I don't even know if I should answer in full because I don't know how much you understand
me not just the words on the screen. (Which is the whole point, spirit over words not words over spirit) You can skip down. I tried to summarize it.
In the beginning, I was focusing on your belief and cultural appropriation. I didn't think you understood how it is insulting other religious that their religions are redefined, made new, or reconciled (however everyone named it) to fit a good goal without everyone else's agreement in the matter.
Many cultures work well with passive agreements. American and other cultures similar to us, passivity leads to vagueness. So we ask more questions (and more and more as you see on other threads) because we come from so many places, it's hard to understand people unless they
invest time in understanding by thinking outside their own box.
I said don't quote because you don't have commentary to what you quote and it takes up most of the post.
If you want to quote, you have to make a point or theme first in your own words so we know what to look for
and relate it to whatever you are commenting on so we know a. what we said and b. your position and how you address it. It's a conversational method nothing moral.
1. If you want to make a point, let us know
a. what questions and/or comments of ours you want to comment on.
b. Refer to those when making your comments so we know you read our posts instead of having to backtrack.
c. if you want to quote from your scripture, give us a heads up what the point behind it is and/or wrap it up in your own words after you quote it.
This seems only to be a Bahai thing when it comes to not being able to tell others where you stand on a position. The rest could be age, cultural conflicts, a number of things. But online, there needs to be more communication. The "debate forum" title is no excuse for not being able to communicate fairly and it took over two or three thousand posts just to even get this far in showing your emotions.
I honestly can't think of another way to phrase it. We bring up the issues as they pop up. After awhile, I can't tell if you understand
me or just looking at the words as if the words describe who I am rather than the expression of those words by back and forth conversation.
THat's what I mean by being open. But that can't happen unless there is time invested in learning. Debating is fine but the point wasn't to tell you you are wrong. It's my opinion that you are. My issue is how you voice putting other people's religions into your own and interpreting them through Bahai eyes and still calling it Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity (etc).
I mean, we were going back and forth with quoting suttas and I have yet to see how Bahaullah and God of Abraham have anything to do with them. I know you can quote that Bahaullah says X but does he give reasoning behind it? For example, instead of just saying two and two is four, does he actually give a logical (and non-vague) example(s) of how god of abraham is in buddhism?
That, alone, I'm curious about. That, among other things, has not been answered.
I know this is a smorgasbord of points.
1. Passive Disagreements in some countries like America sound more avoidance of something. It's a way to hide what one feels, or in other countries, it is respectful to not say how what one feels while other countries find it disrespectful unless you talk to them directly. Cultural differences.
2. Open-mindedness means looking outside your box. If you see god of abraham and bahaullah in the suttas, explain that from a Buddhist point of view. Remember, Buddhism isn't a sacred-book religion. So you can't reply on the suttas as an authority of the Dharma. You have to use a different approach.
3. If you want to quote, tell us your point, what question/comment of ours your quote refers to, and if nothing else, wrap up the quote in your own words. It's not specifically me. It's just in general on all RF topics, most religious and non-religious have a post-method-style.
Another reason is, I can't learn about your belief through Bahaullah. He isn't alive.