Does Debating Have to Be Abusive - To Be Effective ? (page 3)

JK666

Beks,

Kiss my aura, Dora. It's real angora. Luv ya too.

JK

AWAKE&WATCHING

JK - Aren't you glad I told you that you should change it back to a sexy Zappa?

hillary_step

Onacruse,

Perhaps the solution is as simple as to re-examine how we "come across," and respectfully (without surrendering our own strongly held convictions) alter our posting styles accordingly? And, lest anyone misunderstand, I am not thinking solely of you in this matter.

Did you not discuss this issue at great length with AlanF? I think you noted this on the Board some weeks ago. I thought that you reached a different conclusion then. Perhaps memory is failing me. If it is I am sure half a dozen people, including yourself, will correct me. ;)

Please do it nicely. You know how faint hearted I am. ;) It is all a matter of degree Craig. If somebody, as has happened on this and other Boards, insults your wife, I would hope that you would have something very disrespectful to say to that person. If they insult your dog, well perhaps not. If they insult a passion to which you hold dear, well perhaps a reaction between the two is more apt. What is a fact is that most every person that I have seen demanding that we behave nicely, treat each other well and disagree like mature citizens of a failed New World the past few days, has done the very thing they sneer at in others and used what they would call abusive language in the past. Can I describe them as hypocrites? Most on this Board would interpret this as 'name calling'. I just try to be more honest. ;) For example, Coffee Black gave as good as she got when I upset her with my words in the past, and good for her! So did Journey On and good for her to. Yet above Coffee Black extolls the virtues of civilized debate...lol. What I just wrote may even tempt them again. ;) HS

hillary_step

Flipper,

As Gregor has already noted, what you might consider 'abusive' others might not. Satire can be viewed as very abusive by its target, but bloody funny by the rest of us. In a Kingdom Hall, actually having an opinion was viewed as abusive. In my world, not having one is the abuse.

For example, do you think calling a liar, a liar, a hypocrite an hypocrite, an intellectually dishonest person just that in a debate is abusive? If it can be proved how on earth is it name-calling?

I have noted this here on your other thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/150743/4.ashx

HS

JK666

A&W,

I almost switched to the dying, older Zappa, because that is reality. Life is a piece of hard cheese.

JK

(Yes, there is the sardonic humor that I use in debates. Life is shit!)

beksbks

Life isn't shit dammnit! How could it be when I am so full of Cabernet??

JK666

beks,

When the Cabernet wears off, this is life as we know it.

JK

The Dead Milkmen - Life is Shit

I ran into a friend of mine
Said he was gonna take some words and make them rhyme
I said "You can fool some of them some of the time,
But you can only fool half them all of the time"
He said "Yes I do believe this is true,
Would you like to come and sniff some glue?
And we'll fly to where the skies are blue
And look for things both bright and new"

And on a pretty Sunday morning
A bunch of pretty Baptist girls
Linked their pretty hands and they sang
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

And in the sky I saw Richard Nixon
Smoking a lacey with Mr. Dickson
He said "Son there's something I must say,
I do believe I've found a better way"
And a vision came
And I new it was Bob Crane
And Bob sang:

Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

And when my friend and I were done
We went to rest upon the sun
Cause life takes from us the things we love
And it robs us of the special ones
And it puts them high where we can't climb
And we only miss them all the time

And we sing:
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

flipper

SISOWUZZY- I agree. I think people get more courageous on line when they don't have to face the person they are talking to ! But the flip side of that is they get more rude as well since they don't have to face the person.

ABANDONED- I agree with you guy ! It was a satirical title of the thread designed to make some who use aggressive tactics think about their methods.

ONACRUSE- I agree Onacruse. If you can't say it to a person's face- then why write it ? You are right on in my book !

OUTLAW- Yes, it is an exchange of ideas . We can always agree to disagree, like I did with a another poster already tonight ! I don't see things his way, he doesn't see things my way - no big deal, can't be helped. I can live with that . But that being said- I'm not intimidated by anybody on this board either !

SUMMER- I agree that some posters act overly aggressive in their actions towards others because they are insecure anyway. It's the only power they have in their life - so they use it to verbally bash others in the head !

MERRY MAGDALENE- I think you gave an example of how to get along, correct?

COFFEE BLACK- I agree with you. There is no reason to come to verbal blows with people. Name calling doesn't prove anything. I too don't want to scare away any newbies.

SACRIFICIAL LOON- I agree, attack the ideas- not the person.

CARMEL- I agree. Why argue about religion ? It sucks anyway.

GREGOR- Well, in your first two sentences you answer the request you made of me. ( Define abusive. ) Then you answered ( Obvious bad behavior , many get shut down by the mods.) Basically Gregor - I think a good balance can be found between expressing ourselves forthrightly and being civil and polite .

BEKSBEKS- What are you eating ? Butter dripping from your mouth ? LOL!

JK- I love ya too man ! I agree with you to a degree. Some degree of debate is needed even in spite of disagreements, and even confrontation can be good - if it inevitably yields results . But if it gets to be continual mudslinging with no end in sight , I for one am not going to waste all my time arguing with some blowhard who needs his anal cavity flushed out with an air compressor ! That is when I bow out and agree to disagree. I have much better things to do with my time than be in endless debates with such people. By the way- I like your new avatar ! Very becoming a Zappa man with smokes- that should get ya some action !

HILLARY STEP- I do not think it is wrong to call a spade a spade. Yeah, I agree with you, if a liar has been proved to be a liar, call him on it. Or a hypocrite , a hypocrite ! I don't consider that name calling . I'm not talking about that type of name calling. You are twisting my words. I'm talking about abusive name calling, swearing at somebody- calling them derogatory names . The same guidelines that Simon has in his guidelines below for the board ! The difference is this type of abuse can be termed such because it is very simply " mean spirited ". I think that's as simple as I can make this for you. It's pretty obvious.

Twitch

Does Debating Have to Be Abusive - To Be Effective ?

No, but it's kinda funny that way sometimes. Of course, sarcasm is a subtle and acquired taste.

If you want an omelette, you gotta break a few eggs,....

Does Debating Have to Be Abusive - To Be Effective ?

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