A simple question.

Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
A simple question.

"NO THEISTS ALLOWED TO POST IN THIS FORUM

 

From this point forward the moderators will be destroying posts made by theists in the "Freethinking Anonymous" forum.  If you are a theist please be careful not to waste your time posting in this forum by looking at the top of the screen to determine which forum you are in when posting.  If you are an atheist and what theists to be able to weigh in on your topic, use "General Conversation" or "Atheist vs. Theist."

 

 Thanks,

 

RRS Mod Team"

 

A simple question, as I am new to the site and can't understand this rule: Why?

 


aiia
Superfan
aiia's picture
Posts: 1923
Joined: 2006-09-12
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:"NO THEISTS

Suspect wrote:

"NO THEISTS ALLOWED TO POST IN THIS FORUM

 

From this point forward the moderators will be destroying posts made by theists in the "Freethinking Anonymous" forum.  If you are a theist please be careful not to waste your time posting in this forum by looking at the top of the screen to determine which forum you are in when posting.  If you are an atheist and what theists to be able to weigh in on your topic, use "General Conversation" or "Atheist vs. Theist."

 

 Thanks,

 

RRS Mod Team"

 

A simple question, as I am new to the site and can't understand this rule: Why?

 

To give atheists a forum to discuss things without a theist's injection of religious beliefs.

Theists can post in the other forums on this site

People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
Still not sure. Surely

Still not sure. Surely having a theists input adds a bit of debate and room for open-minded thinking? Segregation and a feeling of superiority and elitism is what came to mind.


aiia
Superfan
aiia's picture
Posts: 1923
Joined: 2006-09-12
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Still not

Suspect wrote:

Still not sure. Surely having a theists input adds a bit of debate and room for open-minded thinking? Segregation and a feeling of superiority and elitism is what came to mind.

?

Here's a list of the forums on this site: http://www.rationalresponders.com/forums

Please input

People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.


DamnDirtyApe
Silver Member
DamnDirtyApe's picture
Posts: 666
Joined: 2008-02-15
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Still not

Suspect wrote:

Still not sure. Surely having a theists input adds a bit of debate and room for open-minded thinking?

Sure it does, in the other forums.  Theists aren't allowed to post in this one little forum.  We openly invite theists to post in all the rest and even take pains to make sure they're treated well if they're civil.

Quote:

Segregation and a feeling of superiority and elitism is what came to mind.

Okay.  While I'm loathe to speak for everybody else here, we're sorry you feel that way.  Theists still aren't allowed to post here.  If I were to join a Christian apologetics site to debate people and they had a forum restricted to believers, I hope I'd follow that rule and just read without posting responses.  If I felt the need to respond to something said in that forum, I'd link to the thread in a forum on that site where I was allowed to post and offer my thoughts in a polite but rule abiding way.  Which, if you're a theist posting in the FA forum, I suggest you do in the future.  For that matter, if you are a theist posting in the FA forum, it's very ballsy of you to complain about the forum in the very forum in which you aren't allowed.  Go to General Conversation and complain there and you'd be completely welcome to bitch about how mean we are all day long.  

 

 

"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Still not

Suspect wrote:

Still not sure. Surely having a theists input adds a bit of debate and room for open-minded thinking?

Yes having a theist input adds a bit of debate, but possibly it's not the type of the debate that is welcome.  For example if someone wants to ask about something related to an abortion or a divorce, a theist perspective is likely to add an element of debate that is unwelcome and will sidetrack or delay a rational conclusion on the issue.  Maybe the person wants to try and decide if the community thinks he/she should go through with a divorce, but they want to take into consideration only things that actually exist.  They don't want the responses through the eyes of someone trying to appease an invisible man, they want something real. 

As atheists we know well how annoying those ridiculous injections of religious beliefs can be into conversations and choose to have at least one place in the world where we don't have to deal with such nonsense.  Which leads me to an answer on your next point...

Quote:
Segregation and a feeling of superiority and elitism is what came to mind.

