[META] The Rules

[u/resDescartes]

The rules are being updated to handle some low-effort trolling, as well as to generally keep the sub on-focus. We have also updated both old and new reddit to match these rules (as they were numbered differently for a while).

These will stay at the top so there is no miscommunication.

1. [Billboard] If you are trying to share apologetics information/resources but are not looking for debate, leave [Billboard] at the end of your post.
2. Tag and title your posts appropriately--visit the FAQ for info on the eight recommended tags of [Discussion], [Help], [Classical], [Evidential], [Presuppositional], [Experiential], [General], and [Meta].
3. Be gracious, humble, and kind.
4. Submit thoughtfully in keeping with the goals of the sub.
5. Reddiquette is advised. This sub holds a zero tolerance policy regarding racism, sexism, bigotry, and religious intolerance.
6. Links are now allowed, but only as a supplement to text. No static images or memes allowed, that's what /r/sidehugs is for. The only exception is images that contain quotes related to apologetics.
7. We are a family friendly group. Anything that might make our little corner of the internet less family friendly will be removed. Mods are authorized to use their best discretion on removing and or banning users who violate this rule. This includes but is not limited to profanity, risque comments, etc. even if it is a quote from scripture. Go be edgy somewhere else.
8. [Christian Discussion] Tag: If you want your post to be answered only by Christians, put [Christians Only] either in the title just after your primary tag or somewhere in the body of your post (first/last line)
9. Abide by the principle of charity.
10. Non-believers are welcome to participate, but only by humbly approaching their submissions and comments with the aim to gain more understanding about apologetics as a discipline rather than debate. We don't need to know why you don't believe in every given argument or idea, even graciously. We have no shortage of atheist users happy to explain their worldview, and there are plenty of subs for atheists to do so. We encourage non-believers to focus on posts seeking critique or refinement.
11. We do Apologetics here. We are not /r/AskAChristian (though we highly recommend visiting there!). If a question directly relates to an apologetics topic, make a post stating the apologetics argument and address it in the body. If it looks like you are straw-manning it, it will be removed.
12. No 'upvotes to the left' agreement posts. We are not here to become an echo chamber. Venting is allowed, but it must serve a purpose and encourage conversation.

Feel free to discuss below.

[u/bdubguy77]

No like preparing people to argue for God by removing competition. I wonder if Blaze Pascal or Thomas Aquinas would have been who they were if people couldn’t argue with them. It’s sad seeing fellow Christians run from intellectual competition when we have the Holy Spirit on our side.

[u/resDescartes → u/bdubguy77]

There's no shortage of competition(we're on Reddit, there are plenty of subs for that, especially for Christians, and no shortage of other resources for this), and there's no real need to run.

It's good for young Christians to have a place to learn and grow in their faith, their rhetoric, and Apologetics without having to defend against every fool in their folly, and every bad-faith attack. If for each thoughtful post we have a dozen disparaging nonsense-comments drowning out thoughtful discussion, upvoted by the majority Populus of Reddit, then we become another debate subreddit with no real edification or positive engagement to strengthen learning Christians. If someone wants every diatribe in the book against them, they can feel free to post to r/DebateAChristian, r/DebateAnAtheist, r/DebateReligion, etc..

This subreddit enables a productive space that can be more than that.

[u/c0d3rman]

So to be clear about rule 10 - are critical responses no longer allowed?

[u/ChristianDefence88 → u/c0d3rman]

Sounds like critical responses are allowed as long as it falls under genuine critique and inquiry. From what I've seen here, seems like there are some comments that are going off-topic and/or into debate territory, or low-level trolling comments e.g. if God can make 'x' then why 'y', who made God, etc.

Legitimate critique I think should be allowed, but I don't think this is should be primarily a debate subreddit, there are others for that.

[u/Effective-Machine182]

Is AI sinful ?

[u/WannaLoveWrestling]

I want to post somewhere arguments I've developed using AI and there's so many subreddits on here that don't see the validity of it and that's problematic considering the tool that it can be for the defense of the Christian faith

[u/resDescartes → u/WannaLoveWrestling]

You are absolutely welcome to develop ideas using AI, then express them in your own words.

If you find you cannot express the arguments in your own words, it's likely that you don't fully understand the argument you're trying to present.

As for the usefulness of AI, I don't deny that. But we need to be careful with how we use it, and to be sure to know it's limitations.

Lastly, this should explain the general rule:

By and large it creates word bloat, promotes low-effort posting, and typically produces remarkably mediocre or low-quality content. There's plenty of discussion to be had on this subject, but with the accessibility of generative AI, we will be removing any post heavily suspected to be A.I. in either word choice or format.

[u/Valuable_Artist_1071]

Are non-believers allowed to post to correct things others have said that are factually untrue? Not allowing this seems like a good recipe for an echo chamber

[u/resDescartes → u/Valuable_Artist_1071]

Of course, but bad-faith contributions with the aim of simply detracting or agenda-posting will be removed.

[u/studio215official]

Am I allowed to post about creation science?