Indifference/ The Most Effective Response to Irrationality

Dog bless you, Misguided Sister . . .


May He hump you leg with Holy Fervor . . .



Ahem . . .

Well said, Phoenix. I agree completely.

Precisely why I stay away from S&R, Phoenix.

It bores me to tears.

Re: Indifference/ The Most Effective Response to Irrationali


This is the main reason my posts per day have dropped significantly during my short time here. At first getting involved and standing up for my beliefs or just simply arguing was fun and engaging... now I just find it monotonous and a waste of time. Same old arguments. Same old participants. Same old information.

Sadly, my posts, for the most part, have been reduced to talking about sports, music, occasional Relationship advice and other insignificant drivel.

People are concerned about the future of A2K?

What you describe is pretty much how the Politics forum has been for years ...

but you got the right take on it, thats for sure!

Well, in mediation, one of the basic rules is 'separate people from the problem' - it would help a lot if we all focused on what's discussed then on who said it and refrained from insults no matter how ridiculous the posts we disagree with are. because name-calling has become the usus in S&R and that ain't the way to get anywhere

Fer sure.

I came to the conclusion that arguement is futile and no longer cast my fuel into the fires. It's like running on a hamster wheel. Some people (who shall remain nameless) seem to enjoy the never ending run around that goes nowhere. I don't think it's a threat to the forum. As stated, the world has always been a case of Us vs. Them.

If you surf around, nimh, you will see a number of posts that have alluded to the idea that there is the perception that A2K is "going down the tubes". I think that former Abuzzers may well be overreacting, (possibly a variant of PTSD over the protracted moribund state of Abuzz, and its subsequent demise. )

I think that part of the problem, is that many of us have bought in to the emotional ramblings of a few, which apparently has snowballed. Obviously, the more that we respond, the more counter responses there will be.

Ergo, the rationale for the thesis of this thread. No responses, and hopefully the entire thing will fall by the wayside for lack of interest.

Precisely why I stay away from there, too.

At least I try. It's not quite as boring to me as S&R, though, thanks to the fact that politicians are continually finding new ways to embarrass themselves.

Re: Indifference/ The Most Effective Response to Irrationali


Don't discount the value of insignificant drivel, jp!

I hadnt even noticed, and I post something like 10 times a day, so the fear's probly a bit overblown ... but then I hardly ever frequent Spirituality & Religion. Disgusted enough with Politics as it is.


Well, thats ... I was gonna say "bloody true allright". Very true, indeed, probably sounds better. Lessons to be learnt ...

must be also visible differently according to the way you surf a2k. i mostly use 'new posts' and it's been truly infested with s&r threads that at least are on par with the politics forum nastiness in the past few weeks, and especially days.

I think that there is a qualitative difference in the emotional impact between a politics and a religion thread. Politics are about beliefs, but those beliefs, unless you are a diehard, have only a moderate effect in term's of a person's ego, and his perceptions about himself. Religion goes right to the core of a person's being, and I would suspect that attacks on basic core beliefs would tend to have a much more personal effect.

Now, add to the mix a country whose politicians are caught up in a religio-political "war", and you have the makings of a very divisive and inflammatory subject.

What Eva said. That goes for Politics as well.

I think rarely any kind of debate will change someone's mind about the way participants feel about these subjects.

Can you say entrenched?

Re: Indifference/ The Most Effective Response to Irrationali

.....is what makes the world turn.

It's called, "The Daily Routine of Life".

Reyn- I usually stay away from political threads, because I don't believe that I am as well versed in the various political scenarios than I would like to be.

I do think though, that in the political threads, unless you are a knee-jerk, one party or another person, there is lots of room for varying opinions amongst different people.

This is the crucial point--the religiously fanatical always, and i mean always, assert that an attack on their beliefs constitutes a personal attack because they cannot separate their belief set from their self-image--which seems to suggest that they have nothing else going for them. But that's an absurdity at a site like this. Everything here is fair game, and what is truly ironic is that Frank was much harder on the religious than the current crew, yet the level of whining from them has gone up dramatically, even though Frank isn't there heaping scorn on them. This constitutes special pleading on their part, and i for one am motivated to go after them even more because of it. Our country is already infected with religious loonies who think they deserve a free ride with their nonsense, and think they have a political right to shove their imaginary friend superstition down the throats of others. I am reminded of the right wing argument about welfare and how they allege that people think getting a hand-out is a right; there are plenty of religious fanatics around who think they deserve respect for their beliefs just because they are religious, and that they have a right to shove their beliefs down the throats of others. That completely ignores the fact that we live in a secular, pluralistic republic. I refuse to accept the special pleading, and refuse to desist from pointing out the idiocy of their positions, and the hypocricy they display in the midst of their whining when they lash out with personal attacks.



We have plenty of political nuts here who are just as fanatically strident as the religious, and the left is as bad as the right. This issue, however, just adds fuel to the fire, because so many of the one's on the right cannot separate their religious and politcal views, just as many on the left cannot separate their political views from their rejection of religion.

At all events, your advice is probably best. I doubt that i'll follow it, though, because of the contempt the idiocy engenders in me. So, when i'm feeling silly, which is most of the time, i mock them, and greatly enjoy it.


Dog bless you, Green-obsessed Sister . . .



Ahem . . .

Phoenix, I came to the same conclusion this morning, when I first logged on and scrolled down the "at a glance" column. I think that if every non believer just stayed out of there, no matter how tempting, then the majority of those threads will end up as a sneeze fest, with lots of bleesings flying backwards and forwards, and nobody to get mad at, or argue with.

Even THEY would get bored in the end, methinks.

I shall confine my activities to those threads that involve the female anatomy for a while. It will be hard, but I think, with a little bit of effort, I can do it.