by snowbird 23 Replies latest jw friends
I guess my Deep South upbringing is showing, but I was trained to be courteous to all and that there is NEVER an excuse for rude, boorish behavior.
See - I guessed right the other day, Alabamians are like us Yorkshire folks
As for the topic at hand - I think many of us at times aren't as open-minded to other views as we like to think we are...
Do I detect a spirit of intolerance on the beloved JWD board? Some posters can speak about anything and get a gaggle of positive responses. Others get beaten down for simply expressing a different viewpoint.
If what you are saying is that topics and posts by non-believers get many positive replies and stand un-refuted, while those made by Christians or people of other faiths get negative, 'bullying' replies, then yes, I can see that happening at times.
But I think this is a natural dynamic of a discussion forum like this. When I first came here, I for some reason thought most posters would be non-believers, and I expected no active Witnesses. So I may have been more assertive in my posts than I perhaps should have been, because I didn't think my views could hurt anyone's feelings.
That said, it's not the job of non-believers to refute their own claims, or vice versa - it's everyone's job to express their views, and then "the other side"'s 'job' to refute (if they want and can).
If Christians and others of other faiths had their own threads and non-believers had their own threads, then this wouldn't be a discussion board at all anymore.
When we read something that goes against our beliefs, it often feels like a direct attack on our own person, when it is not meant that way. If for instance I simply state what I believe (or don't believe) and why, that will be very innocent in my eyes, but may be seen as a direct attack on some one else's personal beliefs, and thus their person. It's easy to lash out when that happens. I've tried not to all the time go into a thread that I disagree with in order to "refute" it, but some times I may feel that what's said is erroneous and I have to try and correct it. But it goes both ways (or at least should).
I've written things here that I thought were well thought out at the time, but it turned out I had put my foot in my mouth, more or less.
We all need to grow a thicker skin on a discussion forum like this, because we will come across views that go against our own, and we may have to correct our view. It can be a bit humiliating and embarrassing, but that's how we learn, isn't it?
(I had to write this post twice, because I was kicked back to the forum as I attempted to erase a word with the Backspace button...)
I've lurked (and occasionaly posted) in these parts since the '96 or so when it was the old H2O forum. Before that on the AOL groups. And before that on the old BBS's.
I've seen it all, nothing surprises me, these are just people. And they behave like people.
I agree, snowbird, that there does seem to be a mob mentality here at times. Hell, it reared it's ugly head here just a few days ago.
Everyone has an opinion, some cling to it to the point that NOTHING else matters. Those I do not allow to even get close to my sphere of influence.
It's like any community, you choose who you hang with and those you do not respond to.
I expected people on this forum to be a bit more objective. Seems like old JW habits are hard to forget....
