namecalling: watch your mouth July 21, 2006 8:42 PM Subscribe
Metafilter: a generation of irrational, prinitive nincompoops, people who habitually spout indolent, fallacious arsedribble, fucking idiots, dreadful, ignorant, piss-witted religious apologists, fucking pathetic, whining, retrograde imbeciles... Fuck you vermin. Fuck you; you disgrace humanity.
Spewing profanity so the rest of us don't have to. Usually.
posted by bob sarabia at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by bob sarabia at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2006
Metafilter: fallacious arsedribble
posted by IronLizard at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by IronLizard at 8:45 PM on July 21, 2006
You make us evil people look bad.
posted by IronLizard at 8:57 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by IronLizard at 8:57 PM on July 21, 2006
Well, as someone who regularly rolls his eyes at the bend-over-backwards forbearance given to arguments from faith in the political realm, I have to say Decani has some serious father figure in the sky issues. He may want to examine that.
posted by mediareport at 9:05 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by mediareport at 9:05 PM on July 21, 2006
You forgot shameful cuntslime.
posted by cillit bang at 9:06 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 9:06 PM on July 21, 2006
Decani may need to sleep it off, or something. He's done for tonight. We'll check back in with him tomorrow.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:06 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:06 PM on July 21, 2006
You're coming late to the party if you're just now figuring out that Decani gots issues. I'm sure there's some horrific personal history behind it (it's hard to imagine that level of vitriol occurring without it) but I've come to the conclusion that I gives a fuck. Words will never hurt me. Rant on, you crazy diamond.
posted by nanojath at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by nanojath at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2006
that's one way to prove that he's more rational than other people isn't it?
posted by pyramid termite at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by pyramid termite at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2006
Clearly a religious person trying to make athiests look bad. You are not fooling me!
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 9:08 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 9:08 PM on July 21, 2006
And yes I spelled it wrong. Oh well.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2006
I'm shocked that it took 13 and a half hours to go from post to callout. I'm disappointed in you guys, frankly.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:17 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:17 PM on July 21, 2006
These aborted flameouts take a great deal of effort to put together.
posted by IronLizard at 9:21 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by IronLizard at 9:21 PM on July 21, 2006
Aborted Flameouts was the name of my kazoo band in high school.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:27 PM on July 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:27 PM on July 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
ouch.
posted by exlotuseater at 9:32 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by exlotuseater at 9:32 PM on July 21, 2006
Now I really want to record a song set to kazoo music... "Oh if I had an anus... I'd kazoo in the morning... I'd kazoo in the evening... all over this laaand..." and post it on Music. But since I started the damn thread about whether covers are legit there I think I'll go to bed instead.
posted by nanojath at 9:33 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by nanojath at 9:33 PM on July 21, 2006
But still, God loves us all and Decani too (or something).
posted by Carbolic at 9:44 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Carbolic at 9:44 PM on July 21, 2006
I am imagining the above screeds being shouted by this Camp Quest attendee. In fact I suspect that Decani may be a counselor there.
posted by whir at 9:45 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by whir at 9:45 PM on July 21, 2006
I'm sure in person that all sounds quite charming in a British accent.
posted by klangklangston at 10:08 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by klangklangston at 10:08 PM on July 21, 2006
I feel sure that if God existed he'd agree with every word of it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:24 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:24 PM on July 21, 2006
I thought it was well-written, and I don't think he was being disingenuous or trollling. Fave'd.
What's the point of this callout? Are we all supposed to get along?
posted by Space Coyote at 10:33 PM on July 21, 2006
What's the point of this callout? Are we all supposed to get along?
posted by Space Coyote at 10:33 PM on July 21, 2006
Thanks. That was amusing. But it was a bit over the top attacking Krrrlson for his consonants.
posted by peacay at 10:37 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by peacay at 10:37 PM on July 21, 2006
Yeha, attacking the riot krrrl movement was unnecessary. :)
posted by Space Coyote at 10:42 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Space Coyote at 10:42 PM on July 21, 2006
I feel sure that if God existed he'd agree with every word of it.
I don't see why not. He did, after all, create cunt slime.
posted by shmegegge at 10:45 PM on July 21, 2006
I don't see why not. He did, after all, create cunt slime.
posted by shmegegge at 10:45 PM on July 21, 2006
I'm pretty sure that cunt slime comes from the devil.
posted by Carbolic at 11:16 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Carbolic at 11:16 PM on July 21, 2006
This thing's starting to take a rather misogynist tack...
posted by scheptech at 11:20 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by scheptech at 11:20 PM on July 21, 2006
Slime is female?
posted by Space Coyote at 11:25 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Space Coyote at 11:25 PM on July 21, 2006
.. who's being misogynistic, now? hee.
posted by Space Coyote at 11:25 PM on July 21, 2006
posted by Space Coyote at 11:25 PM on July 21, 2006
So?
Decani expressed his opinion. Except for calling Krrrlson (himself little more than a serial troll) a fucking idiot, which while well-deserved wasn't gentlemanly, Decani didn't personally attack anybody here (as thirteenkiller's callout implies).
It's not like Decani, oh for instance, flew a plane into a building, or called a desperate unwed mother a whore and a baby-killer, or showed his belief in the sanctity of life by shooting a doctor, or even screamed insults at a murdered gay teen's funeral.
Why, Decani didn't even knock on people's doors to threaten them with an eternity of torment in a lake of fire and brimstone if they failed to worship his God.
Now, I fully support the right of anybody to go around claiming that their omnipotent, onmnibeneficent God requires the eternal damnation of babies who through their own fault manage to die unbaptized. Or that Jesus's love means Jews go to Hell. Or that two gay people who love each other should be thrown in jail prior to being thrown in The Pit. Everyone, no matter how vile his belief, should be free to proclaim it.
And indeed I have the deepest respect for another sort of believer, those who when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, or who believe that he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack or who tell us that blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. Believers like those serve as an example to all and make the world a better place, I firmly believe.
But I really can't get too worked up that after a lifetime of being told, by those other believers made smug by being "saved", of his certain damnation, Decani didn't hold back his opinion of them.
For those of you believers who might feel the need to upbraid Decani, well, you're entitled to proclaim that too, of course. And I encourage you to proselytize your fellow believers with your desire for civility next time they're "doing Jesus's work" ginning up donations by claiming there's a "war" on Christmas, or by harassing patients at an abortion clinic or screaming about "fags" at a "defense" of marriage rally, or even by insulting atheists in this very thread and posting three weeks of proselytizing and smug smirking at atheists on MetaFilter.
posted by orthogonality at 11:35 PM on July 21, 2006 [14 favorites]
Decani expressed his opinion. Except for calling Krrrlson (himself little more than a serial troll) a fucking idiot, which while well-deserved wasn't gentlemanly, Decani didn't personally attack anybody here (as thirteenkiller's callout implies).
It's not like Decani, oh for instance, flew a plane into a building, or called a desperate unwed mother a whore and a baby-killer, or showed his belief in the sanctity of life by shooting a doctor, or even screamed insults at a murdered gay teen's funeral.
Why, Decani didn't even knock on people's doors to threaten them with an eternity of torment in a lake of fire and brimstone if they failed to worship his God.
Now, I fully support the right of anybody to go around claiming that their omnipotent, onmnibeneficent God requires the eternal damnation of babies who through their own fault manage to die unbaptized. Or that Jesus's love means Jews go to Hell. Or that two gay people who love each other should be thrown in jail prior to being thrown in The Pit. Everyone, no matter how vile his belief, should be free to proclaim it.
And indeed I have the deepest respect for another sort of believer, those who when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, or who believe that he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack or who tell us that blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. Believers like those serve as an example to all and make the world a better place, I firmly believe.
But I really can't get too worked up that after a lifetime of being told, by those other believers made smug by being "saved", of his certain damnation, Decani didn't hold back his opinion of them.
For those of you believers who might feel the need to upbraid Decani, well, you're entitled to proclaim that too, of course. And I encourage you to proselytize your fellow believers with your desire for civility next time they're "doing Jesus's work" ginning up donations by claiming there's a "war" on Christmas, or by harassing patients at an abortion clinic or screaming about "fags" at a "defense" of marriage rally, or even by insulting atheists in this very thread and posting three weeks of proselytizing and smug smirking at atheists on MetaFilter.
posted by orthogonality at 11:35 PM on July 21, 2006 [14 favorites]
This seems like as good a place as any to mention rinkjustice, who's been using AskMe as his personal church for a while now. "Fornication is a grievious sin and an abomination in the eyes of God" aimed at someone looking for help overcoming leftover religious shame about sex - which they said they knew wasn't a bad thing - is perhaps my favorite.
posted by mediareport at 11:54 PM on July 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by mediareport at 11:54 PM on July 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Decani went over the top, but I've had very similar tirades -- but not on the blue, where I generally try to avoid religious topics, albeit not always successfully -- that I wasn't proud of the next day. He was funny though, you have to give him that much.
Didn't really expect much better from an atheist.
See, that was funny too, but not as funny as Decani's rants.
posted by Devils Slide at 12:50 AM on July 22, 2006
Didn't really expect much better from an atheist.
See, that was funny too, but not as funny as Decani's rants.
posted by Devils Slide at 12:50 AM on July 22, 2006
mediareport, in fairness to rinkjustice, two of the askme threads you mention explicitly involved religion and a third involved AA which is (arguably) tangentially related (higher power and all that). The other one looks like genuine, sincere advice to me, albeit not advice I'd personally cotton to.
It is a mystery to me why so many of my fellow atheists seem so thin-skinned about the whole atheism thing - every post on mefi involving God seems to wind up in the same flame fest.
posted by whir at 1:15 AM on July 22, 2006
It is a mystery to me why so many of my fellow atheists seem so thin-skinned about the whole atheism thing - every post on mefi involving God seems to wind up in the same flame fest.
posted by whir at 1:15 AM on July 22, 2006
Clearly a religious person trying to make athiests look bad. You are not fooling me!
Well, if that's the case, he's doing a damn good job of it, I have to say. I'm not religious, but I've read enough recent history that I just don't find rhetoric calling whole groups of people "subhuman vermin" to be cool or funny at all, no matter who says it, or how much I might sympathize with them otherwise. (Yes, I know he said he would never harm anyone, and yes, I believe him, but a belief that whole groups of people are "subhuman vermin" to me falls in the category of "things you really do not want large numbers of people believing.")
What's the point of this callout? Are we all supposed to get along?
Disagreement, argument, and passionate feelings are all well and good, but my impression is that there's a limit to how over the top and hate-filled you can get about anybody on this site before the admins step in. And that post was nothing if not those things. He went after a group most people on Metafilter don't have fond feelings for, so he has a bunch of defenders here and got just a brief time-out, but if someone here hurled invective like that at Zionists, for example, they probably would have gotten a perma-ban, and I don't think many people here would have a problem with that. I certainly wouldn't. (I'm not arguing Decani should be banned, by the way- I might given him a slightly longer time-out, but I think what he got was basically appropriate. I just think there's a bit of a double standard, which I admittedly share to an extent.)
