Changeling,
I am not sure what you mean by being 'nice'. Can you explain. I cannot think of any person that I would want to insult by calling them 'nice'. ;)
Many topics on this Board challenge, as well they should. Often topics are controversial. Religious, anti religious or political threads being the topics that normally raise the ire, as few people I suspect care that much about the flavor of pizza toppings. Inevitably the more controversial subjects raise the hackles of some, and again, so they should.
The WTS had one method that dealt with contoversy. It was not so much the 'Can't we all get along together' philosophy, it went even further and roamed into the 'we WILL get along with one another' philosophy. The basis on which this philosophy rested was that we all speak in unison in order for our statements to be 'seasoned with salt' so that we may not stumble those we were trying to recruit. It is an unhealthy philosophy leading to much mental turmoil because stifiling opinions, however strongly they may manifest themselves, is psychologically harmful.
I have seen that philosophy reversed on this Board and have seen people 'counselled' for expressing strong viewpoints in a vigorous manner just in case exiting JW's are frightened away from the Board. I have repeatedly, and accurately asserted that any person who posts to this Board does NOT do it as a spontaneous, first off, action. Often they read the Board for weeks, some like Burn for example, for years before posting. They know what they are getting in to. What many do not know is how to express opinions, and once expressed how to sustain these opinions. They have not had a voice in the past, and are finding it, or have found it. This Board helps people to grow opinions. And good luck to them. I too was a member of the cuddly club at one point but learned quickly that it merely empowers negative behavior in many.
I detest the insipid phoniness that shines like a beacon from the posts of many who are still clinging to the safety of 'congregationl thinking' and seek to counsel others as to when they can speak, how their speech should be presented, and in what manner they comport themselves on a public discussion Board, which is moderated anyway. I would love to see them discussing politics in a Parisian cafe, or football at an Italian one...lol. The real world is not alaways the happy place we would desire.
I am not scared of peoples opinions, however vigorously they are presented. I spent ten years as a Special Pioneer in an area where the Witnesses were pretty well loathed so I developed a thick skin, but for members of the Cuddly Club who are perhaps more sensitively inclined need to learn three things:
1) This is merely a discussion Board, not the United Nations. However many delusionary claims that we may make about saving souls on this Board are too grandoise to be taken seriously. Those souls were saved or otherwise weeks, months or years before the person subscribed to this Board.
2) If you do not want to be witness to strong opinons, strongly presented, strongly attacked and strongly defended, do not click on any political threads, those that deal with evolution and science, and those in which Board members pepper spray elderly Witnesses or pretend to be who they are not. ;)
3) They would be taken more seriously if they did not spend all day insulting Jehovah's Witnesses.
HS
