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Religion and caching?


Dan2099

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Just a friendly topic for debate:

I DO NOT PLAN ON CREATING ONE

 

 

Would you hunt a cache dedicated to Jesus or another religious icon....the cache itself would not have any material soliciting you to go to church but perhaps scripture of some other religious writing.

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Where would this hypothetical cache be hidden? That's my determining factor. I would not hunt it in an urban area, but hide it near a view, or a waterfall, or down a nice trail in the woods, and I would go for it. I generally don't have a cache page with me when I go, just a waypoint on my GPS. I wouldn't have any proper swag to trade though and they might get a trinket or no trade at all.

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In fact I did hunt such a cache. It was outside a church and filled with pamphlets that supported a fundamentalist view of Christianity. The cache page supported that view. I'm n/ot sure if it was a particularly liberal reviewer who let it through or it was changed after the fact. After I found it, over the next few days I collected pamphlets related to Catholicism, Mormonism, Islam, Judaism and even the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and returned to the cache to swap in some of my swag.

 

It's a moot point however because such a cache is unlikely to make it through the review process as caches are not allowed to promote an agenda.

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as caches are not allowed to promote an agenda.

Religion and agendas related to it are expressed very heavily all over the place. For the most part, earth-caches push a strong agenda of evolution, age of the earth (its only 6,000 years old, not millions or billions), and other false agendas.

 

So even with everyone's "anti-agenda" stance that they want to believe they are supporting, they are indeed pushing an agenda.

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as caches are not allowed to promote an agenda.

Religion and agendas related to it are expressed very heavily all over the place. For the most part, earth-caches push a strong agenda of evolution, age of the earth (its only 6,000 years old, not millions or billions), and other false agendas.

 

So even with everyone's "anti-agenda" stance that they want to believe they are supporting, they are indeed pushing an agenda.

 

Wait a minute. Then how do you explain the lameest of the lame, the LPC of earthcaches, "here's a glacial eratic"? :laughing: I agree with Snat, the whole things a moot point here, since caches with Agenda's are prohibited. I'm sure that won't stop the thread from getting heated, and going on forever though. :blink:

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After I found it, over the next few days I collected pamphlets related to Catholicism, Mormonism, Islam, Judaism and even the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and returned to the cache to swap in some of my swag.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

... I'm sure that won't stop the thread from getting heated, and going on forever though. :blink:

 

Oh heck. More global warming. Rising sea levels.

 

MrsB goes to find the sand bags... <_<

As any devotee of the Flying Spaghetti Monster will tell you global warming is a direct result of the decline in the number of Pirates

 

Here's indisputable proof:

 

w1467103173.jpg

 

Better get along to PirateMania, and encourage them to start breeding :ph34r:

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It depends on how it's done to determine if it has an "agenda".

 

Caches which inform without obviously promoting an agenda generally get published. So a cache about Jesus which says something like "according to the Christian religions as described in the New Testament..." and then describes some bible story should be OK.

 

But I think such a cache would get reviewed carefully, and if there is any hint of an agenda it may not get published.

 

There is a fine line with respect to agenda. Many people create caches themed on things/people they like. One could say all those caches have some "agenda" - to share something about that thing/person with others. But as long as you stick to facts you should be OK. (I'm not stating that religions are proven in "fact"... but if you are factually describing the basis of a religion it should be OK.

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Agendas are not allowed. Religion is an agenda item.

Some things may be borderline, but religion, politics, sex, and a few others are pretty clear. It would not get published.

 

When people.show existing caches as evidence.that it would fly, you run into the guideline that states no cache can be published just because there's another one out there. Other caches have been grandfathered in, and some cache pages have been changed after the fact.

I would report one with a recent publish date.

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Agendas are not allowed. Religion is an agenda item.

Some things may be borderline, but religion, politics, sex, and a few others are pretty clear. It would not get published.

 

While I agree religious messages are often associated with an agenda (and why I think it would be reviewed very carefully), I think an agenda is more about how it is presented than the topic itself. I think it could be possible to create a cache about Jesus and pass the agenda test.

 

Same with politics. It is possible to create a cache about a politician without an agenda.

