THE THING IS . . .

@ossobuco,

excellent observations osso.

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Ever see a tree that just grows straight up, like a telephone pole? I aint. It wouldn't be much to look at if I did. The ones I see all have many branches. Then there are branches growin offa them branches, then branches growin offa them, then stems, leaves and all.

And, if ya look, there's all kinda birds, insects and other things crawlin around on them, often eating each other alive, ya know?

X starts a thread. Y comes along and attempts to address the thread-maker's topic. In the process he makes some very dubious arguments, and he get's questioned about the validity of his (supporting) claims. The person doing the questioning hauls out assertions that themselves get questioned, and so on.

All the branches of the tree are generated by, and lead back to, the trunk and the roots which generated them. The are natural outgrowths. Life is kinda messy sometimes, but that's the beauty of it.

My homeys and me generally don't have script to follow when we're down on the corner. Those convos can lead all over creation. I aint got no problem with that, my own damn self.

1 Reply

The issue is political rectitude.

There is a group of like-minded A2K members who distinguish between acceptable and non-acceptable opinions with the goal of shutting out certain opinions. I have certainly been on the pointy end of the stick where my opinion, posted on a thread that was completely relevant to the topic, resulted in name-calling from the Setanta crowd because it wasn't the politically correct opinion.

There is a real risk that political rectitude will make this a much less free and diverse forum. I oppose this.

Can anyone give an example where Setanta was ever prevented from expressing or discussing his point of view? Sure, when he posts here he runs the risk that someone may disagree or even challenge his point of view. But that's the whole point of posting something on a forum that is open to the public... if he doesn't want his opinions challenged then he should stick to Facebook.

Even in the cases where people have posted things completely off-topic to his threads, I don't see where Setanta has ever been damaged by the people he calls "f***ing idiots". He has the ability to just ignore and his threads can just go on. Having people he doesn't respect post on the threads he considers "his sandbox" doesn't hurt him in any real way.

There is a real advantage to having a forum where people are free to post dissenting opinions.

I would like to see specific threads that people think were ruined by the people Setanta calls "f***ing idiots". Maybe I am missing them, but given the fact that any post can be ignored, I don't see how supporting people who have different opinions hurts anyone.

Setanta and his supporters are pushing their form of political rectitude on this forum. I oppose it.

1 Reply

@layman,

Well put layman. I am glad you are here.

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

Setanta and his supporters are pushing their form of political rectitude on this forum.

Maybe you aint read the revolutionary theories propounded by Herbert Marcuse, the so-called "father of the new left," eh, Maxxy?

He spotted tolerance as being "repressive." He said any view right of center should NOT be tolerated. It should be suppressed, disallowed, and punished. Tolerance should only be allowed for "correct" speech. Makes sense. If you're a commie, anyway.

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@layman,

No Layman, not all lefties are pushing political rectitude. I am politically pretty far to the left (by the US definition of left) on most issues. I am also a pretty strong supporter of freedom of expression and the diversity of opinion.

Sometimes putting people into bins doesn't work in the real world.

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@ossobuco,

Quote:

It's true that thread starters don't own their threads. Still, free speech doesn't make repetitive assholeness useful for a communication tool. With a lot of assholeness everywhere, it's a site eater, a deterrent to sane readers.

Osso, could you give an example of this?

I would like to see a case study where what you are calling "repetitive assholeness" has been a real deterrent? It seems to me that diversions that are ignored aren't anything more than a minor blip (not a real deterrent).

There is a difference between people posting things totally off-topic and people posting dissenting opinions that are relevant to the topic of the thread. I suspect that Setanta and his supporters confuse the two.

In my opinion dissenting opinions should be supported (maybe even encouraged) and totally off-topic posts should be ignored.

Can you give me an example where totally off-topic posts have caused anything more than a minor annoyance?

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@Joe Nation,

Yeah . . . i know. My main objection is that the holy rollers seem intent on taking over the place. I would not like to go find somewhere else where there is intelligent conversation and considerably less hysteria.

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@Setanta,

Quote:

My main objection is that the holy rollers seem intent on taking over the place.

I love irony.

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I see a couple of posts have now been deleted from this thread, eh?

