quote:Originally posted by Occasional: And why are you touchy on the subject of fascism? Elaborate.
Because it is a force for evil, and I would not like to see it once again dominate any major body politic.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Kick the habit tms and then no one will control you! Other than the government, your family, your pets, your boss, etc. but those don't count. Posts: 1941 | Registered: Dec 2005
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On the subject of religion I have always felt that if you are truly religious than you should be able to withstand any attack. If you can not defend your own religion and core beliefs than how much can you honostly believe in them. And by defend I mean rationally debate, not scream obsenity's and burn the other guys church down.
Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Orange, I usually avoid this type of "conversation" but I felt like I needed to respond. I believe what I believe and am not interested in the debate simply because I'm not good at it. I do not have that skill or talent (or whatever it is), but I don't think that you HAVE to be able to defend your beliefs to be "truly religious". There are many times that I've wanted to respond and actually tried but couldn't find the words to express it the way that I felt would be best understood but it doesn't mean that I didn't believe in them. (wow that's quite a run on sentence!)
Posts: 697 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I think this forum is one of the better ones on the internet but anywhere you go on the internet (and more often than not, in life) will have people who want to thrash back at what you have to say.
Posts: 161 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I think the idea of newbies who bring in contrary opinions do indeed get set upon like vultures by "older" members from time to time. Any presumption this doesn't happen is akin to real denial.
That being said, one of the big hazards of the internet is that the words themselves are maybe only 50% of the conversation. We humans rely on non-verbal communication like tone, posture, and a whole host of other signals to give meaning.
People get amused if others are offended by their so-called "irony" but it's tough to see the subtext when the words themselves, absent of additional information, are the only things to go on. In this case, I think most people tend to become VERY literal in a forum where most writers here are often presenting quite the opposite.
Plus, I think many posters who wouldn't dare speak a certain way to people in real life suddenly feel empowered to be jerks on the internet. Why does anonymity breed contempt in some people, rather than a need to be extra courteous? Weird.
Posts: 325 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:I think the idea of newbies who bring in contrary opinions do indeed get set upon like vultures by "older" members from time to time
Opinions contrary to what? It's not like all the "older" members agree on everything. Or even most things.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:I think the idea of newbies who bring in contrary opinions do indeed get set upon like vultures by "older" members from time to time. Any presumption this doesn't happen is akin to real denial.
Nope. It doesn't happen. What does happen is a bit different. When a regular we've learned to love acts stupid, we've had enough experience with him to say "Oh, so-and-so is having a bad day." When a newbie acts stupid, that may be our only experience with the guy -- meaning we're less inclined to give 'im slack. It might look the same to the newbie, but it's actually a very different process.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Opinions contrary to what? It's not like all the "older" members agree on everything. Or even most things.
Exactly. It's not about "contrary opinions." It's about obnoxious behavior which, as Tom and others have said, is more easily overlooked when the person being obnoxious has interacted enough for the onlookers to know such obnoxiousness is a small percentage of the behavior.
There's also the not-infrequent phenomenon of newbies confusing vigorous dissent with being set upon by vultures.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I don't remember having truly been attacked as a new person. I think I just kind of jumped in. Got spoken to about lying about who I am. And then I just jumped back in. Never any real taunting. Whoever said it is all in how you act, I agree completely.
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No. I claimed to be a mental patient. After I claimed to be a single father. It was stupid of me.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:I think the idea of newbies who bring in contrary opinions do indeed get set upon like vultures by "older" members from time to time. Any presumption this doesn't happen is akin to real denial.
Nope. It doesn't happen. What does happen is a bit different. When a regular we've learned to love acts stupid, we've had enough experience with him to say "Oh, so-and-so is having a bad day." When a newbie acts stupid, that may be our only experience with the guy -- meaning we're less inclined to give 'im slack. It might look the same to the newbie, but it's actually a very different process.
So if I were to go on some crazy rant about aborigines putting nails in my corn flakes every morning, then as long as I only brought it up a couple times of the year, everyone would be cool with that?
posted
Ooooh, you are going to get so sick of me if you search "grapeseed oil" on these forums...
(But yes, they do. It's been used for many, many years in middle eastern and Mediterranean cooking. It's even healthier for you than olive oil-- more of the good stuff-- and has no taste, even less than canola oil, and also has a higher flash point than most "good for you" oils-- almost as high as peanut oil. Excellent for cooking and... other things.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Pelegius, I've said it before. You aren't recevied well on this forum because of your behavior, not because of your opinions. You come across pretty strongly as someone who is not posting in good faith and people react to you that way.
If you truely believe that Ornery is more respectful, I don't think you're ever going to fit in particularly well here. Perhaps it is a problem with Hatrack, but I think many people here don't frequent Ornery specifically because we don't see the general culture there are being particularly respectful or mature. For example, there seems to be a general acceptance of people not posting in good faith, which, as I've said, is not reacted to well here.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Let me correct my earlier statement; I think Tom's right--to a point. Regulars often do not give newbies the "benefit of the doubt" but often presume the worst. It's impulsive.
I'm curious why e-mail tends to create more knee-jerk responses than other forms of communication. I see it in myself. Sometimes the first few sentences of a post cause me to want to write, and I have to tell myself: "Read the whole thing, and try to place yourself in their shoes." That helps a lot. Often we can misunderstand a post on the first read.
Granted I've never seen someone getting pounced simply because they're new. That's not what I meant. Most newbies are greeted warmly. But I have seen posters with low post counts pipe in and there are three or more veterans who, instead of trying to understand a new point of view, barrage them...often with insults. I've seen it on silly topics, too, which is weird.
I've had a couple of scraps myself, but these were usually on topics of such a controversial nature there was bound to be hard words. I've enjoyed the lively debate and the chance to open my mind and hear argument from different points of view. That's not being "pounced on by vultures." That's diving into a den of hyenas on purpose and taking one's medicine. And hey, that's the point of this forum, right?
But I do think there can be less impulsiveness. Both newbies and veterans should, IMHO, have thicker skins and more understanding of each other for a more accurate--and slightly more tactful--social discourse. I think it can be done. Even here.
posted
Yeah, it was a lot better back when OSC used to give us gifts for every 1000 posts... I don't know how I'd have survived numerous life crises without my Mazer Rackahm bobblehead.
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