It is not superiority and elitism that should come to mind.  It is the feeling of a minority that is often incapable of having a discussion in any corner of the Earth without the intrusions of religion impressing themselves upon us that would lead one to have the need to create a private safehaven of thought.  Think of it as a support group.  If you were in a support group for people with cancer do you think they would allow someone who doesn't have cancer or know anyone with cancer to come to the support group who just kept saying "why don't you guys just get better, all you have to do is want to be better."   Maybe that's not the greatest example, but the point is there are tons of places where only people of similar beliefs congregate. 

While many of us may personally feel smarter and more superior to our theist counterpart, the fact is the freethinking anonymous forum was constructed because we wanted a place we could talk amongst ourselves without the distraction that the theist element brings.  As a minority it's not always easy to get that.  Theists are allowed to post in almost every corner of this website, and the debate with them is something we thrive on, we just need a place to relax and get away from it sometimes.  Atheists who choose to allow theists to play a role in their discussion can start their topics in any other portion of the site. 

 

 


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
DamnDirtyApe wrote:I were to

DamnDirtyApe wrote:

I were to join a Christian apologetics site to debate people and they had a forum restricted to believers, I hope I'd follow that rule and just read without posting responses.   

That actually brings up another point which is... Isn't it nice that theists are able to read a full conversation about any given topic after it's happened in which no theistic slant was inserted into the conversation? 

Theists might not even know what a conversation about divorce would look like without the biblical ideals that we're all familiar with.  To see a bunch of freethinkers debate a specific issue without those intrusions may prove as a valuable tool to the theist who has a hard time understanding how anyone could function without a belief in a god.  They're allowed to read, just not allowed to post.

 


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
DamnDirtyApe wrote:Suspect

DamnDirtyApe wrote:

Suspect wrote:

Still not sure. Surely having a theists input adds a bit of debate and room for open-minded thinking?

Sure it does, in the other forums.  Theists aren't allowed to post in this one little forum.  We openly invite theists to post in all the rest and even take pains to make sure they're treated well if they're civil.

Quote:

Segregation and a feeling of superiority and elitism is what came to mind.

Okay.  While I'm loathe to speak for everybody else here, we're sorry you feel that way.  Theists still aren't allowed to post here.  If I were to join a Christian apologetics site to debate people and they had a forum restricted to believers, I hope I'd follow that rule and just read without posting responses.  If I felt the need to respond to something said in that forum, I'd link to the thread in a forum on that site where I was allowed to post and offer my thoughts in a polite but rule abiding way.  Which, if you're a theist posting in the FA forum, I suggest you do in the future.  For that matter, if you are a theist posting in the FA forum, it's very ballsy of you to complain about the forum in the very forum in which you aren't allowed.  Go to General Conversation and complain there and you'd be completely welcome to bitch about how mean we are all day long.  

 

 

 

I'm not a theist. And I think if you diagree with a rule, you should be free to discuss it. I'm not being agressive or rude. I'm simply asking. So I don't see why there should be a problem.


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
I understand what you're

Sapient: I understand what you're saying; how certain comments from theists could be annoying and why then you'd want to create a 'haven' from all this. I don't like the idea of it though. I don't like certain groups of people being excluded from particular places.  


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
aiia wrote:  ?Here's a

aiia wrote:

 

 

?

Here's a list of the forums on this site: http://www.rationalresponders.com/forums

Please input

 

Not the point.


DamnDirtyApe
Silver Member
DamnDirtyApe's picture
Posts: 666
Joined: 2008-02-15
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote: I'm not a

Suspect wrote:

 

I'm not a theist. And I think if you diagree with a rule, you should be free to discuss it. I'm not being agressive or rude. I'm simply asking. So I don't see why there should be a problem.

There is no problem.  You're right; you aren't being rude and no one's angry with you.  That being said, the owners of the site get to have their way, and they're being more than fair as far as I'm concerned.  As a matter of fact, we have a very vocal theist poster who goes by Cpt. Pineapple and follows the rules and is regarded as a valuable member.  She's never expressed any displeasure as far as I can remember about not being able to post in one forum.  She's a good citizen and her continued presence on the site shows me that the rule is completely reasonable.  I'm sorry if you don't like it, but as I pointed out in the post you quoted, there is a means by which a theist could comment upon something said here without actually posting here.  No one would have anything derogatory to say, I assure you.

"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Sapient: I

Suspect wrote:

Sapient: I understand what you're saying; how certain comments from theists could be annoying and why then you'd want to create a 'haven' from all this. I don't like the idea of it though. I don't like certain groups of people being excluded from particular places.  