Now, you can argue that the admins should be more lenient about this kind of thing. I wouldn't agree with that, as I think it would just end up making Metafilter more like Usenet, but I think it's a principled argument, as long as you would be willing to argue that a mirror-universe Christian fundamentalist Decani who called atheists "subhuman vermin" wouldn't warrant admin intervention either.
posted by a louis wain cat at 1:25 AM on July 22, 2006
Well, if that's the case, he's doing a damn good job of it, I have to say. I'm not religious, but I've read enough recent history that I just don't find rhetoric calling whole groups of people "subhuman vermin" to be cool or funny at all, no matter who says it, or how much I might sympathize with them otherwise. (Yes, I know he said he would never harm anyone, and yes, I believe him, but a belief that whole groups of people are "subhuman vermin" to me falls in the category of "things you really do not want large numbers of people believing.")
What's the point of this callout? Are we all supposed to get along?
Disagreement, argument, and passionate feelings are all well and good, but my impression is that there's a limit to how over the top and hate-filled you can get about anybody on this site before the admins step in. And that post was nothing if not those things. He went after a group most people on Metafilter don't have fond feelings for, so he has a bunch of defenders here and got just a brief time-out, but if someone here hurled invective like that at Zionists, for example, they probably would have gotten a perma-ban, and I don't think many people here would have a problem with that. I certainly wouldn't. (I'm not arguing Decani should be banned, by the way- I might given him a slightly longer time-out, but I think what he got was basically appropriate. I just think there's a bit of a double standard, which I admittedly share to an extent.)
Now, you can argue that the admins should be more lenient about this kind of thing. I wouldn't agree with that, as I think it would just end up making Metafilter more like Usenet, but I think it's a principled argument, as long as you would be willing to argue that a mirror-universe Christian fundamentalist Decani who called atheists "subhuman vermin" wouldn't warrant admin intervention either.
posted by a louis wain cat at 1:25 AM on July 22, 2006
Seconding a louis wain cat. While Decani's insults were impressively creative, they weren't getting the thread anywhere. Perhaps because I am not strongly in either camp on this issue, Decani's rhethoric mainly struck me as colossally ineffective--perfect for alienating the people you disagree with and causing the people you agree with to quietly sidle away.
Perhaps the militant atheists around here could take a cue from the better evangelists--try to get people to see your side of things rather than insulting them and belittling them.
If I see another comment about "invisible superhero in the sky" I think I'm going to throw up.
*Prepares to throw up*
posted by lackutrol at 1:46 AM on July 22, 2006
Perhaps the militant atheists around here could take a cue from the better evangelists--try to get people to see your side of things rather than insulting them and belittling them.
If I see another comment about "invisible superhero in the sky" I think I'm going to throw up.
*Prepares to throw up*
posted by lackutrol at 1:46 AM on July 22, 2006
a louis wain cat writes "as long as you would be willing to argue that a mirror-universe Christian fundamentalist Decani who called atheists 'subhuman vermin' wouldn't warrant admin intervention either."
So what if mirror-universe Christian fundamentalist Decani, instead of calling atheists 'subhuman vermin', just called them 'grievous sin[ners] ... [whose actions are] an abomination in the eyes of God' and told them they deserved the punishment of literally burning in agony for eternity, cast 'into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched... every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.' (Mark 9:43-49) where 'their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh' (Isaiah 66:24)?
Or said that of non-believers that 'they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall [non-believers] seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. (Revelations of St. John the Divine 9:5-6)?
These must be great improvements on 'subhuman vermin', because some believers seem never to tire of repeating them. Indeed, they call compilations of these threats of unending torture a "Holy Book".
But at least no one is called 'subhuman vermin', right?
a louis wain cat also writes "(I'm not arguing Decani should be banned, by the way- I might given him a slightly longer time-out, but I think what he got was basically appropriate. I just think there's a bit of a double standard, which I admittedly share to an extent.)"
Decani explicitly disavowed any violence against those that he called subhuman vermin, but someone else, like someone named God, might insist that "thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones, ... shalt thou take unto thyself; .... But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them.... (Deuteronomy, 20:13-17).
So this God guy, how long a time-out would you give Him?
posted by orthogonality at 2:08 AM on July 22, 2006
So what if mirror-universe Christian fundamentalist Decani, instead of calling atheists 'subhuman vermin', just called them 'grievous sin[ners] ... [whose actions are] an abomination in the eyes of God' and told them they deserved the punishment of literally burning in agony for eternity, cast 'into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched... every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.' (Mark 9:43-49) where 'their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh' (Isaiah 66:24)?
Or said that of non-believers that 'they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall [non-believers] seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. (Revelations of St. John the Divine 9:5-6)?
These must be great improvements on 'subhuman vermin', because some believers seem never to tire of repeating them. Indeed, they call compilations of these threats of unending torture a "Holy Book".
But at least no one is called 'subhuman vermin', right?
a louis wain cat also writes "(I'm not arguing Decani should be banned, by the way- I might given him a slightly longer time-out, but I think what he got was basically appropriate. I just think there's a bit of a double standard, which I admittedly share to an extent.)"
Decani explicitly disavowed any violence against those that he called subhuman vermin, but someone else, like someone named God, might insist that "thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones, ... shalt thou take unto thyself; .... But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them.... (Deuteronomy, 20:13-17).
So this God guy, how long a time-out would you give Him?
posted by orthogonality at 2:08 AM on July 22, 2006
Decani may need to sleep it off, or something. He's done for tonight. We'll check back in with him tomorrow.
posted by jessamyn at 9:06 PM PST on July 21
Jessamyn, I love you, but that's bullshit. By the way, bevets has been spamming the same identical comment over and over for the past couple months; it equates pro-choicers to cold-blooded murderers. So if you and Matt are cool with that, then timing out Decani - even for a night - is totally hypocritical.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:32 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn at 9:06 PM PST on July 21
Jessamyn, I love you, but that's bullshit. By the way, bevets has been spamming the same identical comment over and over for the past couple months; it equates pro-choicers to cold-blooded murderers. So if you and Matt are cool with that, then timing out Decani - even for a night - is totally hypocritical.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:32 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Great rant. Would read again.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:34 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:34 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
At the risk of being sucked into something I'd rather not be, I have to call dirty pool on you, orthogonality.
grievous sin[ners] ... [whose actions are] an abomination in the eyes of God'
This is a quote from rinkjustice (who was a totally extraneous callout, not that I'm his/her personal protector or anything).
'the fire that never shall be quenched... edge of the sword... they should be tormented five months... smite every male thereof...' etc
These are quotes from the bible which you rather arbitrarily grafted on to rinkjustice's other quotes.
I'm no defender of the unambiguous moral message of the bible, having read bits of it, but just because someone professes to be a theist, or even a Christian doesn't mean that they ascribe to every dirty deed committed in the bible (especially Revelations, Deuteronomy, and Isiah, FFS - what, do room for the story of Lot?). That's guilt by association.
OTOH, I will be the first in line to condemn a mefite who professes
posted by whir at 2:55 AM on July 22, 2006
grievous sin[ners] ... [whose actions are] an abomination in the eyes of God'
This is a quote from rinkjustice (who was a totally extraneous callout, not that I'm his/her personal protector or anything).
'the fire that never shall be quenched... edge of the sword... they should be tormented five months... smite every male thereof...' etc
These are quotes from the bible which you rather arbitrarily grafted on to rinkjustice's other quotes.
I'm no defender of the unambiguous moral message of the bible, having read bits of it, but just because someone professes to be a theist, or even a Christian doesn't mean that they ascribe to every dirty deed committed in the bible (especially Revelations, Deuteronomy, and Isiah, FFS - what, do room for the story of Lot?). That's guilt by association.
OTOH, I will be the first in line to condemn a mefite who professes
posted by whir at 2:55 AM on July 22, 2006
(er, "no room".) And the end of that sentence was supposed to read "professes a belief in killing the Pharaoh's firstborn." Stupid enter key! WHY MUST YOU CURSE ME GOD?
posted by whir at 2:58 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by whir at 2:58 AM on July 22, 2006
"Cuntslime." That was pretty good.
I prefer "Girlie-Cum" myself though. It's a unique substance to say the least.
posted by bardic at 3:11 AM on July 22, 2006
I prefer "Girlie-Cum" myself though. It's a unique substance to say the least.
posted by bardic at 3:11 AM on July 22, 2006
And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them - 1 Kings 8:50
Look, I can quote the Bible too!
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:01 AM on July 22, 2006
Look, I can quote the Bible too!
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:01 AM on July 22, 2006
Hurrah for Decani!
posted by Joeforking at 4:10 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by Joeforking at 4:10 AM on July 22, 2006
Decani was what prompted me to install Mondo Meta several months ago, and Mefi has been much more pleasant ever since.
posted by Bugbread at 5:24 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 5:24 AM on July 22, 2006
Orthogonality- I wasn't debating Christianity vs. atheism, just what's appropriate for Metafilter. If mirror-universe Decani came onto Metafilter and starting spouting those scriptures at everyone? Yeah, I think it would be entirely appropriate to show him the door. And no, I would have no problem with bevets getting timed-out or banned. (I'm surprised it hasn't already happened to him for being basically a spammer, actually.) I just somehow doubt that "LGF for atheists" is the direction that Matt and Jess want the site to go, and it's certainly not the direction I'd like to see it take.
As I said, I'm not religious. I think the Christian concept of hell is one of the most horrifying things the human mind has ever conceived of. I have lots of problems with Christianity in general. I greatly dislike the Christian fundamentalist movement and am frightened and disgusted by their growing power in the US. None of that is really the point here. To be sure, I'm not really in agreement with most of the commentary in religion threads here(I tend to agree with languagehat when he weighs in on them), but I'd like to think that even if I were as actively anti-religious as the average denizen of Metafilter, that I still would have a problem with the "subhuman vermin" line. That's the call-out worthy problem, as far as I'm concerned, not the beliefs of who said it or those of who they aimed it at.
As for the quote from Deuteronomy and how long I would make God's time-out, well, I think I might go with a perma-ban on that one. I think advocating genocide warrants that, if anything does. In regards to what that part of the Bible says about Christians in general, though, I'm too tired to get into it at the moment, so I'll just second what whir said.
posted by a louis wain cat at 5:31 AM on July 22, 2006
As I said, I'm not religious. I think the Christian concept of hell is one of the most horrifying things the human mind has ever conceived of. I have lots of problems with Christianity in general. I greatly dislike the Christian fundamentalist movement and am frightened and disgusted by their growing power in the US. None of that is really the point here. To be sure, I'm not really in agreement with most of the commentary in religion threads here(I tend to agree with languagehat when he weighs in on them), but I'd like to think that even if I were as actively anti-religious as the average denizen of Metafilter, that I still would have a problem with the "subhuman vermin" line. That's the call-out worthy problem, as far as I'm concerned, not the beliefs of who said it or those of who they aimed it at.
As for the quote from Deuteronomy and how long I would make God's time-out, well, I think I might go with a perma-ban on that one. I think advocating genocide warrants that, if anything does. In regards to what that part of the Bible says about Christians in general, though, I'm too tired to get into it at the moment, so I'll just second what whir said.
posted by a louis wain cat at 5:31 AM on July 22, 2006
Just for this thread, I'm going to church tomorrow.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 5:35 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 5:35 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Jessamyn, I love you, but that's bullshit.
