Some time back I faced something of an ethical dilemma in my capacity as manager of the Ex-Christian Webring. Without going into specifics, I had an applicant for the ring who had left the fold for another faith which has a bad reputation as being cult-like. (I won't even mention the name of this religion for fear of litigation.)
What I knew and understood of this religion left me with no interest in learning more. And now here I was being asked to add this site, which promoted a religion with which I could not agree, to the ring I manage.
Ultimately, I added the site. What basis would I have had to do otherwise? The site offered an alternative to Christianity, which is the sole requirement for membership in the Ex-Christian Ring. The fact that I might personally disagree with the tenets and tactics of this alternative is immaterial.
It's an Ex-Christian Ring. Not a Sites Endorsed By Jason R. Tippitt Ring. As a Unitarian Universalist, I belong to a religion that considers all persons worthy, no matter what his/her beliefs on God/dess or the lack thereof. As long as a person's heart is set on helping one's fellow human beings, my religion affirms that choice, no matter what religious trappings may veil it.
Do I agree with all religions? No. In fact, you can wipe out most major religions right off the bat because I'm an atheist; very few religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Unitarian Universalism, the Church of Satan, some branches of Hinduism, and perhaps Scientology) list the word "optional" out by the box marked "deity."
But I respect anyone's right to choose his or her own beliefs. I may not respect some practices -- anything that infringes one iota on anyone else -- but I at least acknowledge that the person is still a living, breathing human being. And although this applicant's religion was one I have a bad impression of, I respect the site owner's right to adhere to his or her chosen faith.
Yes, I added this site. And one day I might receive an application from, say, a militant Muslim who's deconverted from Christianity and believes that the practitioners of all other religions are infidels. As long as the site presents arguments, not insults, I would feel honor-bound to accept it into the ring.
There are many Christian sites which will not acknowledge points of view which differ from the official party line. The newsletter of the Internet Infidels occasionally makes reference to cases in which the Secular Web posts a rebuttal to, say, a book on apologetics, and links to the apologetics' publisher's site. But the publisher will not give a reciprocal link. That's business, but it also smacks of brainwashing.
I take the middle road. The sole criteria for acceptance into this ring is that the owner of a given site be an ex-Christian. Although I discourage having this turn into Son of the Blasphemy Ring, I've yet to reject a single applicant. (I have booted some out for not having their ring fragment visible, and failing to add it after being given plenty of advance notice. But I haven't turned anyone away outright due to content.) And I don't wish to start.
Of course, if some well-meaning Christians were to come along and try to join the ring, I would have to say no. They would do the same at their rings if a well-meaning Temple of Set member came a-knocking. There is such a thing as sacred space, even for those of us who are thoroughly secular, and I won't have static created like that.
But the one thing I do believe in is intellectual and spiritual freedom. That's why this site runs the gamut from atheist to Jew to Pagan to Unitarian Universalist, and I know I left a few out. The religious affiliation of this ring is ABC (Anything But Christianity), and some of the UUs probably even have a little bit of that left in them. But not enough to be the sort we cringe at. The political philosophies range, I daresay, from reactionary to communist, and the worldviews from nihilistic to downright touchy-feely.
Despite our differences, we all have something in common; we have all shed a religion that, at least for us, was not a proper fit. So be it.


God Is Dead -- Now What?