Assalaamu alaikum,
I've been reading the discussion to date. I feel a little conflict of interest, because if this section is opened, then I suspect that moderators will have more work to do. (smile) And I ask myself, if I think it's a good idea to open this section, would I be willing to put extra time in?!
Could it be a good idea to share understandings of different people's positions? Yes, I think so. Not really for direct daw'ah purposes, but because it is important to understand one another better 1) So we can respect and get along better with one another, but also because 2) when a Muslim tries to call someone to Islam, it is very important for the Muslim to understand the other person's fundamental assumptions.
I've often heard Muslims and others talking to one another, each thinking that they made perfect sense, but actually, they were not truly communicating. Because of the assumptions we make about another person and their fundamental understandings, we often do not convey what we think we are conveying. What the other hears is something very different from what we intended.
Daw'ah is not easy. You can't just broadcast what you think is right. You have to have deep understanding of where the other person is coming from. And how can you do this, if you have not sincerely listened to the other person?
Of course, I agree that there are armchair proselytizers, people who wish to bait Muslims for fun, people who like to argue to fill their lives with some sort of empty victories, and suchlike. And such people can be rather tiresome (literally!). (mildly) Though even these people are human beings. And, I think, need to be treated one by one. However, more importantly, there are other people who are sincerely trying to discuss in order to understand. Or to be understood. And are these not people that we should interact with? For their sake. And for ours (for how enriching it can be to have one's thoughts challenged, and how motivating to try to learn and understand Islam better).
(sigh) However, there are human limits to how much a Forum can absorb.
(pensively) What about a sort of quota? That is, a certain number of posts per time frame in the comparative religion section?
And what about if the comparative section not be used to try to triumph over another person, but be about trying to understand another person? We could say: we're not here to debate you, but to understand you. We could ask the posters questions. Then summarize and say : is this what you believe? And then, perhaps, we can say what we believe. Not in order to crush them. But in order to help them understand us better. It could also help those Muslims who do not know their faith well to learn, also. (sigh) It is astonishing how many Christian beliefs I have found expressed by Muslims, who actually thought those beliefs were Islamic.
This format may sound strange to you, but it is what we do in my local community. I am part of a Muslim-Christian dialogue committee. We share. We try to understand. We do conferences so that our respective views can be better understood by the other. (smile) For instance, when we had a conference about the views of Maryam (Mary) (May God Bless her) in Islam and in Catholicism, there were no mass conversions! But I think we came to understand that one another's positions had similarities and differences, and we realized that the views were much more thoughtful and developed than we thought they were.
This increased understanding helps us to feel more at ease with one another. It has been lowering some barriers. (smile) And when barriers are lowered, we can not only live together better, and do good works together, but we can touch hearts.
So in summary:
1) Perhaps we could limit the discussions to what we can deal with, perhaps freezing the section if we get overloaded, until we have time again? We could perhaps also put a limit to the length of a post. Or insist that one point be discussed at a time (some people like to throw everything and the kitchen sink at you in one go).
2) Perhaps we could encourage people of other beliefs to try to explain their beliefs to us. Then ask them questions to try to understand better, then summarize. Then explain (without denigrating the other's beliefs or looking to triumph) what our own understandings are, from an Islamic perspective. No debate. Just a sharing of views in a respectful manner.
For example: OP: I believe that Jesus was the son of God.
Question: What does that mean to you? Do you believe that God had a child?
Next: the original poster would explain his/her position.
We could ask as many questions as we liked, till we felt we could summarize the poster's position.
Then we could say: The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was a Prophet of God.
(smile) This is, of course, a simplification. But I think it could be a way of dealing with the issue in a way that is low-conflict, respectful, and teaches about the Islamic position.
(smile) So these are my thoughts to add to the pot.
May Allah, the Repeatedly Forgiving, have Mercy on us, and Guide us to doing what is best Pleasing to Him.