Although I think that this thread devolved into personal attacks, and that Roark did come off "prickish" in his initial post, the whole "Nimrod of the Week/AssHat Avatar" thing is a bit... much. Seriously, so what if he critiqued Rook? Yea he came off snobbish, but the name-calling wasn't started by him. Credentials don't mean shit to me as far as a persons' theorizing goes, but knee-jerk name-calling and taunting aren't really neccessary. Especially when the point of RRS is to get as many people listening as possible; name-calling closes doors, not opens them. It would have been just as effective, if not more so, if instead of flipping out it was stated that:

-Rook is working with Richard Carrier.
-He does indeed know his shit.
-He almost has a PhD.
-Listen to the show if you think he knows nothing.

I'm not siding with anyone obviously. I'm just pointing out some observations. Roark came off like a snob, but he still made inquiries that could have been answered without alienating him. But Roark could have come off less pompous and could have inquired without alienating himself in the end. Still, the schoolyard name-calling is a poor reflection on a rational group, no?

:smt096

-=Grim=-

Although I respect what you are saying Grim, I also want you and everyone else here to understand something. This is really about me, personally. I am very hot-tmpered about ome things in a debate. I can be cool headed most of the time, but I do not stand for dishonesty. Dishonesty is my number one pet peeve, because I have seen what the full force of dishonesty can do to people. A lot of my friends are in Iraq and Afganistan and too many of my friends have already come back - in a box.

When it comes to dishonest people I feel a need to make sure that not only ar their lies exposed but also their pride broken. I do this as a way of teaching them a lesson...lying will always come around and bite you in the ass. And I make it my personal mission to irradicate such irrational things such as lying off the planet.

Also I don't just "name-call" but I use specific words to make my point crystal clear. For example: Nimrod...somebody who, in the Bible, was a great hunter, but is also a word used for soldier. To me, the corelation here is that Roark came off as a nimrod for Christ, and for irrationality, and hense the name. The ass-hat designation was used because he came off attacking me personally in his very first post. There was no need for that.

Had, in all honesty, Roark simply asked me the questions without the insults and personal attacks, I would have answered in kind, but respect is something nobody should give freely, it is something that is to be earned.

Again, I understand your point, but also see mine.

Gotcha.

Funny, I knew about nimrod meaning soldier and foolish, but the "hunter" thing I didn't know about. I guess this proves the point that even angry threads can enlighten the masses. LOL.

I should point out that the "goal to nab as many listeners as possible" was my interpretation, or a manifestation of my wishes. I guess I'm in Sam Harris' boat, where I want everyone talking about this shit, just so we can finally debunk it or accept that some people are... nimrods.

-=Grim=-

No, genius, we were waiting for his evidence. You're an even dumber douche than I thought.

If you don't like it feel quite free to leave. You're already the Nimrod of the week.

Yes, funny how some of us actually do give a shit about helping the world see through its fairytales and delusions. Yeah, something about KNOWING the truth, you sort of want to help other people see it (although I try not to impose), and of course PROTECT yourself to your rights (stem cell, abortion controversies, 9/11, Danish cartoon controversy, other ludicrous and cruel consequences of ridiculous beliefs we impose on ourselves). Hm, guess we're all just egomaniacs... oh well, if you ever decide to climb off your high horse you might read Sam Harris's The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. Not, of course, that you seem likely to ever do either of those.

And ever-so-humble about it, and so eloquently demonstrative of it too... and all the insults and ad homs and acting like a complete and total "asshat" proved it quite altogether. :roll: Adieu, you pretentious sack of shit.

Cheers bro.

I hope you enjoyed the show.

You sound jealous.  

But they beg an awful lot of questions... and every generation's task is to question those assumptions.... and thankfully, every generation, one or two fall.....

And some generations bring down an entire shelf....