Damn! Just when I buttered up the popcorn to watch the ensuing all-out bitch fight.

It just aint no fair, I tellya!

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@Setanta,

Quote:

I would not like to go find somewhere else where there is intelligent conversation and considerably less hysteria.

Freudian kinda slip, maybe?

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Obviously the "I don't like that so 'they' should stay away'" clique is still heavy here in A2K.

Some people are religious...and claim it is sure or likely that there is a god.

Some people are atheists...and claim if is sure or unlikely there are gods.

Neither can arrive at their claim through logic, reason, or science.

The theists...the ones being railed against here...at least have the ethics to call their claims...beliefs.

The atheists...some of the ones doing the railing here...laughingly claim their claims are the results of logic, reason and science.

If the atheists here cannot take the heat...perhaps they should get out of the kitchen. Otherwise...they should grow up and discuss the differences between them...and the...(what is the wording used here)..."holy rollers."

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@Frank Apisa,

Setanta wrote:

The worst thing about holy roller is that they are so f*cking stupid, that it never sinks in with them that they are not wanted, that they should go find some like-minded people to play with, and leave the normal folks alone.

You got it right Frank. But Setanta says it so much more succinctly.

(Please don't ever call me a "normal folk".)

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

Frank doesnt yell, hes Italian

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@Frank Apisa,

Quote:

Obviously the "I don't like that so 'they' should stay away'" clique is still heavy here in A2K.

The last thing the OP wants is to "stay away" from them. About the only ones I see responding to incidental religious references are those who immediately go into "mock and ridicule" mode. Everybody else just ignores it.

Just the other day, the OP stomped into a thread, which had run about 4-5 pages without any reference to religion that I recall, about "evidence," and, completely out of the blue, began an insulting attack on the member who started the thread. His complaint about the person? He was an alleged "holy roller," of course (he aint nuthin like that, though).

Then, of course, Sedentary claimed he was attacked.

VICTIMIZED, yet again, I tellya.

1 Reply

@layman,

Could you give a link to that thread Layman? That would be an interesting case study for what we are talking about.

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@maxdancona,

Lemme look, eh?....

The rant starts here. You can see what came before (and after) if you read the entire thread.

http://able2know.org/topic/300225-3#post-6059549

1 Reply

@layman,

Very interesting. This is an clear example of hypocrisy on Setanta's part.

Setanta wrote:

I find this thread hilarious, in that one of more irrational of bible thumpers at this site seeks to throw into doubt the validity of asking for evidence. This is crucial to the bible thumpers here because they are routinely asked to provide evidence for their claims, and all they have to offer is scriptural BS. This is particularly the case with Neo, who makes all manner of outrageous claims, but when forced to retreat on them, does sow with a "two out of three ain't bad" argument.

This was a thread started by Neologist, who I think fits clearly in the group of people who believe in God. And, there is Setanta still jumping in to attack the premise of the thread.

Pot meet Kettle.

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

Very interesting. This is an clear example of hypocrisy on Setanta's part.

Well, Max, I'm not crazy about the word "hypocrisy." That word has been associated with religion all too much. I prefer to think of him as "the king of irony," ya know?

Joe said:

Quote:

This thread has officially exceeded its irony quotient.

http://able2know.org/topic/169651-8#post-4552129

That thread was started about 5 years ago, by (guess who) and, like this one, was complaining about other posters, an "obvious troll" in this case. Takes one to know one, I guess.

28 "thumbs up" votes may be an all-time record!

VICTIMIZED, yet again, sho nuff.

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

This was a thread started by Neologist, who I think fits clearly in the group of people who believe in God. And, there is Setanta still jumping in to attack the premise of the thread.

You left out some of the most revealing parts, eh, Max? For example:

Quote:

Given that bible thumpers routinely assert that scripture is divinely inspired, and therefore inerrant, it becomes even more hilarious to watch them squirm.

Wild hysterical delight in "watching them (supposedly) squirm," eh?

Quote:

Bible thumpers... never restrict themselves to their own loony superstition...

"Loony superstitions," eh? Sedentary never seems to keep his "loony attacks" to himself, for some reason. He seems to think others breathlessly await his pronouncements of opinion so that they immediately adopt them for themselves.

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