I don't like the idea of certain groups of people being excluded from certain places as well however it is certainly a fact of life.  The forum is there due to those exclusions.  We live in a country where it is illegal in some counties/states for an atheist to hold public office.  Religion permeates society so rampantly that we are unable to live our lives without having it impressed upon us.  I as the owner of this site have the rare opportunity to give people who otherwise would feel as if they can't communicate in the way they want to an opportunity to do that.  I have taken that opportunity with a site created specifically for teens as well.  A place that freethinking teens can feel free to discuss issues on their own terms without the intrusion of adult opinion, especially adult theist opinion which they no doubt receive plenty of.  That site is here: www.freethinkingteens.com

If you have a problem with certain groups of people being excluded from certain places than no doubt you have a problem with our forum called "kill em with kindness" which alienates people who are incapable of speaking without cursing and hostilities.  That forum is here and the message on the exterior states:

Kill 'em with KindnessReligious debate forum, that is heavily moderated, with strict rules. Posters must make every effort to be kind and courteous. No cursing, no insults, no deconstructive criticism. Moderation is provided by a theist-atheist mod team for fairness.

 

You are free to disagree with this forum, the teen forum, the kill em with kindness forum, they are however all staying.  You are also free to leave should you choose that the segregation promoted by this site is simply too intense for you.  You could also take note of the fact that we don't promote segregation, in fact as stated several times, there are tons of places on this site where everyone of all types is free to congregate.  In fact the places of this site that are open to all types of people are in the overwhelming majority.  I think you should pick a bigger battle.  Maybe try to find out why we are segregated from listening in on White House Cabinet meetings.

 


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:aiia

Suspect wrote:

aiia wrote:

?

Here's a list of the forums on this site: http://www.rationalresponders.com/forums

Please input

 

Not the point.

The point is that the vast majority of this site is open to the public, there are however some places that are closed to the public.  This is but a microcosm of our actual society in which there are some places that are closed to the public.  When you're done fighting against the Cabinet, go see if you can insert yourself into an employee meeting at Outback Steakhouse... they don't allow non-employees.  Do you frequent any business that holds employee only meetings?  Do you cause a ruckus at any of those places exclaiming how you think they should not exclude people?

 


Vastet
atheistBloggerSuperfan
Vastet's picture
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2006-12-25
User is offlineOffline
Having a private forum

Having a private forum within the site is equal to having your own room in the family house. It's a place to escape from opinions and people that you don't necessarily want to deal with all the time.

The fact of the matter is that theists can see the forum, and read within it. If they feel they have something to say about a discussion, they are quite free to post a new topic in any of the other forums to start a more open discussion. There's no reason for them to be able to derail a seperate discussion that doesn't apply to any form of theism. Because of this, there is absolutely no disclusion of anyone regarding that particular forum area.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
To me, in alll aspects of

To me, in alll aspects of life, people should be treated equally, whatever they believe or don't believe; people should be allowed to have their say in whatever area of life. Saying exclusion of certain groups from things is just a part of life doesn't do it for me. It shouldn't be a part of life, and people do need to be vocal about it. How else are things meant to change? I'm not pressing the issue for certain people who don't seem to have a problem with this rule on the site. I'm pressing the issue because I feel the rule isn't fair and have talked to other people about it who also agree it isn't fair.

Everybody should be allowed to post in every forum on this site despite their beliefs.


Vastet
atheistBloggerSuperfan
Vastet's picture
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2006-12-25
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:To me, in alll

Suspect wrote:

To me, in alll aspects of life, people should be treated equally, whatever they believe or don't believe; people should be allowed to have their say in whatever area of life. Saying exclusion of certain groups from things is just a part of life doesn't do it for me. It shouldn't be a part of life, and people do need to be vocal about it. How else are things meant to change? I'm not pressing the issue for certain people who don't seem to have a problem with this rule on the site. I'm pressing the issue because I feel the rule isn't fair and have talked to other people about it who also agree it isn't fair.

Everybody should be allowed to post in every forum on this site despite their beliefs.

