luvinthemountains
Chumono
Since I always mention how blessed I am, for my online bonsai circle...and give God credit for every tree that hits my bench.
I really hope that you have misunderstood. Nothing that I have seen on this site leads me to believe that people of any persuasion are unwelcome, and I believe that my perception is generally accurate (albeit with some rare but glaring exceptions).
To relate some of my own experience, I came from a seriously devout Christian family, all of whom struggled deeply when I took another path. It was very hurtful to me when they took the tack of implying that I was a disappointment or somehow otherwise "less than." Expressions of condescension and judgment were common, and my relationships with my family seriously declined. We confronted the problem eventually, and when they started to recognize and correct their antagonism our relationship began to heal. Quite honestly, I myself had also become antagonistic to their faith as a defense mechanism, and I had to learn to cut that out as well. It has now been years since we went through that difficult decade, and we have learned how to be tolerant of each other. My parents talk often of being blessed, and of the role of their faith in their lives, and it no longer triggers me because they are respectful of the validity of my chosen path. Conversely, my family has been far more receptive in recent years when I bring up humanistic philosophical concepts. It is really nice, I have to say.
If I can boil it down, we are able to be open about our ideologies without conflict erupting because we recognize the boundaries of not insisting the other think and act like us, and of not resenting them because they nevertheless do not. For the most part, I see interactions on these forums following that pattern as well. If you have ever felt unwelcome or unsafe because of your off-topic views, I hope you can find commonality with members here who hold opposite views and have sometimes felt the same, and agree with me that we can all do better, always. But as for me, Darlene, I promise you that you can be as open as you like about your beliefs, and I will not ostracize you for it. That is only you holding to your own integrity while allowing the integrity of others. And honestly, gratitude is hardly ever a bad thing.