One important character in school yards is the wannabe teacher's pet who jumps on every dispute (even the ones he subtly starts) to tell everybody that they should behave and show how sensible he is. This one often succeeds in reconciling everyone against him...
Does A School Yard Bully Attitude Take Over This Discussion Board?
by The wanderer 77 Replies latest jw friends
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Who are you?
This reminds me of the scene out of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" where Terry Thomas (the Englishman) and Milton Berle (the American) decide to settle their dispute by means of "fisticuffs".
They spend the first minute swatting at the air until Milton Berle loses his balance, stumbles forward and kicks Terry Thomas in the foot, whereby Thomas begins crying "FOUL !! FOUL !!". Thomas responds by stamping on Berle's foot and Berle takes his pointer and index finger and pokes Thomas in the eye, ala Moe from the Three Stooges.
Thomas shrieks off screaming like a nine year old girl, then returns to head butt Berle in the stomach. The "School Yard" fight ends with them both lying on the ground exhausted, moaning and groaning.
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The wanderer
Hello Little Toe:
I recall our past discussions on my "Awake" approach
and style. However, just for the sake of clarity I
really was not complaining about being "bullied"
by anyone per se.
It was based on an observation of individuals
becoming involved in a discussion and the dis-
cussion leading to that type of situation
where disagreements existed. ( i.e. agnositc,
atheist, believer discussions).
Regarding the design of the article I
set a buffer in place after the main
heading which correlates to the sub-
heading which contains the main idea.
I choose colours based on the type of
discussion that I am presenting.
The articles main purpose is to inspire
thought, viewpoints and opinions.
I hope that is what others are thinking.
Your friend,
Richard
(The Wanderer) -
IsaacJS2
I think the bullying aspects of the responses run both ways. Sometimes believers gang up on atheists in here, too. But we are talking about precious world views here and people often want to defend their views even if the "offending" comment isn't directed at them specifically. I do think people should be able to raise objections to points made by others if they are public and then discuss them, even if they are about atheism or religion. The problem is that people sometimes raise such points and have no intention of listening to answers they get. That's when it becomes a waste of time. It's one of the reasons I tend to bow out of debates early on unless they are very civil. For me, it just isn't worth the frustration, and debating isn't why I joined JWD. I've done enough of that in other forums.
Note that we atheists sometimes harbor a fair amount of frustration over supernatural/religious issues that are generally accepted by others. It seems, to us, that people often want us to just shut our fat gobs when they are speaking as if we have nothing of value to offer. This encourages us to do the opposite just to maintain the right, so we can be quick to pounce on certain posts when we see them. Sometimes too quick. The fact that we are often misunderstood doesn't help, either. Some of these posts may seem innocent to believers, but are screaming for a reply when read by atheists who go "WTF!?!" as soon as we see them. Just as some atheist posts seem innocent to other nonbelievers, but are pounced on by deeply religious members of the board.
BTW, I wasn't always sure about Wanderer's intentions either. I used to think he was trolling as well some of the time. But I don't think that any more. He just likes to ask provocative questions, though he always seems to present them from a believer's point of view. He phrases the questions in a way that we atheists often find antagonizing. I don't know if he means to do that or not, but I don't think he means to troll.
Peace out, Wanderer!
IsaacJ
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kid-A
To answer the original question: no.
I certainly have never seen instances of "ganging" up on a particular poster by some well-coordinated alliance of other posters. Ocassionally, a malicious troll will appear that needs to be smacked down, and, like any effective immune system, such an invading organism will be attacked on a healthy board.
Having said that, over the years I have been here, I have just as often found myself taking sides with 'religious' posters, as I have with 'atheist' or 'agnostic' posters. It depends entirely on the context of the thread. For example, in the realm of political discussion, there are atheists here whose political opinions I despise, and religious people whose political opinions I agree with, thus again, it depends entirely on context.
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StillGroggy
The wanderer is a troll.
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA.
How is he trolling. He's probably the most respectful person on any internet forum EVER. If HE's a troll, than we all are too. That's just silly...
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hillary_step
One important character in school yards is the wannabe teacher's pet who jumps on every dispute (even the ones he subtly starts) to tell everybody that they should behave and show how sensible he is. This one often succeeds in reconciling everyone against him...
lol....I am sure that Wanderer would be proud of the concise and pithy way you put his thread into clear context Narkissos.
I may be wrong, but I believe the title of this thread was inspired by a recent personal mail exchange in which Wanderer attempted, among other things, to counsel me for suggesting that he made condescending and patronising comments in a certain post to a certain poster. I am still not absolutely clear as to why he contacted me however as he was less than forthcoming in answering pertinent questions.
To prove that he was not a condescending or patronising person, he decided to withdraw from an exchange that he had begun due to the fact that he was a gentlemen and did not argue with women.....lol
HS
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SixofNine
"He's probably the most respectful person on any internet forum EVER."
lol. Don't believe everything you read. Do you also think the Awake magazine is "respectful" of it's readership?
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Paralipomenon
I think the comment on religious mindsets hit the issue straight on.
People find God, and are filled with so much happiness that they want to share it with others.
Others have lost God and decided that it is a sham. As such they want to expose God as a false teaching to others.
Two mindsets hell bent (pun not intended) on converting the other. Neither side willing to give an inch.
It's not so much a bullying attitude as an irreconcilable difference. I realize this myself. When I argue on these boards, it's more mental sparing than an actual attempt at converting the other person to my point of view. I think on these forums in particular, most fall into this same category. Of course there's the kooks on either side of the fence that push things too far and are usually smacked down by both sides for being too unreasonable.
So in answer to the original question, I don't think there's a schoolyard bullying attitude here. In order to bully, you need to find a target that won't fight back. I don't think the posters here have any issue about getting into a verbal fight. -
The wanderer
Dear Kid-A:
Very open-minded approach.
"Having said that, over the years I have been here, I have just as often found myself taking sides with 'religious' posters, as I have with 'atheist' or 'agnostic' posters. It depends entirely on the context of the thread. For example, in the realm of political discussion, there are atheists here whose political opinions I despise, and religious people whose political opinions I agree with, thus again, it depends entirely on context."-Kid-A
I liked the attitude shown here Kid-A.
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
Dear hillary-step:
Although, we may not see eye to eye on
certain issues. I would very much like
to see your next posting.
Keep me updated!
Respectfully,
The Wanderer