Your response can be applied to anothers post, but not to my own. I await with baited breath.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
Vastet wrote:Having a

Vastet wrote:

Having a private forum within the site is equal to having your own room in the family house. It's a place to escape from opinions and people that you don't necessarily want to deal with all the time.

The fact of the matter is that theists can see the forum, and read within it. If they feel they have something to say about a discussion, they are quite free to post a new topic in any of the other forums to start a more open discussion. There's no reason for them to be able to derail a seperate discussion that doesn't apply to any form of theism. Because of this, there is absolutely no disclusion of anyone regarding that particular forum area.

 

Wait no more:

I don't agree with the own room in house idea. Anybody in the house can enter any room and talk with people in that room at any time whatever they believe. It's a good example to explain what you mean though: We all need a break from smething that we don't like. I agree with that. But in the room example you gave, nobody is being forcibly excluded; you're just removing yourself from the situation.

 

That's not good enough. That's like apartheid: if this certain group of people want to travel on our bus, they can sit at the back. "See, we're being nice and setting a compromise." they say. But that's not right still. Anybody should eb able to sit anywhere on the bus. It's as if you're viewing theists as second class citizens. If theists have something to say on a topic they should be able to say it without being forced to start a new topic in a different forum, 'becasue us atheists can't be bothered with your annoying comments'.


DamnDirtyApe
Silver Member
DamnDirtyApe's picture
Posts: 666
Joined: 2008-02-15
User is offlineOffline
Suspect, do you have

Suspect, do you have anything to talk about other than your displeasure with a rule?  Do you care about the role of religion in politics and education or about science or the mythological qualities of current world religions?  I'm just asking because those are the kinds of things we usually talk about here.  If you're just here to play lil' Nelson Mandela, securing freedom for all the poor theists who choose to join of their own accord, then I hope you're doing the same on a Catholic or Mormon or Islamic forum concurrently.  

The reason for this forum has been explained to you enough that you have to know why we have it.  If we didn't have the rule, then there would be no reason to keep the forum.  We could just fold it all into General Con and AvT and KewK (which are all lively, fun places to go; check them out and enjoy yourself).  It's not going anywhere, though I get the feeling you will be in the near future, if for nothing else but your own frustration at not being able to get your way.  

 

"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell


Archeopteryx
Superfan
Archeopteryx's picture
Posts: 1037
Joined: 2007-09-09
User is offlineOffline
I really don't understand

I really don't understand what the problem is. I think this is the third person (which I'll emphasize by saying only the third) I have seen complain about this.

I really do not get it. What is the offense? How is it comparable to apartheid or segregation? The very suggestion is absurd, and I would myself only make it if I were looking for a laugh.

Sapient's analogy to the private cabinet meetings or private employee meetings was a good one. There is a reason why I'm not allowed into the staff meetings in the back room of Outback Steakhouse. Sure, I might be interested in knowing what's going on back there, but they need to get shit done that concerns them more than it concerns me. Having me sitting in their meeting throwing around comments and interrupting their conversation with questions would make the meeting completely inefficient and likely a waste of time. This is why the White House has press conferences. They have their meeting, in which they get shit done, and THEN you can ask them questions once the meeting is adjourned.

 

Or suppose we make a different analogy. Two evolutionary biologists are having a very civil debate as colleagues in which one argues that birds descend from a single feathered dinosaur and the other argues that they probably descended from multiple feathered dinosaurs and then converged. This is a very specific debate. Now imagine that Michael Behe demands to be included in this conversation so that he can interject with objections and questions from the ID perspective. He demands that if he is not included in this conversation, then those dirty evolutionists are being segregationists, and they might as well go back to living in the confederate south, because they have such similar attitudes. Right? Right?

But honestly, Michael Behe NEEDS to be excluded from that conversation so that the two evolutionary biologists can work toward a better understanding of their own view, and the view of their colleague, AND THEN they can move on to Michael Behe.

 

It's not segregation because theists are allowed EVERYWHERE on this site. The only way in which they are limited on this board is in their ability to post. They can say whatever they want anywhere else they want, but on this board, theists are only allowed to watch. But they are still allowed to BE HERE.

Is it segregation when you're not allowed to join a basketball game, but you can still stand by and watch?

 

Like it or not, there are certain times and places where people MUST BE excluded. The important difference is WHY they are being excluded.

