Members with Unpopular Views

[Kilgore Trout]

Some ghosts, unfortunately, can damage human health.

Rancid dairy can make short work of your colon, for sure.

 

[savagewind]

It does not bother me much that people do not like me. What bothers me is the way they do it.
I hate it when I bring up a point for discussion and instead of answering it or ignoring it they throw me an insult.
What upsets me most about it is some who do it are obviously intelligent and experienced enough to be civil.
But they be stupid at me instead. I don't understand it especially from the ones who are here to convert me to their way of thinking.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

It does not bother me much that people do not like me. What bothers me is the way they do it.
I hate it when I bring up a point for discussion and instead of answering it or ignoring it they throw me an insult.
What upsets me most about it is some who do it are obviously intelligent and experienced enough to be civil.
But they be stupid at me instead. I don't understand it especially from the ones who are here to convert me to their way of thinking.

Your breath smells like pickles and your shoes are too tight.

 

[Covellite]

Rancid dairy can make short work of your colon, for sure.

LOL
Are we a pair of lunatics

 

[savagewind]

Your breath smells like pickles and your shoes are too tight.

I think the ghost made you say that. In fact I think it was the ghost association of ghosts who put an h in ghost.
I never wear too tight shoes. Not never............patent leather when I was little for Easter. The reason I became a Jehovah's Witness.....yah, that's it.

 

[Covellite]

Your breath smells like pickles and your shoes are too tight.

Real proof that you are mastering ESP

 

[RedDragon94]

Hi, all,

Recently, while I was browsing some threads where some members expressed views that are generally unpopular on RF (e.g., supporting Donald Trump and rejecting evolution), I noticed that sometimes they were significantly outnumbered by members who expressed objection in very strong terms. While this is a debate forum and that is par for the course on a forum of this kind, sometimes I found myself saying, "Man, it must suck to be on the receiving end of this." I looked at it this way: an RFer with unpopular views starts a thread here to share their thoughts just like any other RFer, waits for discussion to start, and then finds himself or herself under a pile of comments that can sometimes be rather harsh.

I'm not saying that things should or shouldn't be different; I'm just explaining why I sympathize with members who get overwhelmed and significantly outnumbered by others who make harsh comments toward them, no matter which side of any given debate they are on. So, to provide a window for members with less popular beliefs here to voice their concerns if they have any, I'm making this announcement that the Site Feedback forum and my PM inbox are open to members who want to share their concerns respectfully. I will try to address those concerns in Site Feedback and/or my PM inbox as much as my time allows me to.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to start a thread in the Site Feedback forum or PM me.

Thank you,

Debater Slayer

You know what, anytime that I get swamped with what I perceive to be negative comments I just leave them there. I'm not wasting time answering every stupid comment I receive.

 

[Revoltingest]

It does not bother me much that people do not like me. What bothers me is the way they do it.
I hate it when I bring up a point for discussion and instead of answering it or ignoring it they throw me an insult.
What upsets me most about it is some who do it are obviously intelligent and experienced enough to be civil.
But they be stupid at me instead. I don't understand it especially from the ones who are here to convert me to their way of thinking.

Some people are quick to anger, but are in denial about it.

 

[ShivaFan]

There is no way to measure what is popular or unpoplar on a forum if the membership is large in numbers, there is only loud or not very loud.

However, if the membership is small, then that might be different.

Actually, a thought occurred to me, I could do my part to increase the membership of the forum by promoting others to hop on board. I was about to launch a Nationalist webpage, and the thought just came to me I could encourage and invite Trump supporters to come on board. They like to participate in forums, and a lot of them have diverse religions, for example some at work are proud Pagans, some Hindus like me, some are Satanists, some Christian ... that is all I can think of for now that I know for sure.

But Trump is so popular here in America it is literally Beatles mania only in a Trump tie. So I can promote Trumpsters to hitch a ride on the RF magic carpet and put the rainbow on Jonas Coat. The diversity will be brilliant.

 

[Kori]

Guys, please remember that this is not a debate thread. This thread is for members' concerns, not debating.

Now you're doing it to us!

 

[Laika]

There is no way to measure what is popular or unpoplar on a forum if the membership is large in numbers, there is only loud or not very loud.

However, if the membership is small, then that might be different.

Actually, a thought occurred to me, I could do my part to increase the membership of the forum by promoting others to hop on board. I was about to launch a Nationalist webpage, and the thought just came to me I could encourage and invite Trump supporters to come on board. They like to participate in forums, and a lot of them have diverse religions, for example some at work are proud Pagans, some Hindus like me, some are Satanists, some Christian ... that is all I can think of for now that I know for sure.

But Trump is so popular here in America it is literally Beatles mania only in a Trump tie. So I can promote Trumpsters to hitch a ride on the RF magic carpet and put the rainbow on Jonas Coat. The diversity will be brilliant.

personally, whatever my personal feelings towards Trump, I'd say your very welcome to bring them here. We can always use a bit more diversity on RF.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I understand that sentiment, DS, and it's certainly compassionate, but would you have that same sentiment for a neo-Nazi? Some views deserve to be reviled and some views are just ridiculous and garbage.

 

[Laika]

I understand that sentiment, DS, and it's certainly compassionate, but would you have that same sentiment for a neo-Nazi? Some views deserve to be reviled and some views are just ridiculous and garbage.