Matt's been leaning more towards temporary timeouts for people who tell people to fuck off and other sorts of other aggro hostility lately. To be honest, once someone's over the top ranting makes it into MetaTalk (as opposed to just the flag queue) it's much harder to just remove the comments. Giving someone a few hours off who seems to be unable to keep their invective-spewing to themselves is a stopgap. Decani can follow up in this thread if he wants to.
if you and Matt are cool with that, then timing out Decani - even for a night - is totally hypocritical.
Bevets is a different kind of annoyance to the site and a topic for another MeTa thread. There is almost no way to compare one sort of pain in the ass poster to another as far as how they are treated and draw some conclusions about evenhanded applications of policy. The aggro-atheists and the aggro-fundies both do the site a disservice when they start ranting and stop discussing and the way they both feel they're walking the righteous path makes these sorts of threads frequently insufferable and often sadly similar to any other thread about atheism that has gone before them.
Turn the other cheek, motherfuckers.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:37 AM on July 22, 2006 [4 favorites]
Matt's been leaning more towards temporary timeouts for people who tell people to fuck off and other sorts of other aggro hostility lately. To be honest, once someone's over the top ranting makes it into MetaTalk (as opposed to just the flag queue) it's much harder to just remove the comments. Giving someone a few hours off who seems to be unable to keep their invective-spewing to themselves is a stopgap. Decani can follow up in this thread if he wants to.
if you and Matt are cool with that, then timing out Decani - even for a night - is totally hypocritical.
Bevets is a different kind of annoyance to the site and a topic for another MeTa thread. There is almost no way to compare one sort of pain in the ass poster to another as far as how they are treated and draw some conclusions about evenhanded applications of policy. The aggro-atheists and the aggro-fundies both do the site a disservice when they start ranting and stop discussing and the way they both feel they're walking the righteous path makes these sorts of threads frequently insufferable and often sadly similar to any other thread about atheism that has gone before them.
Turn the other cheek, motherfuckers.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:37 AM on July 22, 2006 [4 favorites]
You lost me at 'turn the other cheek, motherfuckers". What's that about? Not that I groked the original post - what was that about - motherfucker. Motherfucker again.
posted by tellurian at 6:52 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by tellurian at 6:52 AM on July 22, 2006
Perhaps the militant atheists around here could take a cue from the better evangelists--try to get people to see your side of things rather than insulting them and belittling them.
I've been saying that for years, but it ain't gonna happen. These people enjoy insulting other people much more than they would enjoy changing their minds. And I've been ignoring Decani for a long time, because that shit gets old fast.
posted by languagehat at 7:20 AM on July 22, 2006
I've been saying that for years, but it ain't gonna happen. These people enjoy insulting other people much more than they would enjoy changing their minds. And I've been ignoring Decani for a long time, because that shit gets old fast.
posted by languagehat at 7:20 AM on July 22, 2006
temporary timeouts for people who tell people to fuck off and other sorts of other aggro hostility lately.
So I assume Baby_Balrog is on t/o as well?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:27 AM on July 22, 2006
So I assume Baby_Balrog is on t/o as well?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:27 AM on July 22, 2006
"It's not like Decani, oh for instance, flew a plane into a building, or called a desperate unwed mother a whore and a baby-killer, or showed his belief in the sanctity of life by shooting a doctor, or even screamed insults at a murdered gay teen's funeral."
Or construct tortured straw men to shore up purple profanity from an ideological ally! He's a saint!
posted by klangklangston at 8:44 AM on July 22, 2006
Or construct tortured straw men to shore up purple profanity from an ideological ally! He's a saint!
posted by klangklangston at 8:44 AM on July 22, 2006
Turn the other cheek, motherfuckers.
I want this on a tshirt.
Also, for what it's worth, Decani's occasional psychotically eloquent antifundy rants are one of my favorite things at Mefi. Yeah I know he goes over the top, but in a society so soaked in religion, where you have to sit through invocations at political events and sometimes feel you have to whisper "atheist" like it's a dirty word, it's nice to hear someone spout off so vehemently.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:03 AM on July 22, 2006
I want this on a tshirt.
Also, for what it's worth, Decani's occasional psychotically eloquent antifundy rants are one of my favorite things at Mefi. Yeah I know he goes over the top, but in a society so soaked in religion, where you have to sit through invocations at political events and sometimes feel you have to whisper "atheist" like it's a dirty word, it's nice to hear someone spout off so vehemently.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:03 AM on July 22, 2006
Decani's always been a huge douchebag, these recent posts aren't really much different than his usual Tourette's-like spewings.
One thing you can say about him though - his rants are usually so over-the-top stupid that nobody really responds to him, so they never derail the discussion too much.
posted by Arch_Stanton at 9:23 AM on July 22, 2006
One thing you can say about him though - his rants are usually so over-the-top stupid that nobody really responds to him, so they never derail the discussion too much.
posted by Arch_Stanton at 9:23 AM on July 22, 2006
Woot, orthogonality is out of his shell to trot out accusations of proselytizing against me once again! Everytime that happens, an angel gets its wings.
posted by brownpau at 9:29 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by brownpau at 9:29 AM on July 22, 2006
i marked it as a favorite--and he didn't say all of Metafilter was those things.
posted by amberglow at 9:38 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by amberglow at 9:38 AM on July 22, 2006
Turn the other cheek, motherfuckers.
And with that comment Jess becomes my own personal Jesus.
posted by SteveInMaine at 9:44 AM on July 22, 2006
And with that comment Jess becomes my own personal Jesus.
posted by SteveInMaine at 9:44 AM on July 22, 2006
Except for calling Krrrlson (himself little more than a serial troll) a fucking idiot, which while well-deserved wasn't gentlemanly, Decani didn't personally attack anybody here (as thirteenkiller's callout implies).
To help my nervous temperament, my psychiatrist recommended that I try and envision myself in a world consisting entirely of people who agree with me on the one hand, and trolls and fucking idiots on the other. Sadly, I just can't seem to put myself in that state of mind. What's your secret?
posted by Krrrlson at 9:55 AM on July 22, 2006
To help my nervous temperament, my psychiatrist recommended that I try and envision myself in a world consisting entirely of people who agree with me on the one hand, and trolls and fucking idiots on the other. Sadly, I just can't seem to put myself in that state of mind. What's your secret?
posted by Krrrlson at 9:55 AM on July 22, 2006
Well-formed, swearing rants are good. Pissy venting* is just boring. For me, 95% of Decani's work in that thread comes under the former so I'm happy, although I've always considered 'cuntslime' to be a good thing.
And Jessamyn is one bad ass librarian...
* Ref. I consider it one of my internet achievements that a google for this term gives me the #1 spot.
posted by i_cola at 9:59 AM on July 22, 2006
And Jessamyn is one bad ass librarian...
* Ref. I consider it one of my internet achievements that a google for this term gives me the #1 spot.
posted by i_cola at 9:59 AM on July 22, 2006
Ast least we now have evidence that religious types don't have an exclusive lock on self-righteous, frothing, lunatic jeremiads.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:15 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:15 AM on July 22, 2006
Turn the other cheek, motherfuckers.
*Clutches face, screams like a Beatles fan*
posted by everichon at 10:46 AM on July 22, 2006
*Clutches face, screams like a Beatles fan*
posted by everichon at 10:46 AM on July 22, 2006
That's just descani being descani. Only someone who is so extreme in their views as to be blind that descani is bad for metafilter would approve of his drivel, and those members who approve of his childish behavior are predictable as always.
Off topic, nice to see you back ortho. Mefi has been lacking in the 'crazy' department lately.
posted by justgary at 10:47 AM on July 22, 2006
Off topic, nice to see you back ortho. Mefi has been lacking in the 'crazy' department lately.
posted by justgary at 10:47 AM on July 22, 2006
Yeah I know he goes over the top, but in a society so soaked in religion, where you have to sit through invocations at political events and sometimes feel you have to whisper "atheist" like it's a dirty word, it's nice to hear someone spout off so vehemently.
People keep saying things like this, and I still don't understand it. MetaFilter is not "a society so soaked in religion" (presumably you have America in mind), it is not even part of America, it is a little international (if US-centric) internet community chock-full of atheists and lefties. To holler "Christians suck! There is no god!" around here is exactly like hollering "Praise Jesus!" at a revival meeting. It may not be cowardly, but it's certainly neither brave nor praiseworthy. If Decani or any of his fellow Tourette-atheists have the guts to do their ranting at a fundie rally and film the results, I'd be delighted to see it as a MeFi post. Until then, I really don't see why they can't keep a civil tongue in their head.
posted by languagehat at 11:16 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
People keep saying things like this, and I still don't understand it. MetaFilter is not "a society so soaked in religion" (presumably you have America in mind), it is not even part of America, it is a little international (if US-centric) internet community chock-full of atheists and lefties. To holler "Christians suck! There is no god!" around here is exactly like hollering "Praise Jesus!" at a revival meeting. It may not be cowardly, but it's certainly neither brave nor praiseworthy. If Decani or any of his fellow Tourette-atheists have the guts to do their ranting at a fundie rally and film the results, I'd be delighted to see it as a MeFi post. Until then, I really don't see why they can't keep a civil tongue in their head.
posted by languagehat at 11:16 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
I really don't see why they can't keep a civil tongue in their head.
Because literally anything is better than 200 more comments of theists claiming that atheism is logically untenable, atheists claiming that agnosticism is logically untenable and that theism is weak-minded cowardice, and agnostics smugly referencing South Park and worshipping at the altar of the Reasonable Middle Ground. I'll take a bevets spam or a Decani freakout over those any day.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:27 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Because literally anything is better than 200 more comments of theists claiming that atheism is logically untenable, atheists claiming that agnosticism is logically untenable and that theism is weak-minded cowardice, and agnostics smugly referencing South Park and worshipping at the altar of the Reasonable Middle Ground. I'll take a bevets spam or a Decani freakout over those any day.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:27 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
I don't mean that Mefi is soaked in religion, I mean most of America is, and I find it refreshing to hear people here yell "there is no God" now and again. Then again, I've had to sit through a fuckload of invocations lately and they make me cranky.
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:30 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:30 AM on July 22, 2006
Fucking exactly, languagehat. My number one problem with Decani is that he's boring. Wow, you can really string them delightfully English profanities along.
(I no longer have any problem with the fact that he or anyone like him holds me in utter contempt because he thinks he knows what I believe - what a waste of time).
posted by nanojath at 11:31 AM on July 22, 2006
(I no longer have any problem with the fact that he or anyone like him holds me in utter contempt because he thinks he knows what I believe - what a waste of time).
posted by nanojath at 11:31 AM on July 22, 2006
I like how justgary speaks with weary authority about someone whose name he can't spell.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:38 AM on July 22, 2006
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:38 AM on July 22, 2006
To holler "Christians suck! There is no god!" around here is exactly like hollering "Praise Jesus!" at a revival meeting.
Except that nobody at the revival meeting is going to stand up and start yelling contrary opinions. Unless the revival meetings you go to are very different from the ones I've seen described. Do tell.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:40 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Except that nobody at the revival meeting is going to stand up and start yelling contrary opinions. Unless the revival meetings you go to are very different from the ones I've seen described. Do tell.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:40 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Lordy! I didn't even realise I'd been time-outed until idest yelled through and told me! I feel... somehow cheated.
