Disappointment in the GiantBomb community.

So this thread has struck yet another blow to my confidence in the level of maturity of the GiantBomb community. 
Admittedly I wasn't expecting much so there's not much left to strike blows at.  
 
I just find the attitude that people respond to anyone be they of a different stated religion or ethnicity or race is just...  saddening.  
 
Its hardly something specific to the GiantBomb community in itself, rather an internet wide issue. I guess it is to be expected considering the combination of anonymity and lack of accountability for your words.  
  
There are so many many examples of people coming onto the forums and expressing a belief or a part of their identity and being met with abuse that is not in any way edifying or constructive. By all means have an opposing viewpoint theres nothing wrong with that. However this guy simply posted that he would like to meet other game players who share a similar world view to him and also enjoy this site.  
 
At the very most a reasonable negative response to that post would have been:  
 
"I don't agree with the community segregating itself by belief systems."  
 
 Thats it. Instead the very mention that the guy is a Christian received a tirade of abuse and snarky comments about his religion.  
 
Seriously? 
 
In any public forum where all our identities were known and we would have to live with the people, or at least in the same community as the people who had posted their feelings we would never respond like that. So perhaps in a way the response that was given in anonymity was the true nature of people? perhaps its a more honest representation of people and the nature of the community that frequents the site? If so its embarrassing, saddening and really shakes my confidence in the human condition. 
 
Now I understand that someone who publicly states their beliefs to others is opening themselves up to criticism of those beliefs, but this guy simply asked if there were any other like minded people who would like to play with him. Probably in the expectation of finding people he could relate to and make friends with.  
 
How the hell does that warrant ANY abuse? 
 
I dont expect much of a positive response to this post. If much of a response at all but I figured I might as well make it anyway.  

I didn't even bother going into that thread.

I always find religion on forums is a no-no same with nationalism, and idealism.

" I didn't even bother going into that thread. "

A small concentrated group of people bullying another in a very specific thread does not in any way represent what Giant Bomb's community are all about. We're good peeps.

Just don't go there then, it's not like your forced to.
There's a lot of things on here I don't agree with either, but in the entire world there's things I don't agree with.
Fuck em, not my problem.
So let it be, no need to get worked up over it.

Well clearly if you specifically mention "Christian" like it's important and then have completely normal games on there, you're asking to be bashed. 
 
You have to think about such stuff when you post, no matter how simple and obvious it is. I just glanced at the OP and well, whatever he got, he deserved it, damn troll.

  Giantbomb  for me is a religion and the forum posters are  the shit.

View my profile I have some good Bible stuff there for you  
and if you don't find it, just ask me about it on my wall.
 
Also this is Jesus so don't forget to follow me.

 I don't think it had anything to do with him being Christian, it was more him saying that he was a Christian in the thread title and then in his post in the rules he listed he said he didn't want to discuss religion. It led to the thread being reduced to "I like these games, does anyone else?" and all people were doing is making note of that and saying how pointless it was to even mention it in the first place.

It wasn't that bad last time i looked. Did it explode?

one and only answer, its the internet who gives a fuck.

I'm kind of on the fence with this. Yes, people said some stupid things, but, at the same time, the thread creator is looking for a specific type of person and then says that his thread is not focused on this subject. I'm sure if someone said that they were looking for fans of first person shooters and then said "This thread is not to have any discussion about first person shooters", they'd get razzed about the same.  

 @InTheEnd said:

" @Chrono_Defying_Ninja said: 

• No Theological debates, this topic is focused on gaming and does not discuss christianity, islam or any other religion or the like.

Really? Then use the other entirety of this fucking site! What's the point in even having this thread? Given your taste of games it doesn't seem Christians gamers are very different. Or are we heathens not good enough for you? "

"   Giantbomb  for me is a religion and the forum posters are  the shit. "

" Just don't go there then, it's not like your forced to. There's a lot of things on here I don't agree with either, but in the entire world there's things I don't agree with. Fuck em, not my problem. So let it be, no need to get worked up over it. "

" Well clearly if you specifically mention "Christian" like it's important and then have completely normal games on there, you're asking to be bashed.  You have to think about such stuff when you post, no matter how simple and obvious it is. I just glanced at the OP and well, whatever he got, he deserved it, damn troll. "

" I'm kind of on the fence with this. Yes, people said some stupid things, but, at the same time, the thread creator is looking for a specific type of person and then says that his thread is not focused on this subject. I'm sure if someone said that they were looking for fans of first person shooters and then said "This thread is not to have any discussion about first person shooters", they'd get razzed about the same.   "

"   Giantbomb  for me is a religion and the forum posters are  the shit. "

I didn't read the whole thread, but from what I saw it was people questioning why someone wants a religious group that has nothing to do with religion...
 