 

On the other hand, it is also possible to create a cache with an agenda out of a "non-controversial" topic - simply by encouraging someone to do something (e.g. donate to a charity).

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We have a shrine (including the remains) to a saint here in my town. There is a cache in the shrine, very close to the guestbook. It's there to get people in the shrine, which is quite lovely. I see no problem with it - or any other caches placed on church sites.

 

I've been to a few caches located at pretty churches and like sites. I think the difference between that and the way the original post was presenting the option is that it was no longer putting it at a religious site but rather doing a cache in honor of a specific deity or religion. I was at a cache at a monastary. I got some of the history of a person there. But I didn't get a dose of Catholocism while I was at the cache. Other than the historical stuff it was a very religion neutral cache and the historical stuff was only mentioned in passing (ie: This is a Catholic Monostary and Brother so and so liked to sit here and watch birds).

 

I have no problems with those caches but I would have a problem with a cache designed specifically to proselytize.

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I'd be more likely to get offended by a routine cache hidden in a trash pile or near a dumpster (especially in this heat) than one with religious tones and tomes. And unlike Brian, I am always prepared to trade fairly up with one of my NC Sweet Potato tracts.

Edited by wimseyguy
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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

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Just a friendly topic for debate:

I DO NOT PLAN ON CREATING ONE

 

 

Would you hunt a cache dedicated to Jesus or another religious icon....the cache itself would not have any material soliciting you to go to church but perhaps scripture of some other religious writing.

 

I'd be happy to find a cache at a religious place. Church, Synagog, Temple, whatever. Tell me the history of the site but please, keep your scriptures to yourself. You don't save my soul and I won't save yours.

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

Not really, it should be written without any form of opinion.

Edited by SwineFlew
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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

I am a Canadian, Obama is as much my president as Jesus is my lord. I do agree that sweet potatoes are great and should have caches dedicated to them.

 

I would also probably find a Jesus Cache.

 

Shaun

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Would you hunt a cache dedicated to Jesus or another religious icon....the cache itself would not have any material soliciting you to go to church but perhaps scripture of some other religious writing.

 

I think religious material - even of a purely "educational" nature - should stay out of caches. Cache pages are fine with such information, so long as they don't promote an agenda. I would have no problem finding such a cache; if anything I might make a point of finding the cache since I usually treat a cache's theme as a writing prompt in my log.

 

Check out the Coexist series in Florida's ONF for an example of caches discussing religious-related topics without promoting an agenda:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=f3aa7eb3-021b-4d35-b318-dfaef9c69491

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

No. Varies from region to region, State to State, and Country to Country. But hopefully your reviewer runs it by the top-secret hidden to most of us, reviewer only forum, and gets somewhat of a consensus. That's in the rare occasions when they actually read the body of the text on the cache page.

 

Whoops, did I actually say that out loud? :ph34r: :ph34r:

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

One time I worked really hard to find an Obama cache and when I did I was penalized/taxed 30 smileys and those smileys were distributed among the arm chair cachers of the U.S.

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

One time I worked really hard to find an Obama cache and when I did I was penalized/taxed 30 smileys and those smileys were distributed among the arm chair cachers of the U.S.

Think about how the PMs feel. :laughing:
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No. Varies from region to region, State to State, and Country to Country. But hopefully your reviewer runs it by the top-secret hidden to most of us, reviewer only forum, and gets somewhat of a consensus. That's in the rare occasions when they actually read the body of the text on the cache page.

 

 

I certainly hope there is a top secret reviewer only forum - and one for moderators too - because they deserve a place to vent for all that we put them through! :lol:

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No I am in agreement with the current policy against ads, politics etc. Geocaching is a game which should not be agenda driven. Having said that there is a cacher in our area who likes to leave tracts in his caches. The rest of us really do not care. His or Her caches are very handy for streak and 366 challenges because they are mostly GR and are accessible on those days when you just need a cache and are not up for walking or simply do not have the time to find something else.

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

One time I worked really hard to find an Obama cache and when I did I was penalized/taxed 30 smileys and those smileys were distributed among the arm chair cachers of the U.S.

 

Now that is really funny!