 

Are we excluding them simply BECAUSE they are theists and we don't like them and don't want them around because we believe they are lesser than us and therefore do not deserve to have conversations in the same place we have them? That would be very segregationist of us.

OR...

Are we excluding them because we're trying to set certain parameters on our discussion that are necessary for more efficiently arriving at the type of output we're looking for? That would be completely normal and not at all segregationist of us. That's just how people get things done in the world.

 

A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.


Vastet
atheistBloggerSuperfan
Vastet's picture
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2006-12-25
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Vastet

Suspect wrote:

Vastet wrote:

Having a private forum within the site is equal to having your own room in the family house. It's a place to escape from opinions and people that you don't necessarily want to deal with all the time.

The fact of the matter is that theists can see the forum, and read within it. If they feel they have something to say about a discussion, they are quite free to post a new topic in any of the other forums to start a more open discussion. There's no reason for them to be able to derail a seperate discussion that doesn't apply to any form of theism. Because of this, there is absolutely no disclusion of anyone regarding that particular forum area.

 

Wait no more:

Laughing out loud

Suspect wrote:

I don't agree with the own room in house idea. Anybody in the house can enter any room and talk with people in that room at any time whatever they believe. It's a good example to explain what you mean though: We all need a break from smething that we don't like. I agree with that. But in the room example you gave, nobody is being forcibly excluded; you're just removing yourself from the situation.

Alright. But entering someone's room without invitation is considered rude at best, illegal at worst. In this particular case, we have removed ourselves from public participation, yet kept the camera's rolling so that people can still see what's going on. Would you perhaps prefer that the forum was removed from the public eye altogether, and continued on in complete secret to anyone who was not an atheist?

 

Suspect wrote:

That's not good enough. That's like apartheid: if this certain group of people want to travel on our bus, they can sit at the back. "See, we're being nice and setting a compromise." they say. But that's not right still. Anybody should eb able to sit anywhere on the bus.

What about the elderly and the handicapped, who tend to have the first 5 seats or so reserved due to their inability to travel to the back of the bus? Consider theists in a similar light. The site itself is the first 5 seats. That forum is the back, where the theist doesn't have the ability to participate because they don't have the ability to participate. Much like the handicapped person simply doesn't have the ability to walk to the back of the bus.

Suspect wrote:
It's as if you're viewing theists as second class citizens.

Well to be quite honest, I often do. Anyone not grounded in reality has no business dictating in any way shape or form to those who are grounded in reality. They also have no business putting their views into policies. I see them as equal to criminals. We don't allow criminals to vote, and we shouldn't allow it from the religious either.

However, I don't for a second believe that such an idea had any foothold in the creation of the forum we're discussing.

Suspect wrote:
 If theists have something to say on a topic they should be able to say it without being forced to start a new topic in a different forum, 'becasue us atheists can't be bothered with your annoying comments'.

If there was any difficulty or restrictions on creating topics I might agree. However, it takes no more time to start a topic than it does to respond to one. If they want to have input enough to devote a couple minutes to a response, then there's nothing stopping them from putting that effort into creating a new topic instead. They can even take a couple extra seconds to copy/paste the dialogue that was happening to continue it in a different way than was happening in the original topic.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:Everybody

Suspect wrote:

Everybody should be allowed to post in every forum on this site despite their beliefs.

Convince Obama to let everyone listen in on Cabinet meetings.  Convince all companies to allow non-employees at employee meetings.  Convince the Vatican to allow a delegation of atheists and radical muslims to listen in on their private meetings.  Convince the Philadelphia Eagles to let me play on the team next year or I cry out segregation!  Then and only then might the argument you've chosen to bring up start to hold a little weight.

 


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
Look, censorship is the

Look, censorship is the silencing of an idea so that it can't be readily heard.  This site doesn't censor.  Anyone can post in AvT or pretty much anywhere else.  For that matter, if a theist wanted to repost an entire post from FTA, they could do it, and theists would be free to comment.   The only thing FTA does is provide a clubhouse for atheists.  We don't hide anything from the theists.  We don't prevent them from commenting about it anywhere else on the boards.