Well, yes, some good points raised here - mainly all the ones in my defence, of course. One of the things I like about Metafilter is that there are enough people here who get it to mitigate the effect of all the po-faced bridlers who hoist their frilly petticoats and run squawking to MetaTalk every time someone has the effrontery to OMG be a bit nasty with words or express a forcefully derogatory opinion about someone.
I particularly like the posts which point out how, as usual, verbal unpleasantness spouted by an atheist when attacking rank idiocy is widely seen as being so much more beyond the pale than the threats of violence, torture and intimidation contained in certain so-called "holy" books - not to mention the actual violence, torture and intimidation they so often inspire. But hey ho, such is the way of this stupid world.
Look, all you gossamer-skinned religious apologists and sniffy protocol fetishists: when I fire off a rant like that, yes, it comes from a sincere and profound loathing for religion and a genuine disgust for those who follow or defend it. But surely it's obvious I'm having a laugh too, no? Having fun with words? And also havng fun with what you might call "returning the offence"? You know - religion offends me. The sheer irrationality and spiritual neediness of religious people offends me. The primitive, cack-witted nonsense they speak and write offends me. So you know, I sometimes like to be offensive to them in return. I'm not trying to persuade them of anything when I do that. I'm not trying to argue a case. I'm having some fun taking the piss out of ideas and people I find contemptible. It's only that which stops me organising an atheist terror group and firebombing churches, of course. (Attention slow people: that was a joke)
And finally, no matter how much these superstitious dunderheads offend me, I have never, and would never, seek to remove their right to do so. Lighten up, god-botherers.
I apologise for "cuntslime", though. That was inappropriate. Next time I'll stick to nasty things. Err... as it were.
posted by Decani at 11:48 AM on July 22, 2006 [8 favorites]
Well, yes, some good points raised here - mainly all the ones in my defence, of course. One of the things I like about Metafilter is that there are enough people here who get it to mitigate the effect of all the po-faced bridlers who hoist their frilly petticoats and run squawking to MetaTalk every time someone has the effrontery to OMG be a bit nasty with words or express a forcefully derogatory opinion about someone.
I particularly like the posts which point out how, as usual, verbal unpleasantness spouted by an atheist when attacking rank idiocy is widely seen as being so much more beyond the pale than the threats of violence, torture and intimidation contained in certain so-called "holy" books - not to mention the actual violence, torture and intimidation they so often inspire. But hey ho, such is the way of this stupid world.
Look, all you gossamer-skinned religious apologists and sniffy protocol fetishists: when I fire off a rant like that, yes, it comes from a sincere and profound loathing for religion and a genuine disgust for those who follow or defend it. But surely it's obvious I'm having a laugh too, no? Having fun with words? And also havng fun with what you might call "returning the offence"? You know - religion offends me. The sheer irrationality and spiritual neediness of religious people offends me. The primitive, cack-witted nonsense they speak and write offends me. So you know, I sometimes like to be offensive to them in return. I'm not trying to persuade them of anything when I do that. I'm not trying to argue a case. I'm having some fun taking the piss out of ideas and people I find contemptible. It's only that which stops me organising an atheist terror group and firebombing churches, of course. (Attention slow people: that was a joke)
And finally, no matter how much these superstitious dunderheads offend me, I have never, and would never, seek to remove their right to do so. Lighten up, god-botherers.
I apologise for "cuntslime", though. That was inappropriate. Next time I'll stick to nasty things. Err... as it were.
posted by Decani at 11:48 AM on July 22, 2006 [8 favorites]
Oh, and by the way, to all the armchair psychologists: I do not have father figure issues. And I was only raped by our priest a few times so it has nothing to do with that, either.
posted by Decani at 11:53 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by Decani at 11:53 AM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Is rinkjustice one of those Jesus commandos who goes to churches and tears apart phone-books with his bare hands?
Because that would do a lot to rehabilitate his trollishness in my mind.
And like I said, no apology necessary for "cuntslime." But you make it sound like a bad thing, which it doesn't have to be. Now dickcheese--I think we can all agree that there's nothing erotic about dickcheese. Or its cousin smegma.
posted by bardic at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2006
Because that would do a lot to rehabilitate his trollishness in my mind.
And like I said, no apology necessary for "cuntslime." But you make it sound like a bad thing, which it doesn't have to be. Now dickcheese--I think we can all agree that there's nothing erotic about dickcheese. Or its cousin smegma.
posted by bardic at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2006
And Decani, I must apologise for suggesting you're possessed by evil spirits. That was rather ungenerous of me. Of course since you don't believe in them you're likely unoffended anyway, but still... I'm sorry.
Meanwhile this thread reinforces the obvious for me: that folks seem to project the personas of their own disliked real-world aquaintances on people here and also sometimes forget that societies around the world are not just like their own immediate neigborhoods. Arguments start and I sometimes wonder who the two sides are really arguing with and blanket statements are made that just aren't accurate except perhaps, one can only imagine, where the poster lives.
posted by scheptech at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2006
Meanwhile this thread reinforces the obvious for me: that folks seem to project the personas of their own disliked real-world aquaintances on people here and also sometimes forget that societies around the world are not just like their own immediate neigborhoods. Arguments start and I sometimes wonder who the two sides are really arguing with and blanket statements are made that just aren't accurate except perhaps, one can only imagine, where the poster lives.
posted by scheptech at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2006
justgary writes "Off topic, nice to see you back ortho. Mefi has been lacking in the 'crazy' department lately."
You know, justgary, I don't even remember seeing your username before; until now, none of your comments have stood out enough for me to notice.
You could have enumerated reasons why you thought my point was wrong (as others were able to do); instead, all you can muster is an ad hominem. That doesn't contribute anything to the discussion, it doesn't make you cool or profound or even witty. It's just ankle-biting.
And as George_Spiggott noted, your inability to spell "Decani" correctly, despite the many times it's come up in this thread, raises questions about your basic reading comprehension skills.
When you have a cogent argument to make, I'll be happy to give it the attention it deserves. (A quick perusal of your last several comments reveals mostly carping one-liners, and a few carping paragraphs. None adds anything to the discussion other than letting us know some guy calling himself "justgary" feels the need to insult someone.)
Until your "debating" rises above "Get a Brain, Morans (sic)", you're not really bringing anything to the table, or giving any reason for anyone to take you seriously.
Please don't misunderstand my singling you out for a response here as any indication that your braying catcalls have finally "made an impression" on anybody, or that you've scored one for whatever team you think you're on. It's not that you've said anything worthy of comment, but that you are a symptom of what is making Mefi less valuable: Mefi initially attracted me because many of the posters and commenters are smart, cogent, thoughtful people who can write well and comment seriously. I don't agree with all of them by any means, but I learn something from each of them. (And I pointed out some of their names in a recent Meta thread.)
But inevitably, where there are leaders and thinkers and producers, there will be attracted followers and Know-Nothings and parasites, people who lack the ability to play on the field and so can only sit in the stands guzzling beer and stuffing their faces with hotdogs, screaming "batter batter batter" in the delusion that cat-calling the real players makes them as valuable as "their" team's coach and pitcher and outfield.
And that's what is making Metafilter less valuable (to me at least): the "fans" egging on their betters, raising the temperature and preventing reasoned discussion, polluting conversation with "nyah nyah"s and "batter batter batter", the "fans" who've never themselves posted an interesting FPP or had anything noteworthy to say in a comment, whose repertoire is limited to shrill carping and insults and screaming "ditto ditto ditto".
Which is why I'm lately stayed away from Mefi. I'd love to read a Mefi that didn't always agree with me, that challenged my assumptions, that taught me new ways to look at things, that corrected my inevitable errors. (And I'm delighted to try to help folks with what answers I can give in askMefi.) But, increasingly, I have little time to waste on people who can only carp and who can never contribute, who can never write more than a dull and tedious sentence or two expressing their inabilities.
posted by orthogonality at 1:24 PM on July 22, 2006
You know, justgary, I don't even remember seeing your username before; until now, none of your comments have stood out enough for me to notice.
You could have enumerated reasons why you thought my point was wrong (as others were able to do); instead, all you can muster is an ad hominem. That doesn't contribute anything to the discussion, it doesn't make you cool or profound or even witty. It's just ankle-biting.
And as George_Spiggott noted, your inability to spell "Decani" correctly, despite the many times it's come up in this thread, raises questions about your basic reading comprehension skills.
When you have a cogent argument to make, I'll be happy to give it the attention it deserves. (A quick perusal of your last several comments reveals mostly carping one-liners, and a few carping paragraphs. None adds anything to the discussion other than letting us know some guy calling himself "justgary" feels the need to insult someone.)
Until your "debating" rises above "Get a Brain, Morans (sic)", you're not really bringing anything to the table, or giving any reason for anyone to take you seriously.
Please don't misunderstand my singling you out for a response here as any indication that your braying catcalls have finally "made an impression" on anybody, or that you've scored one for whatever team you think you're on. It's not that you've said anything worthy of comment, but that you are a symptom of what is making Mefi less valuable: Mefi initially attracted me because many of the posters and commenters are smart, cogent, thoughtful people who can write well and comment seriously. I don't agree with all of them by any means, but I learn something from each of them. (And I pointed out some of their names in a recent Meta thread.)
But inevitably, where there are leaders and thinkers and producers, there will be attracted followers and Know-Nothings and parasites, people who lack the ability to play on the field and so can only sit in the stands guzzling beer and stuffing their faces with hotdogs, screaming "batter batter batter" in the delusion that cat-calling the real players makes them as valuable as "their" team's coach and pitcher and outfield.
And that's what is making Metafilter less valuable (to me at least): the "fans" egging on their betters, raising the temperature and preventing reasoned discussion, polluting conversation with "nyah nyah"s and "batter batter batter", the "fans" who've never themselves posted an interesting FPP or had anything noteworthy to say in a comment, whose repertoire is limited to shrill carping and insults and screaming "ditto ditto ditto".
Which is why I'm lately stayed away from Mefi. I'd love to read a Mefi that didn't always agree with me, that challenged my assumptions, that taught me new ways to look at things, that corrected my inevitable errors. (And I'm delighted to try to help folks with what answers I can give in askMefi.) But, increasingly, I have little time to waste on people who can only carp and who can never contribute, who can never write more than a dull and tedious sentence or two expressing their inabilities.
posted by orthogonality at 1:24 PM on July 22, 2006
So Decani's gone, and orthogonality's back. Like Gramma sez: "Everytime God closes a door, he opens a window."
On preview: So Decani's back, and orthogonality is still here.
Gramma's a freakin' liar.
sometimes like to be offensive to them in return...
That's great, but how many of those oh-so-evil religionists are here to read it? Off the top of my head I can name konolia and brevets as MeFites who practice. Give me a week, a couple grand, and a crack team of special agents, and I'm sure I could root out at least 12 more. Basically your wacky lil rants are the equivalent of a 12 year old kid saying "Fuck Jesus, man!" in his friend's basement while listening to Death Metal.
Keep fighting the good fight, skipper.
Reading your bleatings makes me fucking embarassed for the community, atheism and for yourself, and if I wasn't an atheist myself, I'd pray that you find the peace and security that you so obviously lack.
