is there a demand for a "liberal Christian" community ?

I'm pondering a community idea, partially for my own benefit. I'm one of those Christians who is on the "borderline" between not believing at all and believing. I definitely believe in God but not in a fundamentalist-type way.

At any rate, I'm NOT trying to start a debate here between Christians and non. If you don't believe, that's fine with me. I'm trying to gauge interest in starting a sim devoted to other people like me. I'm very reluctant to spend money and time when all it will do is cause me grief.

Once again, this is about a LIBERAL Christian community, NOT a fundamentalist "Holy Bible is perfect" community. What do you think ?

There does seem a fair amount of interest in Christian things. SO I bet it would have potential.


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Ill be surprised if this doesn't turn into a flame war though.

My guess is it will start like this ---> Conan comes on and says God is a Myth.

Steve, I've seen some fundamentalist Christian churches that seem to be thriving. I'm Unitarian, which is very liberal and it's doing very well. Given that I can't see why there would not be enough support somewhere in the middle for a liberal Christian community.

No one person has to take something like this on and you don't have to have one place thats specifically designated as a meeting place or a church. Start out small and grow from there. That's how it usually works in RL.

Hey Steve.
Well there is few other groups. Metaphysical groups, Wiccans, Buddhist and then my friends we aren't religious in Christian sense. I heard rumor their was a Unitarian(spelling might be off sorry) Group they tend to be liberal and open minded.
There was when I was new this group that got together and did a group mediation but they were more into metaphysics.

Have you tried starting with a group 1st, and from there, if there is interest, build something bigger?

*edit: a bit simplistic, I suppose. Sorry

Doesn't sound simplistic to me. Sounds like the perfect place to start. Might even want to see if any are out there. I wouldn't be surprised if some had been started but nothing happened with them and you've already got a list of interested people to begin with.

I think theres room for anything in Second life. The only difficulty is getting people to know you exist and then joining your group and coming to meetings etc. Theres no harm in trying. You can always sell if it doesnt work out.

I identify as a liberal Christian and I am somewhat interested in connection with like minded people in SL. I am very involved with a real life church (Methodist) which is quite liberal and political.

Not sure how much I need a similar SL community as I spend most of my SL time making things or sightseeing and I am not very social. Still I'd join a group if you started one and I'd be interested in events.

No, perfect. The Forum Cartel started with 6 people on my back porch. Now look at it

Uhm, it's still a good idea I think.

Steve, if you start a sim with this "covenant" and advertise it as such, how do you ensure that people who buy there are not borderline in some way or other? For this reason, I would think that slowly building a Group, quietly and mostly by invitation, would be the best approach. Then the sim could be built for whatever subset of that group actually wants to live together.

I'm not at all religious (unless my in-world philosophy of Egotherapy counts as a religion LOL)

I suppose if your group is not fundamentalist or evangelical, especially if it has its own sim, then it's OK.

Even fundamentalists and evangelical would be okay in my book ..

long as they don't actively harass / annoy other residents. Just like any resident, really.

A group that goes out and spoils parties in strip clubs because "they are heathens" would be bad.

A group that quietly passes out a flyer in a public area .. no biggie.

This is a very timely post. IM me in-world and I'll see about putting you in touch with an avatar exploring the creation of a community and possibly an island through a RL institution.

Just as long as they don't ring my doorbell on Saturday Mornings

I'm baffled by this thread. There already is a Liberal Christians group in Second Life - I'm a member of it !

Brenda I'm sure you would be welcome, give me an IM when SL finally let me login (next month the way today's problems are going

Oh, thanks but no. I wasn't looking to join such a group. Sorry if that was what it looked like.

liberal christians?

i just gotta know, wut is that?

I think I'm an even rarer breed around here....I'm a liberal Muslim....

according to the news you don't exist then

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Which is funny because every Muslim I ever met except ONE was a fairly liberal Muslim.

/me hires a bodyguard for Alyx in hopes that she'll live ... and breed ...

Stop playing this game and go make more of you!

Steve,

[/me waives at Steve, how are ya?]

I'm rather like you on this one. I was raised catholic but have the same ambivalency you're describing. I could be interested in such venue, depending on the activities. I've long given up on long winded religious discussions, where nobody's ever convinced me of their views (hard headed French gal here LOL). I have never seen the point in such discussions.

I think the type of activities and the "host" style would be crucial in my decision to attend or not. The other major factor is the time, some of us have rather full second lives.

Before investing in more land, this could be tested at any number of existing venues, or even a Linden location.

Even worse, I'm a liberal CONVERT. According to most newspapers, converts invariably end up as fundamentalists and terrorists and generally holier than thou pains in the behind....


Suffice it to say, I don't get along with a lot of converts. Or fundamentalists. But I get along just fine with my friends in Egypt.


@Nika: Um, can that be done without me having to, erm, have children?
Bodyguard? Don't need one, I might be liberal/progressive, but I do have teeth.

Religious people who attend church services and both believe the Bible to be true in spirit though not always in literal fact, and also adopt what are these days considered "liberal" social and political views, which may include such Christianity-compatible notions as pacifism ("Peace On Earth", redistribution of wealth (tithing; "Give all that you have to the poor and follow Me", and embracing of some or many of the liberal causes and positions du jour (such folks were quite active in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s). Sometimes they can even be jarringly Marxist in their views ("It is easier for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle than to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.". There are quite a lot of them.

[Sigh.] Secular ideological liberals can be so narrow-minded, bigoted and ignorant about the world around them sometimes. And so intellectually stunted by being severed from their roots in Western Christian civilization. But you shouldn't really blame them; it's how they're brought up, poor things.

; )

And *sigh*. The question you were answering contained no slam to Christians; I see no call to take a cheap shot at secularists. Many secularists are well educated in comparative religions. Stop by an SL Humanists meeting some Sunday and have a chat; they're good people.

Oh, I know. I was just teasing 3D for not knowing what liberal Christians were. Poor fella.