I can't for my life think of any reason why this is anything less than completely reasonable.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
DamnDirtyApe wrote:Suspect,

DamnDirtyApe wrote:

Suspect, do you have anything to talk about other than your displeasure with a rule?  Do you care about the role of religion in politics and education or about science or the mythological qualities of current world religions?  I'm just asking because those are the kinds of things we usually talk about here.  If you're just here to play lil' Nelson Mandela, securing freedom for all the poor theists who choose to join of their own accord, then I hope you're doing the same on a Catholic or Mormon or Islamic forum concurrently.  

The reason for this forum has been explained to you enough that you have to know why we have it.  If we didn't have the rule, then there would be no reason to keep the forum.  We could just fold it all into General Con and AvT and KewK (which are all lively, fun places to go; check them out and enjoy yourself).  It's not going anywhere, though I get the feeling you will be in the near future, if for nothing else but your own frustration at not being able to get your way.  

 

 

I am actually doing the same on a mainly theist board. I think both groups need to be a bit more tolerant of each other. And I do, suprisingly, have other things to talk about. However, this was the first forum I came on, and really feel the rule shouldn't be in place. So i'm fighting this before I take a look round the rest of the forum.


HisWillness
atheistRational VIP!
HisWillness's picture
Posts: 4100
Joined: 2008-02-21
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:That's not

Suspect wrote:
That's not good enough. That's like apartheid: if this certain group of people want to travel on our bus, they can sit at the back.

Okay, hold on. Most of this site is open to theists. ONE part of the site is not. Your analogue does not illustrate the situation, and it's a bit overly dramatic. This is a discussion board on the internet, not a country, and there is no personal or geographical restriction being imposed here. Nobody is being physically forced to the back of a bus, and nobody is dying.

Suspect wrote:
If theists have something to say on a topic they should be able to say it without being forced to start a new topic in a different forum, 'becasue us atheists can't be bothered with your annoying comments'.

The owners of this site are not providing a public service, like bussing, and are not restricting the freedom of anyone in disallowing certain types of discussion on certain parts of the site, so I don't see how they're beholden to your notion of ultimate freedom. Being "forced to start a new topic in a different forum" is not appreciably more difficult than responding to an existing topic, and it's certainly not as upsetting as being forced to sit in only one section of public transit.

Sometimes theists will flood topics with nonsense, and that's allowed everywhere on the site but one place. I don't see your objection as being terribly serious.

Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence


Yaerav
Bronze Member
Posts: 103
Joined: 2008-02-28
User is offlineOffline
I simply like it that there

I simply like it that there is one forum on which I can participate in discussions about life, the universe and everything without some religious whatever barging in and starting to preach.

This is that forum: non-believers (and Luminion   )exchanging thoughts with non-believers. Sorry if you feel offended by that Suspect, but that's how it is.


Suspect
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-02-07
User is offlineOffline
It just seems that tolerance

It just seems that tolerance levels are really low. But agree to disagree. There's too many of you fighting for the same thing for me to even make a dent, so I'll leave it.


Archeopteryx
Superfan
Archeopteryx's picture
Posts: 1037
Joined: 2007-09-09
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:It just seems

Suspect wrote:

It just seems that tolerance levels are really low. But agree to disagree. There's too many of you fighting for the same thing for me to even make a dent, so I'll leave it.

 

And you're too in love with the idea that we're somehow being segregationist to allow any of these perfectly good explanations to make it past your filter, so this is probably the right choice all around.

A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.


aiia
Superfan
aiia's picture
Posts: 1923
Joined: 2006-09-12
User is offlineOffline
Suspect wrote:It just seems

Suspect wrote:

It just seems that tolerance levels are really low. But agree to disagree. There's too many of you fighting for the same thing for me to even make a dent, so I'll leave it.

Its puzzling why you fail to grasp it. Perhaps you are trying to construct a straw man for the purpose of characterizing us?

People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.


Nordmann
atheist
Nordmann's picture
Posts: 904
Joined: 2008-04-02
User is offlineOffline
At the risk of pissing

At the risk of pissing suspect off even more I would suggest that the "closed room" still has too many back doors open into it!

 

A forum reserved for the non-superstitious is an admirable concept, and the obvious hope I assume (I hope) is that it is then populated by rational people with differing perspectives and talents but united by a common respect for rationality.