PS. Personally, I find the use of the word Cuntslime as a perjorative misogynistic and sexist. I suppose Cockslime isn't as bad to you shmegmatic chauvinists, is it?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:52 PM on July 22, 2006
On preview: So Decani's back, and orthogonality is still here.
Gramma's a freakin' liar.
sometimes like to be offensive to them in return...
That's great, but how many of those oh-so-evil religionists are here to read it? Off the top of my head I can name konolia and brevets as MeFites who practice. Give me a week, a couple grand, and a crack team of special agents, and I'm sure I could root out at least 12 more. Basically your wacky lil rants are the equivalent of a 12 year old kid saying "Fuck Jesus, man!" in his friend's basement while listening to Death Metal.
Keep fighting the good fight, skipper.
Reading your bleatings makes me fucking embarassed for the community, atheism and for yourself, and if I wasn't an atheist myself, I'd pray that you find the peace and security that you so obviously lack.
PS. Personally, I find the use of the word Cuntslime as a perjorative misogynistic and sexist. I suppose Cockslime isn't as bad to you shmegmatic chauvinists, is it?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:52 PM on July 22, 2006
Wouldn't cockslime just be secondhand cuntslime? Once again, we see man's dependence on woman.
posted by cortex at 1:54 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 1:54 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Curse you, bardic, and curse the little hiccup that MeFi had just when I hit post. I had dibs on the shmegma, dammit!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:54 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:54 PM on July 22, 2006
orthogonality, I fail to understand how you can, with a straight face, accuse this site of being full of "people who can only car and who can never contribute", and in the same thread praise Decani. How is name-calling, ranting, and creating a belligerent atmosphere supposed to "challenge your assumptions and correct your inevitable errors"?
Your comment, to me, is nothing more than a veiled attempt at an intellectual trashing of people who disagree with you. I'll agree with you that there is far too much name-calling around here. I'll agree with you that while this place could challenge my assumptions, wading through the drivel is far too tiresome a task. I'll even go so far as to say that if you weren't so freaking disingenous, your latest comment is spot-on. But there's the problem.
Your latest comment, in all its intellectual name-calling, is nothing more than a nicely worded attack on justgary and others who disagree with your POV. Which is precisely why you should stay away. Because your anger and great use of rhetoric are poison to any community.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 1:57 PM on July 22, 2006
Your comment, to me, is nothing more than a veiled attempt at an intellectual trashing of people who disagree with you. I'll agree with you that there is far too much name-calling around here. I'll agree with you that while this place could challenge my assumptions, wading through the drivel is far too tiresome a task. I'll even go so far as to say that if you weren't so freaking disingenous, your latest comment is spot-on. But there's the problem.
Your latest comment, in all its intellectual name-calling, is nothing more than a nicely worded attack on justgary and others who disagree with your POV. Which is precisely why you should stay away. Because your anger and great use of rhetoric are poison to any community.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 1:57 PM on July 22, 2006
I am an ignorant, piss-witted apologist in the Church of MetaTalk.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:17 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:17 PM on July 22, 2006
Oh, bullshit. I've had my run-ins with orthogonality, but he's contributed far more in the way of thoughtful commentary and cogent analysis than the vast majority of MeFi members. I don't quite understand why he's leaping to the defense of Decani, other than a generalized desire to épater les bourgeois, but to say he's "poison to any community" is ridiculous and simply reveals the thin skin of anyone who would make such a statement.
posted by languagehat at 2:19 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 2:19 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Um, that was a response to SeizeTheDay. It's Raining Florence Henderson is, in fact, an ignorant, piss-witted apologist in the Church of MetaTalk.
posted by languagehat at 2:20 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by languagehat at 2:20 PM on July 22, 2006
Did you even read his comment, languagehat, or are you so eager to see me "flame out" that you'd leap at any chance to argue with me?
ortho said: And that's what is making Metafilter less valuable (to me at least): the "fans" egging on their betters, raising the temperature and preventing reasoned discussion, polluting conversation with "nyah nyah"s and "batter batter batter", the "fans" who've never themselves posted an interesting FPP or had anything noteworthy to say in a comment, whose repertoire is limited to shrill carping and insults and screaming "ditto ditto ditto".
His criticism of MetaFilter is precisely the behavior Decani engaged in. And to create a 10 paragraph rant about how certain people have destroyed his MetaFilter experience, when he is defending those who engage in exactly that, is precisely the hypocrisy that I'm pointing to. Ortho agrees with Decani's POV, which is why ortho is defending Decani's right to say what he said, while vilifying those who seek to silence Decani. Don't you appreciate the irony?
And those last couple sentences I wrote were perhaps worded too harshly. I like ortho's comments in the green. They are indeed intelligent and helpful. But like most intelligent people here, politics/religion always boils down to LCDs, and in this case, picking sides and name-calling.
Seriously, 'hat, you don't need to express an opinion about everything I write in the grey. It's stalkeresque and I'm not worth your time. Really...
posted by SeizeTheDay at 2:27 PM on July 22, 2006
ortho said: And that's what is making Metafilter less valuable (to me at least): the "fans" egging on their betters, raising the temperature and preventing reasoned discussion, polluting conversation with "nyah nyah"s and "batter batter batter", the "fans" who've never themselves posted an interesting FPP or had anything noteworthy to say in a comment, whose repertoire is limited to shrill carping and insults and screaming "ditto ditto ditto".
His criticism of MetaFilter is precisely the behavior Decani engaged in. And to create a 10 paragraph rant about how certain people have destroyed his MetaFilter experience, when he is defending those who engage in exactly that, is precisely the hypocrisy that I'm pointing to. Ortho agrees with Decani's POV, which is why ortho is defending Decani's right to say what he said, while vilifying those who seek to silence Decani. Don't you appreciate the irony?
And those last couple sentences I wrote were perhaps worded too harshly. I like ortho's comments in the green. They are indeed intelligent and helpful. But like most intelligent people here, politics/religion always boils down to LCDs, and in this case, picking sides and name-calling.
Seriously, 'hat, you don't need to express an opinion about everything I write in the grey. It's stalkeresque and I'm not worth your time. Really...
posted by SeizeTheDay at 2:27 PM on July 22, 2006
Seriously, 'hat, you don't need to express an opinion about everything I write in the grey. It's stalkeresque and I'm not worth your time. Really...
WTF? Sorry if this spoils your day, but I have no memory of having responded to anything else you've said. I vaguely recognize your username, and that's it. Really. And ortho's defense of Decani, however unnecessary, pales before the importance of this:
Mefi initially attracted me because many of the posters and commenters are smart, cogent, thoughtful people who can write well and comment seriously. I don't agree with all of them by any means, but I learn something from each of them.
Yes. Yes, indeed.
posted by languagehat at 2:31 PM on July 22, 2006
WTF? Sorry if this spoils your day, but I have no memory of having responded to anything else you've said. I vaguely recognize your username, and that's it. Really. And ortho's defense of Decani, however unnecessary, pales before the importance of this:
Mefi initially attracted me because many of the posters and commenters are smart, cogent, thoughtful people who can write well and comment seriously. I don't agree with all of them by any means, but I learn something from each of them.
Yes. Yes, indeed.
posted by languagehat at 2:31 PM on July 22, 2006
Oh, and please don't bother digging up other places where I've responded to you. I'm sure you're right, I'm not denying having done it, I'm saying that each time it was a response to whatever you've said and not to you as SeizeTheDay. Believe it or don't.
posted by languagehat at 2:33 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by languagehat at 2:33 PM on July 22, 2006
I love it when mefites drop trow and bend over and shimmy their assholes all around trying to win an argument over who's fecal scent benefits the "community" most.
posted by bardic at 2:36 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by bardic at 2:36 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
languagehat writes "I don't quite understand why he's leaping to the defense of Decani,"
That's a good question and deserving of an answer. For one thing, Decani's over-the-top-rants (and it was over-the-top) are great rants. They're angry and they're funny, reminding me of Lewis Black, or even Lenny Bruce. It was performance art as much as anything else, and I enjoyed the show. I'm not defending Decani for being merely strident, that would have turned me off whether or not I agreed with him; I'm defending him for being strident and funny.
While (as I took pains to note) most believers aren't intolerant haters and many do a lot of good, Decani's rant nicely matched and counter-pointed some of the more over-the-top fire-and-brimstone-lynch-the-gays-and-smite-the-Cannanites rants of smugly intolerant believers. Goose, gander, sauce, yum!
Had the callout been, "Decani is being as vicious and indiscriminate in his ranting as Jerry ('no Jew goes to Heaven') Falwell or John ('the war on Christmas') Gibson or Fred ('9-11 was God's punishment for gay rights, let's picket American soldiers' funerals') Phelps, I'd have kept quiet and smiled knowing that Decani's point had been understood.
What Decani wrote was not precisely a parody, I know, but to pillory Decani for merely matching the over-heated rhetoric of the other side is missing Decani's point almost as much as someone who complains that Jonathan Swift must have been a bad guy because he wanted to eat Irish babies.
posted by orthogonality at 2:51 PM on July 22, 2006
That's a good question and deserving of an answer. For one thing, Decani's over-the-top-rants (and it was over-the-top) are great rants. They're angry and they're funny, reminding me of Lewis Black, or even Lenny Bruce. It was performance art as much as anything else, and I enjoyed the show. I'm not defending Decani for being merely strident, that would have turned me off whether or not I agreed with him; I'm defending him for being strident and funny.
While (as I took pains to note) most believers aren't intolerant haters and many do a lot of good, Decani's rant nicely matched and counter-pointed some of the more over-the-top fire-and-brimstone-lynch-the-gays-and-smite-the-Cannanites rants of smugly intolerant believers. Goose, gander, sauce, yum!
Had the callout been, "Decani is being as vicious and indiscriminate in his ranting as Jerry ('no Jew goes to Heaven') Falwell or John ('the war on Christmas') Gibson or Fred ('9-11 was God's punishment for gay rights, let's picket American soldiers' funerals') Phelps, I'd have kept quiet and smiled knowing that Decani's point had been understood.
What Decani wrote was not precisely a parody, I know, but to pillory Decani for merely matching the over-heated rhetoric of the other side is missing Decani's point almost as much as someone who complains that Jonathan Swift must have been a bad guy because he wanted to eat Irish babies.
posted by orthogonality at 2:51 PM on July 22, 2006
I'm not saying languagehat missed the point (he generally doesn't, and if you don't beleive me, check out his intimidatingly learned blog, he's one of the guys here you can learn a lot from); I'm saying the callout did, especially as it disingenuously implied "descani"'s criticism had been of his fellow Mefites and not a belief system.) Now I'll go find some other dead horses and strawmen to beat.
posted by orthogonality at 2:59 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by orthogonality at 2:59 PM on July 22, 2006
how many of those oh-so-evil religionists are here to read it?
Oh, not many evil ones, I suspect. Quite a few of the stupid variety though, and those are the ones my reaction was primarily directed to. You know, like the people who resort to suggesting that my fondness for calling mind-rotting imbecility exactly what it is indicates that I'm some sort of rampaging ideologue who harbours secret fantasies of banning religion and/or inflicting some (unspecified) variety of actual physical oppression on the religious. That's a particularly irritating sort of religious stupid: just one out of a whole suppurating sack of the stuff.
