things to all people. It has a very specific purpose. I, for one, greatly appreciate that.

I do believe there is still a social group that you can join and post in to get more of the discussion you were interested in.

Seesaw

This time it wasn't my personal issue, it was more a frustration because of what seemed to be a general injustice. This is called "spirituality" but it's a forum where only atheists are allowed to post. So the name of the section is innapropriate and misleading.
There are no other forums I'm interested in joining. I was interested in discussion between various different beliefs where no one is discriminated.
But I know I'll never find one

I reread the entire thread again and I haven't found a single post where atheists are denigrated. Possibly there was one quote about the enemy's plan for your life. That may have been slightly on edge.
The quote about one lost sheep didn't sound offensive to me at all. I absolutely didn't think about atheists when reading it and I don't think it was meant to threaten or denigrate anyone here. That's why I absolutely didn't see a reason for offence. And I am very sensitive to threats and judgement. However in the whole thread I didn't see anything offensive. I truly wonder which quote are you talking about.

What is true and I agree with you Gus is that AFTER your critical remark, a couple more posts came which may sound like a provocation.

I needed a place to talk about spirituality because it's a huge part of my trauma but I have absolutely no one and no where to talk about it. Neither in real life nor online, not even my therapist understands me. But that has little to do with this forum, that's just my venting . I think I was so triggered by this misunderstanding because it just reassured me that all forums are the same and I will never find help with my own problems.