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Would you hunt a cache dedicated to Jesus or another religious icon....the cache itself would not have any material soliciting you to go to church but perhaps scripture of some other religious writing.

 

I think religious material - even of a purely "educational" nature - should stay out of caches. Cache pages are fine with such information, so long as they don't promote an agenda. I would have no problem finding such a cache; if anything I might make a point of finding the cache since I usually treat a cache's theme as a writing prompt in my log.

 

Check out the Coexist series in Florida's ONF for an example of caches discussing religious-related topics without promoting an agenda:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=f3aa7eb3-021b-4d35-b318-dfaef9c69491

 

What happened to that guy? I mean the guy who really placed those caches, a well-known forum poster?

 

Well, I suppose. But the first thing that jumped out at me was in the first sentence or two of every cache page, the subjects are referred to as "various mythological deities." This of course implies the are imaginary, and not real.

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Would you hunt a cache dedicated to Jesus or another religious icon....the cache itself would not have any material soliciting you to go to church but perhaps scripture of some other religious writing.

 

I think religious material - even of a purely "educational" nature - should stay out of caches. Cache pages are fine with such information, so long as they don't promote an agenda. I would have no problem finding such a cache; if anything I might make a point of finding the cache since I usually treat a cache's theme as a writing prompt in my log.

 

Check out the Coexist series in Florida's ONF for an example of caches discussing religious-related topics without promoting an agenda:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=f3aa7eb3-021b-4d35-b318-dfaef9c69491

 

What happened to that guy? I mean the guy who really placed those caches, a well-known forum poster?

 

Well, I suppose. But the first thing that jumped out at me was in the first sentence or two of every cache page, the subjects are referred to as "various mythological deities." This of course implies the are imaginary, and not real.

 

Which is itself putting forth an agenda.

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I wonder if Jesus would hide a leaky cache which contained rolled up Chick tracts and food items in a pipe bomb looking container in a Wally world strip mall / adult bookstore parking lot? :D

 

Who knows what he would do he hides his caches in mysterious ways.

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Close. If I were reviewing those pages this is what I'd want to see.

 

I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

 

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to Jesus. He is considered by adherents of Christianity to be the son of their god and the savior of mankind.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

NOT OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

 

Do I have it right?

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I wonder if Jesus would hide a leaky cache which contained rolled up Chick tracts and food items in a pipe bomb looking container in a Wally world strip mall / adult bookstore parking lot? :D

 

All I know is that he'd make a lousy reviewer. He'd expect all paddle caches to be rated 1 star terrain.

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Check out the Coexist series in Florida's ONF for an example of caches discussing religious-related topics without promoting an agenda:

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=f3aa7eb3-021b-4d35-b318-dfaef9c69491

 

What happened to that guy? I mean the guy who really placed those caches, a well-known forum poster?

 

Well, I suppose. But the first thing that jumped out at me was in the first sentence or two of every cache page, the subjects are referred to as "various mythological deities." This of course implies the are imaginary, and not real.

Not really. The meaning of "myth" has changed over the years, but originally it referred to traditional stories involving some kind of deity or supernatural being, usually believed by the culture to be true, but not necessarily. Merriam-Webster.com defines Myth as

 

a : a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon b : parable, allegory

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I thought that the determining factor about "agenda" issues was when the description asks the seeker to "do" something, ie: donate, thank, praise, get involved, etc...

 

Examples:

 

NC Sweet Potato Cache

OKAY: We love sweet potatoes, especially from NC. Lots of luck finding this sweet potato shaped cache!

NOT OKAY: Sweet Potatoes are rich in Vitamin Whatever. You should eat two sweet potatoes every day and buy them from the NC Sweet Potato farm.

 

OBAMA Cache

OKAY: Barack Obama is the current president of the United States and we placed this cache as a tribute to him. What a great guy!

NOT OKAY: Vote for Obama in the next election!

 

JESUS Cache

OKAY: This cache is dedicated to the Lord Our God, maker of wine and bread, healer of the lame.

NOT OKAY: Please attend our Sunday service. Make sure you say your prayers every night. Don't sin or you are in big trouble.

 

Do I have it right?

 

One time I worked really hard to find an Obama cache and when I did I was penalized/taxed 30 smileys and those smileys were distributed among the arm chair cachers of the U.S.