Many of the comments on the original thread were so infuriatingly dimwitted they thouroughly deserved scorn and ripe, full-blooded abuse. And they got it. They get it when I hear such twaddle in real life so they're damned well going to get it here. And if some of you think that makes me a jerk or a fascist or an obsessive or a pain-racked overcompensator trying to deal with daddy issues: oh dear, how sad, never mind. I shall endeavour to live with the pain.
Alrighty, there's a mighty fine lemon, olive and chicken tagine calling to me. I'm done here.
posted by Decani at 3:29 PM on July 22, 2006
Oh, not many evil ones, I suspect. Quite a few of the stupid variety though, and those are the ones my reaction was primarily directed to. You know, like the people who resort to suggesting that my fondness for calling mind-rotting imbecility exactly what it is indicates that I'm some sort of rampaging ideologue who harbours secret fantasies of banning religion and/or inflicting some (unspecified) variety of actual physical oppression on the religious. That's a particularly irritating sort of religious stupid: just one out of a whole suppurating sack of the stuff.
Many of the comments on the original thread were so infuriatingly dimwitted they thouroughly deserved scorn and ripe, full-blooded abuse. And they got it. They get it when I hear such twaddle in real life so they're damned well going to get it here. And if some of you think that makes me a jerk or a fascist or an obsessive or a pain-racked overcompensator trying to deal with daddy issues: oh dear, how sad, never mind. I shall endeavour to live with the pain.
Alrighty, there's a mighty fine lemon, olive and chicken tagine calling to me. I'm done here.
posted by Decani at 3:29 PM on July 22, 2006
SeizeTheDay writes "Your comment, to me, is nothing more than a veiled attempt at an intellectual trashing of people who disagree with you.... Your latest comment, in all its intellectual name-calling, is nothing more than a nicely worded attack on justgary and others who disagree with your POV. "
Gah. I should stop. This is becoming like one of those SQL threads for me. Yes, it's an intellectual trashing, yes it's an attack. You're right, right up to the word "POV".
Because honest to god, it's not that I disagree with justgary's POV. I have no idea what his POV is, I barely even noticed the guy before today.
I disagree with a lot of POV here. But if the person I disagree with isn't trolling and isn't carping and is making a decent argument, I enjoy his comments. I'm not going to mention names, but there have been plenty of people, some of them with, for instance, legal backgrounds, with whom I utterly disagree. But I've enjoyed their posts and participation when they bring something to the table.
Because they have something to say, and they took the time and made the effort to say it clearly and cogently and went beyond mere opinion to be informative too. Do I agree? Maybe not, but I respect their effort and I respect them for making the effort and they add value.
Others I may disagree with, but they're witty, or good writers who can really turn a phrase, or incredibly well informed experts in their fields. Whether or not I agree with them is pretty much immaterial; I gain by reading them.
But people who are -- and I'll get a shitstorm for this, but sometimes it just has to be said -- people who are just stupid or lazy and who can only carp don't add a damned thing.
Their contributions are literally unnecessary, because we can all of us imagine some punk with a beer belly giving a Bronx cheer and the finger to any opinion in any thread. Since I can imagine someone saying "your (sic) a doo-doo head, I give you're (sic) post a B-" or "that's stupid" or "AOL: me too! lol! mega-dittos", I don't need justgary to clog the page reifying what I can conjure up in my own imagination or find on any myspace space.
It's not a religion thing (there are somedamned wicked, argh, extremely smart believers here), it's not a politics thing (there are some damned smart conservatives and some damned smart liberals here), it's a an attitude thing (even more than an intelligence thing): some people try to honestly contribute, others just snipe and carp and act like they're at fark.
And that's all they do. Thread after thread, all they add is one-liners the semantic content of which boil down to "shut up, fuckface". It's tedious and boring and predictable, an impolite waste of space and an insult to posters and other commeters who have taken the time and made the effort to give us something valuable to chew on, and it's the antithesis of what I'm coming here to read.
posted by orthogonality at 3:34 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Gah. I should stop. This is becoming like one of those SQL threads for me. Yes, it's an intellectual trashing, yes it's an attack. You're right, right up to the word "POV".
Because honest to god, it's not that I disagree with justgary's POV. I have no idea what his POV is, I barely even noticed the guy before today.
I disagree with a lot of POV here. But if the person I disagree with isn't trolling and isn't carping and is making a decent argument, I enjoy his comments. I'm not going to mention names, but there have been plenty of people, some of them with, for instance, legal backgrounds, with whom I utterly disagree. But I've enjoyed their posts and participation when they bring something to the table.
Because they have something to say, and they took the time and made the effort to say it clearly and cogently and went beyond mere opinion to be informative too. Do I agree? Maybe not, but I respect their effort and I respect them for making the effort and they add value.
Others I may disagree with, but they're witty, or good writers who can really turn a phrase, or incredibly well informed experts in their fields. Whether or not I agree with them is pretty much immaterial; I gain by reading them.
But people who are -- and I'll get a shitstorm for this, but sometimes it just has to be said -- people who are just stupid or lazy and who can only carp don't add a damned thing.
Their contributions are literally unnecessary, because we can all of us imagine some punk with a beer belly giving a Bronx cheer and the finger to any opinion in any thread. Since I can imagine someone saying "your (sic) a doo-doo head, I give you're (sic) post a B-" or "that's stupid" or "AOL: me too! lol! mega-dittos", I don't need justgary to clog the page reifying what I can conjure up in my own imagination or find on any myspace space.
It's not a religion thing (there are some
And that's all they do. Thread after thread, all they add is one-liners the semantic content of which boil down to "shut up, fuckface". It's tedious and boring and predictable, an impolite waste of space and an insult to posters and other commeters who have taken the time and made the effort to give us something valuable to chew on, and it's the antithesis of what I'm coming here to read.
posted by orthogonality at 3:34 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Dude, are you craving or having carp for dinner tonight or something?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:41 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:41 PM on July 22, 2006
I wish you had explained your defense of Decani earlier (as in, prior to me writing anything because then I'd save myself the involvement in this thread), but I thank you for clarifying everything, ortho. FWIW, I did agree with the comment I also tore apart, and I consider your latest words a good footnote. I was overly harsh in some of my wording and I have no intention of jumping for joy should you decide to remain a lurker.
But you have to admit that Decani's...approach...requires a very specific audience, and quite frankly, I think this place has grown far too large to play the over-the-top satire card so often, because eventually people will tune you out and/or fight back and/or not get it.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:44 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
But you have to admit that Decani's...approach...requires a very specific audience, and quite frankly, I think this place has grown far too large to play the over-the-top satire card so often, because eventually people will tune you out and/or fight back and/or not get it.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:44 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
SeizeTheDay writes "I was overly harsh in some of my wording
Eh. We're all guilty of that at one time or another. I certainly have been. And I respect you who stepping up to the plate and saying so. But no worries, it's all good.
"But you have to admit that Decani's...approach...requires a very specific audience, and quite frankly, I think this place has grown far too large to play the over-the-top satire card so often, because eventually people will tune you out and/or fight back and/or not get it." (ellipses in original)
Yeah, you're right, it's a fine line. For me, Decani's cathartic rant was a lot of fun; for others, maybe not.
And perhaps cathartic for me too; I have some wonderful believer friends, but I've also been grilled publicly and in front of others, by a believer in authority over me, who demanded to know if I was in fact an atheist and if so "well, how can you be moral?"
posted by orthogonality at 4:05 PM on July 22, 2006
Eh. We're all guilty of that at one time or another. I certainly have been. And I respect you who stepping up to the plate and saying so. But no worries, it's all good.
"But you have to admit that Decani's...approach...requires a very specific audience, and quite frankly, I think this place has grown far too large to play the over-the-top satire card so often, because eventually people will tune you out and/or fight back and/or not get it." (ellipses in original)
Yeah, you're right, it's a fine line. For me, Decani's cathartic rant was a lot of fun; for others, maybe not.
And perhaps cathartic for me too; I have some wonderful believer friends, but I've also been grilled publicly and in front of others, by a believer in authority over me, who demanded to know if I was in fact an atheist and if so "well, how can you be moral?"
posted by orthogonality at 4:05 PM on July 22, 2006
Decani, that was so awesome -- please take it on the road. I'll buy a front-row seat. They have their over-the-top ranters -- I'm proud to have one for the good guys.
At the same time, I'm horrified that I favorited a post with the word "cuntslime" in it. I think I will read it again and unfavorite. But really enjoyable, all around.
posted by theredpen at 5:14 PM on July 22, 2006
At the same time, I'm horrified that I favorited a post with the word "cuntslime" in it. I think I will read it again and unfavorite. But really enjoyable, all around.
posted by theredpen at 5:14 PM on July 22, 2006
For one thing, Decani's over-the-top-rants (and it was over-the-top) are great rants. They're angry and they're funny, reminding me of Lewis Black, or even Lenny Bruce. It was performance art as much as anything else, and I enjoyed the show.
Fair enough, and I can imagine myself agreeing in a certain mood. I guess if Decani did a little less ranting and a little more thoughtful commenting, I'd be more tolerant of it. When he talks about lemon, olive, and chicken tagine I quite like the fellow. (And yes, that is a solicitation of a dinner invite, you fallacious arsedribble.)
I was overly harsh in some of my wording
I join ortho in thanking you for that gracious retreat. Only those who have forced themselves to do it know how difficult it is to pull off.
I've also been grilled publicly and in front of others, by a believer in authority over me, who demanded to know if I was in fact an atheist and if so "well, how can you be moral?"
I should remind myself on a regular basis that my approach to this subject is affected by my not having had to suffer for my atheism; I should cut those who have more slack for their cathartic rants.
posted by languagehat at 5:18 PM on July 22, 2006
Fair enough, and I can imagine myself agreeing in a certain mood. I guess if Decani did a little less ranting and a little more thoughtful commenting, I'd be more tolerant of it. When he talks about lemon, olive, and chicken tagine I quite like the fellow. (And yes, that is a solicitation of a dinner invite, you fallacious arsedribble.)
I was overly harsh in some of my wording
I join ortho in thanking you for that gracious retreat. Only those who have forced themselves to do it know how difficult it is to pull off.
I've also been grilled publicly and in front of others, by a believer in authority over me, who demanded to know if I was in fact an atheist and if so "well, how can you be moral?"
I should remind myself on a regular basis that my approach to this subject is affected by my not having had to suffer for my atheism; I should cut those who have more slack for their cathartic rants.
posted by languagehat at 5:18 PM on July 22, 2006
Okay, all you people who say Decani is an issue laden, father-figure obsessed creature are absolutely right! I should know-- I live with him.
bardic, I can assure you from direct experience that Decani does not remotely think of cuntslime as a bad thing.
languagehat, I'd be pleased to cook a tagine for you any time you're in NYC (I'll send Decani to his cage for the evening).
posted by idest at 5:46 PM on July 22, 2006
bardic, I can assure you from direct experience that Decani does not remotely think of cuntslime as a bad thing.
languagehat, I'd be pleased to cook a tagine for you any time you're in NYC (I'll send Decani to his cage for the evening).
posted by idest at 5:46 PM on July 22, 2006
idest: " bardic, I can assure you from direct experience that Decani does not remotely think of cuntslime as a bad thing. "
*blink* *snicker* Can we take you out to dinner next time we're downstate? Anyone who can say that with an even remotely straight face is my kind of people.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 8:20 PM on July 22, 2006
*blink* *snicker* Can we take you out to dinner next time we're downstate? Anyone who can say that with an even remotely straight face is my kind of people.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 8:20 PM on July 22, 2006
I would like to calmly point out that many of the 'believers' who frequent this website do not, in fact, take issue with your atheism. They take issue with being lumped in with conservative Christian fundamentalists, and being blamed for the mistakes and atrocities perpetrated by Christian fundamentalists.
