I'm biased of course, but I think Mi Yodeya does well here. Yes there is controversial stuff in the bible and in Jewish law. We strive to treat issues with sensitivity while still acknowledging what it says. We also have a firm rule against questions seeking personal advice on matters of Jewish law, which heads off some questions that would end up being flame-bait.
In general I find that discussions on topics that involve a variety of strong opinions work better if the discussion is depersonalized -- neutral, descriptive, even clinical language reduces the strong emotional reactions. This is an area where BH failed during my time there; evangelists hate neutral, descriptive language and are all about stirring up emotional responses, and to make things worse, they seem to think that source citations get in the way. Since they believe they are literally on a mission from God to save souls, I understand why they behave that way -- but it's *really* out of place if the *other* people are there to have a more neutral discussion.
By the way, if you see bigotry or hateful comments on any Stack Exchange site, please flag them! Comments in particular can fly under the radar; moderators don't see most of them. If there's something that needs attention, please point it out.
Is it a modern miracle that this site is allowed to exist in this form on the StackExchange network?
I don't think the Source of miracles is involved in the sites at that level. I think the user communities have to bear the responsibility.
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Date: 2019-09-08 09:38 pm (UTC)In general I find that discussions on topics that involve a variety of strong opinions work better if the discussion is depersonalized -- neutral, descriptive, even clinical language reduces the strong emotional reactions. This is an area where BH failed during my time there; evangelists hate neutral, descriptive language and are all about stirring up emotional responses, and to make things worse, they seem to think that source citations get in the way. Since they believe they are literally on a mission from God to save souls, I understand why they behave that way -- but it's *really* out of place if the *other* people are there to have a more neutral discussion.
By the way, if you see bigotry or hateful comments on any Stack Exchange site, please flag them! Comments in particular can fly under the radar; moderators don't see most of them. If there's something that needs attention, please point it out.
Is it a modern miracle that this site is allowed to exist in this form on the StackExchange network?
I don't think the Source of miracles is involved in the sites at that level. I think the user communities have to bear the responsibility.