Look on the bright side. Those with the most smilies will now have to pitch in and maintain our caches for us. Something I am looking forward to since I can no longer afford to duck tape my Gladware containers anymore. :lol:

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So far, I haven't yet seen any religious material in any caches. The only cache I've seen around these parts that dealt with religion at all is a puzzle that was just published today. It uses information from the bible, but certainly doesn't push any agenda. I've solved it, and I'll have no problem going out and finding it.

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It's a moot point however because such a cache is unlikely to make it through the review process as caches are not allowed to promote an agenda.

 

I do not think that such a cache necessarily promotes an agenda. I could well imagine dedicating a puzzle cache to Hinduism even though I'm not a Hindu and certainly

do not want to convince anyone to become a Hindu.

 

It cannot be excepted that it is viewed as perfectly ok to develop a cache around a football star, a famous actor, a TV soap, a comic series etc and it is not allowed to deal

with religious topics. Personally, I find it much more interesting to learn more about a religion not well known to me than to learn about soaps that I would not even watch if I got payed for it.

 

What's the essential generic difference between e.g. using the Bible for a cache and using some novel of say Paul Auster? Actually, I believe there is none which is generic in nature. Of course the Bible might be better suited to push forward an agenda than an arbitrary novel authored by Auster, but this does not imply that a cache based on the Bible necessarily comes along with an agenda.

 

 

Cezanne

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If there's a logbook in there for me to sign I don't care what's on the listing or inside the container.

I'm right there with you. When I open a cache, I find the log book and sign it. I very rarely even look at the other contents of the cache. I do carry some swag to trade, but hardly ever do it. It became so rare that I'd find anything I was interested in taking, that I simply quit looking.

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I think religion and politics should both be kept as far away from Geocaching as possible, but I'm not going on a crusade about it, either. ;)

 

But tell me why a cache series of say 100 puzzle caches each of which requires answering questions with a biblical background is any worse than a series

of 100 puzzle caches asking questions about formula 1 car racing. I am bored to death by the latter (which really exists and comprises more than 100 caches).

 

I agree that religious and political agendas should be kept out of geocaching as far as possible (even that is not always possible), but why deal with religion and politics as a generic topic any differently than with topics like car racing, comics, TV soaps, medieval history etc?

 

Cezanne

Edited by cezanne
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I agree that religious and political agendas should be kept out of geocaching as far as possible (even that is not always possible), but why deal with religion and politics as a generic topic any differently than with topics like car racing, comics, TV soaps, medieval history etc?

Topics like religion and politics tend to be controversial, or at least have the potential to become controversial. The others you listed, not so much. When was the last time you heard of a group protesting a TV soap, or one nation attacking another over a Formula 1 race?

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I wonder if Jesus would hide a leaky cache which contained rolled up Chick tracts and food items in a pipe bomb looking container in a Wally world strip mall / adult bookstore parking lot? :D

 

All I know is that he'd make a lousy reviewer. He'd expect all paddle caches to be rated 1 star terrain.

 

I'll probably get struck by lightning later on today for saying it, but that's funny right there :)

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I agree that religious and political agendas should be kept out of geocaching as far as possible (even that is not always possible), but why deal with religion and politics as a generic topic any differently than with topics like car racing, comics, TV soaps, medieval history etc?

Topics like religion and politics tend to be controversial, or at least have the potential to become controversial. The others you listed, not so much. When was the last time you heard of a group protesting a TV soap, or one nation attacking another over a Formula 1 race?

 

First, I do not think that religion and politics are controversial in themselves. Second, think for example of soccer - at least in Europe I am aware of many riots, many injured people, even dead people due to unfortunate happenings in connection with soccer games. I used the Formula 1 example just because a series of that type exists in my caching area.

If people attack each other or are of different opinion, it is neither due to questions like "In which year Mr X became world champion in .... " nor due to questions like "In which gospel you find the following statement .....". None of the two questions transports along an agenda.

 

BTW: I need to admit that all my caches have an agenda in some way: I want to lead people to places that I regard as interesting and/or beautiful.

 

 

Cezanne

Edited by cezanne
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