Do you think some of the "insults" are silly and should be ignored? Do u care?

[Codswallop]

Respect, Myron. You really are very lucid, a great example to me personally. Chers mate 

Ditto. Now, everybody who thinks "The Corner" is such a great idea, let me show you a better one:



See there? No more potty mouth. And since Sky NEVER says anything I consider useful or illuminating in a conversation, it's no loss.

And that, boys and girls, is how you make a better online community.

[sky]

la la la...these finger fit in my ears just right...


Hey Coddy make sure you don't read this when you're not logged in...  

[catwixen]

You know what you are missing there Codsman? By ignoring a certain person you are missng their input. I know you think the input is s**t....but I disagree...I have had much mixed , confusing yet understandable input once I got to know the person...and is that not what this forum is about? To open up communication? To understand each other better?
Nup I will never agree with this hard line ignore aproach....not in the long run....it serves no purpose.

[JustMyron]

Oh and now Codds gets an ass kissing wind fall....

I'm hardly kissing Cods' ass at this point. But if I flip out at him, he wins.

Lol. Different strokes, eh?

If I talked to Cods like I talk to Sky, or Sky like I talk to Cods, how do you figure that would go?  

When it comes to reported offenses, the same rules apply to everyone, though.

###

Trying to make a discussion environment where people with widely diverging personalities are all comfortable is quite an interesting challenge. 

[Pastafarian]

Myron: my different strokes comment was reffering to sky's post, after I'd just sung cods praises 

[JustMyron]

Oh, ok. 

[Pastafarian]

Trying to make a discussion environment where people with widely diverging personalities are all comfortable is quite an interesting challenge. 

indeed! Keep bringing the balance brother.

[catwixen]

But that is the deal for real communication no? Different strokes for different folks. I think we generalise way too much sometimes in these forums.
I know that some theists here have taught me to not be so bloody stereotypical in my thoughts!

[Codswallop]

You know what you are missing there Codsman? By ignoring a certain person you are missng their input. I know you think the input is s**t....but I disagree...I have had much mixed , confusing yet understandable input once I got to know the person

Not Sky. Her input is "nothing with a ring around it." She is dead wood in any discussion.

...and is that not what this forum is about? To open up communication? To understand each other better?

No, actually, I don't think so. Having been a theist most of my life, and having lived (and still living) among the full variety of believers from knee-jerk literalist fundies to esoteric mystics to liberal academics to people who literally have created their own private religion, I feel I understand the beast just fine. The believers who come here actually represent a very narrow band out of that full spectrum. And most of them are so almighty convinced of the truth of their beliefs that they are, as it were, evidence- and logic-proof.

Such people feel no obligation to understand the non-theist. After all, we are the lost souls, not they. They possess the Truth, and it is their mission to enlighten us, the benighted, the bewildered, the damned.

If I have a mission here--and I'm not saying I do--if I have any sort of goal, it is to instill a tiny seed of doubt in the minds of smug people who think their irrational beliefs are unassailable and self-evident. I don't expect any dramatic conversions, but I know that doubt has a way of growing, the more you expose it to sunlight. (Sorry to use such a Christian-flavored metaphor!) It took me more than 40 years to come around, but I am much better for it.

[JustMyron]

So Cods, any suggestions for how we can attract a wider spectrum of believers? I don't live among them, so it's hard for me to know, and getting to know the ones on the forum is probably more interesting for me than it is for you.

[Codswallop]

So Cods, any suggestions for how we can attract a wider spectrum of believers? I don't live among them, so it's hard for me to know, and getting to know the ones on the forum is probably more interesting for me than it is for you.

Most of the ones I know are pretty comfortable with their beliefs and are pretty content to let you and me continue to wallow in our depravity. They aren't looking to tip their apple cart. Your online theist is looking for some interaction, and that's a special kind or temperament.

BTW do people still surf in after watching the videos? Or is it all just drive-bys?

[catwixen]

Wow Cods thankyou for being so open in your post.
I have to disagree with you...you seem quite jaded? Like you have seen the very worst of theism and you want to fight against that?
How well do you know sky? Do you know her as a Christian who is defensive...who is sarcastic, who sais some nasty things?

I would challenge you to know her as the strong person who has challenged her own fears here in IGI. I have seen this brave woman challenge her own ideals to ask questions...I have seen sometimes those questions been ridiculed'..Yet sky of all people has stuck with IGI....I think because she feels the community here.
If that is the case? What difference is there between sky and me...or any other here?

[Codswallop]

How well do you know sky? Do you know her as a Christian who is defensive...who is sarcastic, who sais some nasty things?

I would challenge you to know her as the strong person who has challenged her own fears here in IGI. I have seen this brave woman challenge her own ideals to ask questions...I have seen sometimes those questions been ridiculed'..Yet sky of all people has stuck with IGI....I think because she feels the community here.

OK, granted that your experience with her has not been the same as mine. I won't try to alter your perception. That would be mean. But I also disagree with your perception.

Under the circumstances, ignoring her is probably the most compassionate thing I can do. And it's more compassion than I could expect from her.

[JustMyron]

BTW do people still surf in after watching the videos? Or is it all just drive-bys?

On WWGHA? I don't know, you'll have to ask someone else. I stick to IGI, where we don't have videos (EDIT: Except those few Catwixen made! I'd briefly forgotten about those. They were good, but I'm not sure how much traffic they drive in here. Nothing like the WWGHA ones). Maybe we should get some (more)... anyway, I was on WWGHA for about 2 weeks in late 2008, and then IGI came into existence and I focused on here.

[Captain Luke]

It's too easy to depersonalise people when you are posting on an internet forum, and I am just as guilty as most of forgetting that there is another person sat on the other end of the keyboards connecting us.

[rickymooston]

kissing from Ricky...

   

Note: Ricky only kisses asian females and he's not big into asses and lastly ... he doesn't kiss and tell. ;). At the moment, he is kind of in love with a pretty conservative asian female. He is almost blind to women and hasn't looked at a pic of angelina jolie for over a month.

Telling JM he is like Ricky, despite the fact I used to believe this claim, is likely a rule 6 violation.

If I want a user to stick around on the forum, I tend to have my reasons but I frequently take people with a grain of salt. I sometimes like diversity of opinion and/or I think some of what the person posts makes sense.

[Happy Evolute]

-1  you are a big mouth bully ass hole.

 

[rickymooston]

Now I'll not say whether the rule accomplishes it ends but here is great example of insults within the rules. The full exchange is more of the same on both sides but some information is being conveyed ... 

Using a label only conveys one's frustration.

I've noticed you tend toward the derogatory when you don't understand an argument.

I understand your argument perfectly. I tend towards the derogatory when the argument is nonexistent but the arguer continues it anyway. Religion is not a way of knowing anything. You have not rebutted this in the slightest, merely contradicted it.