I don't care if you believe in God or not. I honestly don't. Believe what you want.
But, I do take issue with you calling my family, my kids, my friends, my parents, and pretty much everyone I know and love, "subhuman." Subhuman implies something very dark. I'm not even entirely sure that you know how dark that is.
And when, through carefully reading your comments, I've determined that you believe we are subhuman because of something some asshole fundamentalist I'm entirely unaffiliated with has done, it's not only frustrating, it's infuriating.
My church is a good place, filled with good people. We marry gay couples in our sanctuary, our senior minister and director of Christian development are openly gay, we manage two free ob/gyn clinics (pro-choice) and a shelter. Every year we send 75 students to Ft. Benning to protest the School of Americas.
Please, if we are so vile as to be subhuman, I would like to know what it is - other than a couple of versus out of a book that most of us don't take literally and believe is incorrect in many places - that makes us so?
Decani, I don't know what's wrong with you - but after reading your comments in the thread I was pretty let down. Especially when you started making fun of krrrlson's name.
I mean, shit. My name is a Tolkien reference.
Come on.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:35 PM on July 22, 2006
I don't care if you believe in God or not. I honestly don't. Believe what you want.
But, I do take issue with you calling my family, my kids, my friends, my parents, and pretty much everyone I know and love, "subhuman." Subhuman implies something very dark. I'm not even entirely sure that you know how dark that is.
And when, through carefully reading your comments, I've determined that you believe we are subhuman because of something some asshole fundamentalist I'm entirely unaffiliated with has done, it's not only frustrating, it's infuriating.
My church is a good place, filled with good people. We marry gay couples in our sanctuary, our senior minister and director of Christian development are openly gay, we manage two free ob/gyn clinics (pro-choice) and a shelter. Every year we send 75 students to Ft. Benning to protest the School of Americas.
Please, if we are so vile as to be subhuman, I would like to know what it is - other than a couple of versus out of a book that most of us don't take literally and believe is incorrect in many places - that makes us so?
Decani, I don't know what's wrong with you - but after reading your comments in the thread I was pretty let down. Especially when you started making fun of krrrlson's name.
I mean, shit. My name is a Tolkien reference.
Come on.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:35 PM on July 22, 2006
I mean, shit. My name is a Tolkien reference.
Sometimes, it's very, very hard indeed to say nothing.
posted by Decani at 8:41 PM on July 22, 2006
Sometimes, it's very, very hard indeed to say nothing.
posted by Decani at 8:41 PM on July 22, 2006
Hm, I thought it was a Street Fighter reference.
posted by bob sarabia at 8:44 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by bob sarabia at 8:44 PM on July 22, 2006
"I particularly like the posts which point out how, as usual, verbal unpleasantness spouted by an atheist when attacking rank idiocy is widely seen as being so much more beyond the pale than the threats of violence, torture and intimidation contained in certain so-called "holy" books - not to mention the actual violence, torture and intimidation they so often inspire. But hey ho, such is the way of this stupid world."
Which fallacy do you want to claim, straw man or tu quoque?
I mean, what threats of violence have been espoused by religious members of MeFi? Where is the torture and intimidation? Not here. What is here? Purple, throbbing rants that sound more like Ren Hoek than Lewis Black, all on about how "oppressed" atheists are. Why is it more appropriate to spend your time calling people of faith subhumans here than going to churches and hitting them where they live?
Whatever. I'm more than guilty of going too far, so I'm not trying to stand on sanctimony. I just wish that we didn't have to pretend that atheists are MeFi martyrs.
posted by klangklangston at 9:05 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Which fallacy do you want to claim, straw man or tu quoque?
I mean, what threats of violence have been espoused by religious members of MeFi? Where is the torture and intimidation? Not here. What is here? Purple, throbbing rants that sound more like Ren Hoek than Lewis Black, all on about how "oppressed" atheists are. Why is it more appropriate to spend your time calling people of faith subhumans here than going to churches and hitting them where they live?
Whatever. I'm more than guilty of going too far, so I'm not trying to stand on sanctimony. I just wish that we didn't have to pretend that atheists are MeFi martyrs.
posted by klangklangston at 9:05 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]
Also can we please stop pretending that people who object to asshattery = christian apologists
tia
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:11 PM on July 22, 2006
tia
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:11 PM on July 22, 2006
*sharpens knives*
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:51 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:51 PM on July 22, 2006
Baby_Balrog writes "My church is a good place, filled with good people. We marry gay couples in our sanctuary, our senior minister and director of Christian development are openly gay, we manage two free ob/gyn clinics (pro-choice) and a shelter. Every year we send 75 students to Ft. Benning to protest the School of Americas."
This is good to see here, because as fundamentalists more and more become the public face of Christianity in America, these reminders are necessary. Please understand that -- precisely because your kind of Christian acts (in my opinion) more as Jesus actually did, including praying "in secret" without flaunting your piety or demanding others share it -- you don't have the same "in your face" high profile of the John Gibsons and Fred Phelpses who pervert Christianity into a bludgeon of hate.
Speaking for myself, I have no issue with believers like you; to the contrary, I see you and yours as a benefit to all, the kind of Christian who work for the abolition of slavery, for civil rights, and now for gay rights.
But there were Christians who exposed theological arguments for slavery, who used the Bible to argue against interracial marriage, who today calls it "Christian" to deny people in love the right to marry. Which is why we all the more need Christians like you, Baby_Balrog, who see Christianity being about Jesus's love for all mankind.
klangklangston writes "I mean, what threats of violence have been espoused by religious members of MeFi? "
What I think some folks missed is that Decani wasn't going after any Mefites, but an ideology and a particular kind of aggressive, intolerant fundamentalism. If he'd been attacking Mefites, I'd not have defended him. (Yes, he attacked Krrrlson, but Krrrlson was trolling. Decani didn't call Krrrlson subhuman, he was just calling him a troll, which after reading Krrrlson's derails I think is no great stretch.)
Without presuming to speak for Decani, I'm pretty certain it wasn't Baby_Balrog's kind of believer who set him off, and I think his remarks weren't really aimed at Baby_Balrog-style believers.
posted by orthogonality at 10:08 PM on July 22, 2006
This is good to see here, because as fundamentalists more and more become the public face of Christianity in America, these reminders are necessary. Please understand that -- precisely because your kind of Christian acts (in my opinion) more as Jesus actually did, including praying "in secret" without flaunting your piety or demanding others share it -- you don't have the same "in your face" high profile of the John Gibsons and Fred Phelpses who pervert Christianity into a bludgeon of hate.
Speaking for myself, I have no issue with believers like you; to the contrary, I see you and yours as a benefit to all, the kind of Christian who work for the abolition of slavery, for civil rights, and now for gay rights.
But there were Christians who exposed theological arguments for slavery, who used the Bible to argue against interracial marriage, who today calls it "Christian" to deny people in love the right to marry. Which is why we all the more need Christians like you, Baby_Balrog, who see Christianity being about Jesus's love for all mankind.
klangklangston writes "I mean, what threats of violence have been espoused by religious members of MeFi? "
What I think some folks missed is that Decani wasn't going after any Mefites, but an ideology and a particular kind of aggressive, intolerant fundamentalism. If he'd been attacking Mefites, I'd not have defended him. (Yes, he attacked Krrrlson, but Krrrlson was trolling. Decani didn't call Krrrlson subhuman, he was just calling him a troll, which after reading Krrrlson's derails I think is no great stretch.)
Without presuming to speak for Decani, I'm pretty certain it wasn't Baby_Balrog's kind of believer who set him off, and I think his remarks weren't really aimed at Baby_Balrog-style believers.
posted by orthogonality at 10:08 PM on July 22, 2006
Y'know, Baby_Balrog, I hear you... and I find it hard not to get sucked into these discussions because I always think about my own experience and the straightforward good I have experienced in the church, despite all the problems I have with its various incarnations. But I also keep coming back to this: in the Gospels, on those occasions when Jesus really gets a rant on - it is always, always directed against religious hypocrites. There are plenty of "whited sepulchers" operating out there and if our goal is to emulate Christ that is where our attention should go.
posted by nanojath at 11:04 PM on July 22, 2006
posted by nanojath at 11:04 PM on July 22, 2006
Perhaps it will help me if I read the next vitriolic anti-religion invisible flying superhero rant in the voice of Ren Hoek.
That depends on this comment helping me to remember to. Iffy proposition, but worth a shot.
I also think people in heated threads should try to write more like supervillains.
posted by furiousthought at 11:23 PM on July 22, 2006
That depends on this comment helping me to remember to. Iffy proposition, but worth a shot.
I also think people in heated threads should try to write more like supervillains.
posted by furiousthought at 11:23 PM on July 22, 2006
(Yes, he attacked Krrrlson, but Krrrlson was trolling. Decani didn't call Krrrlson subhuman, he was just calling him a troll, which after reading Krrrlson's derails I think is no great stretch.)
Still waiting to hear for the slightest bit of justification for this.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 AM on July 23, 2006
Still waiting to hear for the slightest bit of justification for this.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 AM on July 23, 2006
Still waiting to hear for the slightest bit of justification for this.
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 AM PST on July 23
You've made your share of bullshit accusations that were totally unfounded; don't pretend to be an innocent naif.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:14 AM on July 23, 2006
posted by Krrrlson at 12:12 AM PST on July 23
You've made your share of bullshit accusations that were totally unfounded; don't pretend to be an innocent naif.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:14 AM on July 23, 2006
Cuntslime rocks will undoubtedly cause a bartholin's abcess. Only marsupials can help at this stage.
posted by peacay at 4:16 AM on July 23, 2006
posted by peacay at 4:16 AM on July 23, 2006
You've made your share of bullshit accusations that were totally unfounded; don't pretend to be an innocent naif.
So this is supposed to justify orthogonality's bullshit accusation above, or what? I don't care actually, as long as we agree that it's a bullshit accusation.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:02 AM on July 23, 2006
So this is supposed to justify orthogonality's bullshit accusation above, or what? I don't care actually, as long as we agree that it's a bullshit accusation.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:02 AM on July 23, 2006
Dear Baby-Balrog, rinkjustice, and Krrrlson,
I think nanojath hits it squarely on the head here:
There are plenty of "whited sepulchers" operating out there and if our goal is to emulate Christ that is where our attention should go.
If you want to stand out from the intolerance of fundamentalists, you should direct your criticisms to them rather than to those who are quite reasonably troubled by the power they hold. If there was less solidarity amongst the various Christian sects, there would be less of a tendency to link them together.