 

Such is not the case in actuality however and the "free thinkers" forum is often invaded by contributors who think nothing of hijacking a sensible conversation between others and diverting it into a discussion about their own peculiar irrational nonsensical take on the supernatural.

 

The problem arises in part I think from the fact that "free thinker" in the US implies ration and logic whereas in many other parts of the world the definition allows any old thinking at all. On that basis many non-deists (though not necessarily non-theists) from outside the US from time to time conclude that this is the forum especially for them. One in particular has been at it regularly for a year now.

 

I'd suggest the forum's remit be emphasised with a little more emphaticness with regard to woo-woo merchants of all shades. It's great that the bulk of US theists recognise they're not welcome to engage in their usual strategy of hijacking and diverting discussion, but there are still too many others who are slipping through the net!

 

I assume by the way, suspect, that you hold the same attitude towards all "keep out" notices and regularly insist on your right to walk in on people in toilets, baby changing facilities, polling booths, psychiatric counselling sessions, private conversations and sexual congress. Just to mention a few instances of "positive discrimination" which make sense too.

I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy


peppermint
Superfan
peppermint's picture
Posts: 539
Joined: 2006-08-14
User is offlineOffline
Some forums have "admins

Some forums have "admins only" areas. So what? The rules aren't a big deal unless you make them one. You're not obligated to post here.

*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*

"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby


Sapient
High Level DonorRRS CO-FOUNDERRRS Core MemberWebsite Admin
Posts: 7587
Joined: 2006-04-18
User is offlineOffline
peppermint wrote:Some forums

peppermint wrote:

Some forums have "admins only" areas. So what?

I wasn't even going to go in to the 5 or 6 forums we have here that he can't see because he's either not a mod, superfan, or paid subscriber.  :P 


Archeopteryx
Superfan
Archeopteryx's picture
Posts: 1037
Joined: 2007-09-09
User is offlineOffline
Sapient wrote:peppermint

Sapient wrote:

peppermint wrote:

Some forums have "admins only" areas. So what?

I wasn't even going to go in to the 5 or 6 forums we have here that he can't see because he's either not a mod, superfan, or paid subscriber.  :P 

 

Hey, I'm not a mod or a paid subscriber. Why are you being so segregationist and not letting me post there? Furthermore, why did you keep their existence a secret from me up until now?

Help! I'm being oppressed! Violence inherent in the system! Violence inherent in the system!

 

A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.


Vastet
atheistBloggerSuperfan
Vastet's picture
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2006-12-25
User is offlineOffline
I'll show you violence.*kick*

I'll show you violence.

*kick*

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


triften
atheist
triften's picture
Posts: 591
Joined: 2007-01-01
User is offlineOffline
Archeopteryx wrote:Help! I'm

Archeopteryx wrote:

Help! I'm being oppressed! Violence inherent in the system! Violence inherent in the system!

Bloody peasant.


Archeopteryx
Superfan
Archeopteryx's picture
Posts: 1037
Joined: 2007-09-09
User is offlineOffline
triften wrote:Archeopteryx

triften wrote:

Archeopteryx wrote:

Help! I'm being oppressed! Violence inherent in the system! Violence inherent in the system!

Bloody peasant.

 

Did you see him oppressing me just now? You saw it, didn't you!

A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.


Kevin R Brown
Superfan
Kevin R Brown's picture
Posts: 3142
Joined: 2007-06-24
User is offlineOffline
Archeopteryx has been

Archeopteryx has been invited to the Ministry of Truth for a free truth remodulation.

 

Big Brother knows.

Big Brother cares.

Quote:
"Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full."

- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940


Vastet
atheistBloggerSuperfan
Vastet's picture
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2006-12-25
User is offlineOffline
We love you!*kick*We need

We love you!

*kick*

We need you!

*kick*

You are free!

*kick*

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


Archeopteryx
Superfan
Archeopteryx's picture
Posts: 1037
Joined: 2007-09-09
User is offlineOffline
Kevin R Brown

Kevin R Brown wrote:

Archeopteryx has been invited to the Ministry of Truth for a free truth remodulation.

 

Big Brother knows.

Big Brother cares.

 

4 + 1 = 3....

 

4 + 1 = 3...

 

o_O

A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.