Okay, is it just me?

[FiveGoodMen]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x204700

[Warpy]

1. No, you had plenty of company downthread

However, the problem with mud wrestling a pig is that you get all dirty and the pig likes it.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. After I posted, it did occur to me that I could have been more clear

I did see the posters down-thread and I didn't mean to ask whether I was the only one who wanted to weigh in from the non-theist side of things.

I was just terribly frustrated by being told in post after post how stupid I was, trying like crazy to post a reasonable response and then being insulted again.

I meant, "Is it just my impression that I was being more polite and focused than the opposition?"

It came about because a couple of days ago -- after I'd been called an idiot and dishonest -- I snapped back at someone and my post got deleted but the insults were allowed to remain. It struck me as though the moderators where holding me down so the others could take shots at me.

So in the thread I linked to here, I tried very hard to make my points in a civil way and just got nowhere.

I guess I should have just given up, but then how does one ever counter the claims of believers?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Usually, mods will check the other posts in a sub-thread for insults

but sometimes, that gets left out (especially if things are busy) - so only an alerted post ends up deleted, even if others were just as bad. If you feel you've been insulted, but just your own posts have been deleted, it's always worth alerting on the previous posts to get proper attention to them.

[Warpy]

8. One doesn't

It's a losing proposition most of the time. Oh, I'll correct them when they try to define me in their own terms, but that's as far as it goes.

One thing you also need to remember is that the people who get the most defensive in these things are the doubters, and that poster was certainly defensive.

It's best to let them stew. Just one post to correct them is plenty.

[rrneck]

2. Good theology, bad theology

it doesn't matter. If someone is able to live a good life from the study of any sacred text, that just makes them a good person, not a good theologian. They really don't understand anything other than how to be a good person, knowledge that can be gleaned from any number of different sources. And of course, if someone wants to be a sadistic jerk, well they can learn that from a sacred text too.

Just because someone lives a better life doesn't mean a deeper understanding of the mind of a deity, just a deeper understanding of the human condition.

The compartmentalized thinking always shows up sooner or later.

[laconicsax]

3. No.

It's a new claim--bad theology. As if that meant anything.

Since when is

¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Bad theology?

You have to love the endless ad hominem though. Nothing says, "I can't support my argument" like using "you're an ass" as a response.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Yeah, it was the constant personal zingers that were getting to me.

[laconicsax]

6. They came so fast and sounded so scripted that they were hard to take personally.

"I think that A or B"
"Asshole!"

"I think X and Y"
"You don't know anything about me all! White-Supremacist!"