I think the problem here is that you choose to see all the rants against "fallacious arsedribble" as directed at you, which you should only do if you are in fact a "fucking idiot." Decani has made a general rant and you have decided it was aimed at you. This is only reasonable if you recognized yourself in his descriptions. If not, why are you all so upset?
Best,
Todd Lokken
posted by anotherpanacea at 10:15 AM on July 23, 2006
I think nanojath hits it squarely on the head here:
There are plenty of "whited sepulchers" operating out there and if our goal is to emulate Christ that is where our attention should go.
If you want to stand out from the intolerance of fundamentalists, you should direct your criticisms to them rather than to those who are quite reasonably troubled by the power they hold. If there was less solidarity amongst the various Christian sects, there would be less of a tendency to link them together.
I think the problem here is that you choose to see all the rants against "fallacious arsedribble" as directed at you, which you should only do if you are in fact a "fucking idiot." Decani has made a general rant and you have decided it was aimed at you. This is only reasonable if you recognized yourself in his descriptions. If not, why are you all so upset?
Best,
Todd Lokken
posted by anotherpanacea at 10:15 AM on July 23, 2006
Krrrlson is such a good devout Christian, though.
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:35 AM on July 23, 2006
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:35 AM on July 23, 2006
Decani has made a general rant and you have decided it was aimed at you.
No, he responded specifically to me by quoting my comment, but thanks for playing.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:14 AM on July 23, 2006
No, he responded specifically to me by quoting my comment, but thanks for playing.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:14 AM on July 23, 2006
It's so hard to be Krrrlson. It's like someone nailed him to a tree or something.
posted by bardic at 11:22 AM on July 23, 2006
posted by bardic at 11:22 AM on July 23, 2006
I can hear Krrrlson now: "Hey, Peter, I can see your house from here!"
posted by five fresh fish at 12:38 PM on July 23, 2006
posted by five fresh fish at 12:38 PM on July 23, 2006
Heh, yes, clearly I'm the one frothing at the mouth here, my cuntslimed, arsedribbling friends.
posted by Krrrlson at 1:08 PM on July 23, 2006
posted by Krrrlson at 1:08 PM on July 23, 2006
Surely you realize that you're widely regarded as an intelligent, insightful, well-spoken, and above all, sane contributor to MeFi, Krrrlson.
[giggle]
posted by five fresh fish at 2:10 PM on July 23, 2006
[giggle]
posted by five fresh fish at 2:10 PM on July 23, 2006
Hmm, you're right, there was a poll conducted recently of an isolated subset of self-aggrandizing circle-jerkers all 30k members of Metafilter, who unanimously condemned me and nominated you to speak for them. My bad.
posted by Krrrlson at 2:16 PM on July 23, 2006
posted by Krrrlson at 2:16 PM on July 23, 2006
languagehat, I'd be pleased to cook a tagine for you any time you're in NYC (I'll send Decani to his cage for the evening).
Woo-hoo! Man, I do like a good tajine. Can I pass his plate through the bars, or does he bite?
posted by languagehat at 2:21 PM on July 23, 2006
Woo-hoo! Man, I do like a good tajine. Can I pass his plate through the bars, or does he bite?
posted by languagehat at 2:21 PM on July 23, 2006
rinkjackass, it's time for you to leave... posted by five fresh fish at 3:56 PM EST on July 23
rinkjackass! Ha! I think you managed to cover intelligent, insightful, well-spoken, and sane all in one word. Do you write your own material?
Just let loose and let it pour out like Decani, it's easy to see how badly you want to.
posted by Krrrlson at 2:23 PM on July 23, 2006
rinkjackass! Ha! I think you managed to cover intelligent, insightful, well-spoken, and sane all in one word. Do you write your own material?
Just let loose and let it pour out like Decani, it's easy to see how badly you want to.
posted by Krrrlson at 2:23 PM on July 23, 2006
It's always amusing to see someone who loves to dish it out lacking the basic ability to take it.
posted by bardic at 2:27 PM on July 23, 2006
posted by bardic at 2:27 PM on July 23, 2006
I just want to say that I fucking HATE it when people compare their favorite run-on-sentence-angry-asshole-internet-poster to lewis black/bill hicks/lenny bruce/dennis leary, etc...
There's a difference between comedy and meaningless insults strung together.
posted by shmegegge at 6:55 PM on July 23, 2006
There's a difference between comedy and meaningless insults strung together.
posted by shmegegge at 6:55 PM on July 23, 2006
MetaFilter: Best of the Web, just not today.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:56 PM on July 23, 2006
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:56 PM on July 23, 2006
It's always amusing to see someone who loves to dish it out lacking the basic ability to take it.
What, sort of like this? I bet you're so lonely now that there hasn't been a dios callout in weeks.
posted by Krrrlson at 8:04 PM on July 23, 2006
What, sort of like this? I bet you're so lonely now that there hasn't been a dios callout in weeks.
posted by Krrrlson at 8:04 PM on July 23, 2006
Oh snap! Grrrlson knows how to hyperlink!
I'm actually content to stand by the entirety of that comment. I doubt you could say the same about your posting history.
But seeing trolls like you break down into weepy little trainwrecks is always good, clean, public fun.
posted by bardic at 8:09 PM on July 23, 2006
I'm actually content to stand by the entirety of that comment. I doubt you could say the same about your posting history.
But seeing trolls like you break down into weepy little trainwrecks is always good, clean, public fun.
posted by bardic at 8:09 PM on July 23, 2006
Yes, idiots always stand firmly behind their ignorant rants, especially when they've led sheltered, meaningless lives, never exposed to different opinions, or any semblance of real oppression such as they whine daily about. I have to admit, though, your powers of denial and self-delusion are fascinating to observe.
Grrrlson, by the way, is a brilliant pun. Is this how you act in the classroom as well? Do you let your students have independent thoughts?
posted by Krrrlson at 9:28 PM on July 23, 2006
Grrrlson, by the way, is a brilliant pun. Is this how you act in the classroom as well? Do you let your students have independent thoughts?
posted by Krrrlson at 9:28 PM on July 23, 2006
Wow, now you're reading my blog and checking my background. Not only are you a troll, but a stalker as well.
I'd expect no less from you Krrrlson. Over the past 48 hours, you've cemented your reputation on mefi.
/golf clap
posted by bardic at 11:46 PM on July 23, 2006
I'd expect no less from you Krrrlson. Over the past 48 hours, you've cemented your reputation on mefi.
/golf clap
posted by bardic at 11:46 PM on July 23, 2006
I like how justgary speaks with weary authority about someone whose name he can't spell.
posted by George_Spiggott
I like how george spiggett avoids the obvious.
Ooops, did it again. Sorry!!
posted by justgary at 1:31 AM on July 24, 2006
posted by George_Spiggott
I like how george spiggett avoids the obvious.
Ooops, did it again. Sorry!!
posted by justgary at 1:31 AM on July 24, 2006
I approve this (cunt)slimey thread.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:06 AM on July 24, 2006
posted by slimepuppy at 7:06 AM on July 24, 2006
Krrrlson's attempts to count coup are always laughable.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:05 AM on July 24, 2006
posted by five fresh fish at 8:05 AM on July 24, 2006
I think you guys need at least 3 people for this to be a true circle jerk.
posted by Krrrlson at 9:19 AM on July 24, 2006
posted by Krrrlson at 9:19 AM on July 24, 2006
That would be a triangle jerk.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:07 AM on July 24, 2006
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:07 AM on July 24, 2006
*drafts paper on dynamics of finite n-vertex polygon-jerks*
posted by cortex at 12:29 PM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 12:29 PM on July 24, 2006 [1 favorite]
Krrrlson writes "I think you guys need at least 3 people for this to be a true circle jerk."
For some reason I'm reminded of President Kennedy's encomium at a dinner of Nobel laureates: "Kennedy recognized Jefferson's accomplishments when he told a gathering of American Nobel Prize winners that they were the greatest assemblage of talent in the White House since Jefferson had dined alone".
...the biggest circle-jerk since Krrrlson wanked alone. :)
posted by orthogonality at 3:08 PM on July 24, 2006
For some reason I'm reminded of President Kennedy's encomium at a dinner of Nobel laureates: "Kennedy recognized Jefferson's accomplishments when he told a gathering of American Nobel Prize winners that they were the greatest assemblage of talent in the White House since Jefferson had dined alone".
...the biggest circle-jerk since Krrrlson wanked alone. :)
posted by orthogonality at 3:08 PM on July 24, 2006
Woah, woah woah I said WOAH, people. This thread is about ME, remember? Now, let's take it back to the last decent post about ME and take it from there, 'kay? Thanks. Aaaaannnnnddd...
I just want to say that I fucking HATE it when people compare their favorite run-on-sentence-angry-asshole-internet-poster to lewis black/bill hicks/lenny bruce/dennis leary, etc...
Dennis Leary SUCKS. I'm much funnier than that Hicks-plagiarising phoney. And you know it, you slack tarts.
posted by Decani at 5:44 PM on July 24, 2006
I just want to say that I fucking HATE it when people compare their favorite run-on-sentence-angry-asshole-internet-poster to lewis black/bill hicks/lenny bruce/dennis leary, etc...
Dennis Leary SUCKS. I'm much funnier than that Hicks-plagiarising phoney. And you know it, you slack tarts.
posted by Decani at 5:44 PM on July 24, 2006
My mother is Dennis Leary! FUCK YOU!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:47 PM on July 24, 2006
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:47 PM on July 24, 2006
I liked it better when we forgot the thread was about Decani.
posted by cortex at 9:13 PM on July 24, 2006
posted by cortex at 9:13 PM on July 24, 2006
Decani! Back in your cage, damn you! BACK!
Or no tajine for you!
posted by languagehat at 7:04 AM on July 25, 2006
Or no tajine for you!
posted by languagehat at 7:04 AM on July 25, 2006
Damn it, I forgot to secure the latch!
languagehat, he doesn't actually bite... just kind of gums away sometimes.
posted by idest at 10:34 AM on July 25, 2006
languagehat, he doesn't actually bite... just kind of gums away sometimes.
posted by idest at 10:34 AM on July 25, 2006
I liked it better when we forgot the thread was about Decani.
Of course you did, you slack-bladdered invertebrate. You fear my manly run-on sentences.
posted by Decani at 3:48 PM on July 25, 2006
Of course you did, you slack-bladdered invertebrate. You fear my manly run-on sentences.
posted by Decani at 3:48 PM on July 25, 2006
Listen here, you Hicks-riffing, descriptor-chaining, pentadigital choir-referencing toilet-lapper:
gimme a hug.
posted by cortex at 3:58 PM on July 25, 2006
gimme a hug.
posted by cortex at 3:58 PM on July 25, 2006
my god i'm glad it's over.
i'm bronzing this thread.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 2:42 PM on July 29, 2006
i'm bronzing this thread.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 2:42 PM on July 29, 2006
my god i'm glad it's over.
AHA! But now you've started it up again, you prayer-group meditating fool!
posted by Decani at 3:06 PM on July 29, 2006
AHA! But now you've started it up again, you prayer-group meditating fool!
posted by Decani at 3:06 PM on July 29, 2006
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posted by thirteenkiller at 8:42 PM on July 21, 2006