His post was well intentioned but it came off as slightly arrogant.

Asking what the connection was between him being a gamer and religious hardly counts for bullying. In fact, what's the point of stating that to begin with, all it does is split you from the rest of the forum posters by sounding like you can't socialize with people who don't subscribe to Christianity.

There's something very hilarious about proselytizing atheists. They try and show people how evil religion is so they'll stop believing. I wonder how many of them realize what they're doing. 
 
@Manatassi:  
Disappointment with the community is something I've been reading a lot about lately. I've been here for awhile (back when it was just a blog, really) and I can tell you that the asshole percentage is the same per capita. Since there are more users overall, there are more assholes overall, but the percentage (I'd say about 10-15%, still REALLY low for the internet) is still about the same.

" its the internet who gives a fuck. "

"   Giantbomb  for me is a religion and the forum posters are  the shit. "

I'm sorry you lost faith in a community built around video games. Maybe you should look elsewhere for it. You probably will never find it here since the site is, you know, for video games.

" There's something very hilarious about proselytizing atheists. They try and show people how evil religion is so they'll stop believing. I wonder how many of them realize what they're doing. 
 
@Manatassi:  Disappointment with the community is something I've been reading a lot about lately. I've been here for awhile (back when it was just a blog, really) and I can tell you that the asshole percentage is the same per capita. Since there are more users overall, there are more assholes overall, but the percentage (I'd say about 10-15%, still REALLY low for the internet) is still about the same. "

forum    (ˈfɔːrəm)
—  n   ,  pl  -rums  ,  -ra
1.	a  meeting  or  assembly  for  the  open  discussion  of  subjects  of public  interest
2.	a  medium  for  open  discussion,  such  as  a  magazine
3.	a  public  meeting  place  for  open  discussion

You're going to argue about the argument in the other thread? That is some elitist shit. Why not just post in the first thread?

After reading only one page of the thread I share your disappointment. 
 
Giant Bomb has a fairly large community.  The poster was trying to find some people with a similar interest to connect with (since this site has tons of community and social networking hooks and would be a great way to make some gaming friends), and he got jumped on for it. 
 
The similar interest being a religious belief should have been irrelevant.  Had the thread been titled "Game Developers on Giant Bomb" or "Martial Artists on Giant Bomb" or anything else, the thread probably would have remained positive.

@Sin4profit:
Yeah, because the hundreds of posters responding to his post were people standing up for religious, racial, gender and political unity.     

guess Ill just go ahead and be the dick here. Fuck Christians.       
 
I feel the love from that one especially.

" After reading only one page of the thread I share your disappointment.  Giant Bomb has a fairly large community.  The poster was trying to find some people with a similar interest to connect with (since this site has tons of community and social networking hooks and would be a great way to make some gaming friends), and he got jumped on for it.  The similar interest being a religious belief should have been irrelevant.  Had the thread been titled "Game Developers on Giant Bomb" or "Martial Artists on Giant Bomb" or anything else, the thread probably would have remained positive. "

I don't think the issue was him being religious at all, i can't speak for anybody else but that's certainly not why i responded to the thread. I know there were people posting stuff like "Fuck Christians" which i most certainly do not agree with. I'm just saying that i would have said the same exact thing if he was asking for "White" gamers, or any other kind of group. I didn't understand how Christian gamers were any different from Atheist gamers or Budhist gamers or Muslim gamers, which is why it felt to me like he was the one who didn't have an open mind about interacting with different kinds of people. And the second thing was that he brought up religion as the main point of his post, but then turns around and says that he does not want to talk about  religion. Which was odd, both to me and a number of other posters. Some of whom, i agree, could have been a lot more respectful about it.

@FlyingRat:  Honestly, I think he was just looking for people with a similar background or just some common ground with.  That's also why he mentioned not talking about religion.  Even saying Christian can be a very broad term and once you get too far into specifics it can be divisive among people who consider themselves a part of that larger group.

Giantbomb is between stupid and half stupid.
Edit: sorry.. "Most users.. are"

" @cap123 said:

" I didn't even bother going into that thread. "

Same here. "

" You're going to argue about the argument in the other thread? That is some elitist shit. Why not just post in the first thread? "

" @Manatassi:  im not exactly a Christian, yet... But i believe in God and go to church every week.   ooo i really like GTA too... sorry  wrong thread :) "

I'm plenty mature OP now here's a sexy song for you

So, this thread has basically devolved into having the same argument that the original religious thread went to crap for? 
 
Wonderful.  >.>

Mommy!  Daddy!  No!