I would honestly have had to think about how I would respond to a Neo-Nazi on RF. (By "Neo-Nazi", I mean a jack booted fanatic, not the far-right eqivilent of the Che T-shirt wearing liberal radical. The same would go for Pol Pot apologists on the opposite side of the spectrum). Some views are admittedly alot harder to represent within the forum rules assuming you can have a civil debate with them.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I would honestly have had to think about how I would respond to a Neo-Nazi on RF. (By "Neo-Nazi", I mean a jack booted fanatic, not the far-right eqivilent of the Che T-shirt wearing liberal radical. The same would go for Pol Pot apologists on the opposite side of the spectrum). Some views are admittedly alot harder to represent within the forum rules assuming you can have a civil debate with them.

I wasn't necessarily thinking of it being on this forum. Just in general. I think it's a good thing to forcefully reject illogical and harmful ideas. We shouldn't go out of our way to shame people, but sometimes it should be made obvious that certain views are unacceptable.

 

[Revoltingest]

I wasn't necessarily thinking of it being on this forum. Just in general. I think it's a good thing to forcefully reject illogical and harmful ideas. We shouldn't go out of our way to shame people, but sometimes it should be made obvious that certain views are unacceptable.

How far should we go in making people feel their views are unacceptable?
Since everyone has views unacceptable to someone, where should this lead?

 

[Laika]

I wasn't necessarily thinking of it being on this forum. Just in general. I think it's a good thing to forcefully reject illogical and harmful ideas. We shouldn't go out of our way to shame people, but sometimes it should be made obvious that certain views are unacceptable.

I'm not 100% sure I agree but I know where you are coming from. In terms of RF, I did a thread on this a while back and there was near unanimous support for the right to express "extreme or controversial" viewpoints. Intrestingly there was a bit of discussion about whether some of the examples I included were extreme (e.g. Christian Fundamentalism) which underlines that alot of things are highly subjective. I'm sceptical that people would actually be so open in practice, but I don't think it should be the "ideas" that are viewed as the problem. rather it is the way a person behaves.

I do make certian compromises to not cause unnecessary controversy, although there are moments when I'd like to be provokative and rant to get stuff out of my system. I can't tell how likely it is, but if a neo-nazi could pull off the same feat, I would try to hear them out. there is value in that. simply telling someone they are wrong is not the same as actually changing their views. sometimes you have to let it go and accept you can't change what people think no matter how offensive it is.

 

[Quagmire]

I agree, and again there is making a point and just thinly veiling personal attacks. But, it seems lately more and more people are just posting only to trash on folks. That old adage about, "If you have nothing good to say... Don't say it..."

Apparently you haven't heard the new adage: "If you have no life, feel free to say whatever pops into your mind".

 

[Debater Slayer]

I understand that sentiment, DS, and it's certainly compassionate, but would you have that same sentiment for a neo-Nazi? Some views deserve to be reviled and some views are just ridiculous and garbage.

I don't think things are black and white, generally. Neo-Nazi views deserve contempt and rejection, but it would be useful to think of why a neo-Nazi is a neo-Nazi. I know and love people who believe that atheists deserve capital punishment. They have been indoctrinated from childhood to believe this, and they are at a point in their life when changing one's core beliefs or aspects thereof can be extremely hard. I don't think to myself, "Those people are horrible and deserve to be on the receiving end of mean-spirited remarks because of their beliefs." Not all people who have hateful beliefs have them for the same reasons, which is why I don't think there should be a uniform approach to all of those people in discussions or debates.

It can be easy to completely demonize someone online where we have no way of communication except text... where we also don't have access to other aspects of a person's personality. Thinking of why the Trump supporter supports Trump or why the young-Earth creationist has this belief and the circumstances, knowledge (regardless of its source), and experiences that led them there can help to tone down any hostile language that might result from strong disagreement, even if one still completely disagrees with the Trump supporter or the young-Earth creationist.

 

[BSM1]

I don't think things are black and white, generally. Neo-Nazi views deserve contempt and rejection, but it would be useful to think of why a neo-Nazi is a neo-Nazi. I know and love people who believe that atheists deserve capital punishment. They have been indoctrinated from childhood to believe this, and they are at a point in their life when changing one's core beliefs or aspects thereof can be extremely hard. I don't think to myself, "Those people are horrible and deserve to be on the receiving end of mean-spirited remarks because of their beliefs." Not all people who have hateful beliefs have them for the same reasons, which is why I don't think there should be a uniform approach to all of those people in discussions or debates.

It can be easy to completely demonize someone online where we have no way of communication except text... where we also don't have access to other aspects of a person's personality. Thinking of why the Trump supporter supports Trump or why the young-Earth creationist has this belief and the circumstances, knowledge (regardless of its source), and experiences that led them there can help to tone down any hostile language that might result from strong disagreement, even if one still completely disagrees with the Trump supporter or the young-Earth creationist.

So, then, how do you see zebras?

 

[psychoslice]

The way I look at it: if everyone is thinking the same, then no one is thinking. I would rather see people think and disagree than to see people's minds overtaken by the herd mentality.

This is the best answer so far, and you know what happens if you follow the heard, you end up standing in ****.