Atheist-filter? December 20, 2006 10:24 AM   Subscribe




Are we to assume that you take issue with atomly taking issue with you? I don't really see a problem with him/her disagreeing with you, or with the questioner's decision to mark yours as the best answer.
posted by jack_mo at 10:31 AM on December 20, 2006


Take issue all you want, but people handle things differently. What works best for you might not be best for everyone. Baring actual facts about the situation, I'll leave you to imagine all the horrible things children are dealing with. Yes, the teachers are wrong, but there are larger issues, such as education.

Also: But Brandon, if this is making him uncomfortable wouldn't that be directly interfering with the teaching of the children?

Only if he lets it. Lots of people get uncomfortable at work about a whole lotta things. Suck it up and teach the kids for year, then go off to law school.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:35 AM on December 20, 2006


And here's the original poster's answer to the comment being called out in this thread.
posted by AwkwardPause at 10:35 AM on December 20, 2006


I take issue with jack_mo taking issue with Brandon Blatcher taking issue with atomly taking issue with Brandon Blatcher.
posted by ND¢ at 10:36 AM on December 20, 2006


They invented quotation marks for a reason.
posted by smackfu at 10:36 AM on December 20, 2006


Brandon Blatcher, your comment seems on topic with the thread. I think you could have kept it there.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:36 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


I (the original questioner) addressed atomly's comment in the thread. I don't think he/ she was out of line- I was really enjoying the discussion that was going on. Brandon, I still think your answer was great because, as I said in the thread, it got me refocused on the kids, the real reason I'm at the school in the first place. I think atomly's point was valid and I addressed it. Not sure it needed a call-out, unless you just generally have an issue w/ somebody arguing over whether an answer is "best."
posted by PhatLobley at 10:38 AM on December 20, 2006


The rules of the game is that it's the OP who decides which posts (if any) to tag as "best".
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:38 AM on December 20, 2006


Are we to assume that you take issue with atomly taking issue with you?

Nope, just answering the questions outside of the thread, as anything other than actual answers are frowned upon in askme threads.

Good day.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:39 AM on December 20, 2006


Yeah, I guess I'm not sure about the point of this Meta thread. You made a comment, a few people including me disagreed a little bit. It was respectful all around. So, what's the issue again?
posted by dead_ at 10:39 AM on December 20, 2006


I second TPS. No one's attacking you personally, your response doesn't attack anyone personally, both are completely on-topic for the AskMe thread.
posted by occhiblu at 10:40 AM on December 20, 2006


It is kind of stupid to dispute PhatLobey's selection (of Brandon's answer) in that thread, but who really cares? Brandon, it's time for YOU to let it go.
posted by Mister_A at 10:42 AM on December 20, 2006


This thread strikes me as the product of an inability to handle any sort of disagreement. You could have answered in the thread and stayed on topic.

Sometimes I wish MeTa didn't exist.
posted by OmieWise at 10:42 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


Damn, I was sure this was going to be the most incomprehensible MeTa thread all week. Now I'm even more confused. I can only hope it's a temporary fogging effect of the holiday season and that after the first of the year we can all go back to bitching about double posts and self-links, with maybe an occasional flameout to liven things up.
posted by languagehat at 10:43 AM on December 20, 2006


He said "good day!"

Also, thirding TPS.
posted by amro at 10:43 AM on December 20, 2006


I think agreeing or disagreeing with other opinions offered is completely on-topic as long as it is done respectfully.

Thus, yes, there was no reason for this Metatalk thread unless things had become uncivil (personal attacks, profanity, etc) - which they didnt.
posted by vacapinta at 10:44 AM on December 20, 2006


What made this thread really rockin' is how Brandon appeared to be calling out Brandon's answer... and then how clicking on the link, instead of disambiguating the situation, actually kind of superambiguated it.
posted by Mister_A at 10:46 AM on December 20, 2006


Nope, just answering the questions outside of the thread, as anything other than actual answers are frowned upon in askme threads.

I don't think that frowning counts if you're developing your answer with regard to another answer. No need to MetaTalkify things to address one little point.

Good day.

So, no chance of a flameout, then?

I take issue with jack_mo taking issue with Brandon Blatcher taking issue with atomly taking issue with Brandon Blatcher.

If you say 'take issue' quickly enough, it sounds like you're sneezing backwards.
posted by jack_mo at 10:46 AM on December 20, 2006


BB: This discussion, which seems to be "This behavior hurts the children" vs. "fuck it, it's not your problem. keep your head down and get out of there", belongs in the thread.
posted by muddgirl at 10:46 AM on December 20, 2006


I wonder if we can somehow rephrase this discussion in such a way that we could also put it into the blue, and maybe someone could sing about it and put it on Music, and maybe make a blog out of it and put it in projects, and get the principal fired, so we can post the position in jobs. Because this one AskMe is that important.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:50 AM on December 20, 2006


Thanks, AZ. I'm glad you care!
posted by PhatLobley at 10:51 AM on December 20, 2006


I appreciate it when MeTa threads are not cryptic. This is not uncryptic. I am happy that there is somewhere to chat about atheism that is not in that thread.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:53 AM on December 20, 2006


Mister_A, your comment made me chuckle, but I'm going to take issue with it anyway, okay?
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:54 AM on December 20, 2006


Man, I wish I was goddamned high.
Anyone wanna finish writing my term paper for me?
posted by klangklangston at 10:59 AM on December 20, 2006


I have to take issue with Brandon's "but what about the children!" being highlighted as the best response.
posted by Brandon Blatcher


I was quite confused by the thread when I thought that Brandon was taking issue with himself.

Good day, sir. I said GOOD DAY.

I feel confused. And I feel dismissed. I also feel like drinking heavily now.
posted by leftcoastbob at 11:13 AM on December 20, 2006


Christmas, Christmas time is near,
Time for snarks and time to jeer.
We've been good, but we can't last,
Hurry Christmas, Hurry fast.
Want a flameout that boots the noob,
Want an image of elephant poop!
We can hardly stand the wait,
Please Christmas don't be late.
posted by Floydd at 11:14 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


I have to take issue. First born, preferably.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:16 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


Faint of Butt:

I challenge you.
posted by Mister_A at 11:21 AM on December 20, 2006


If anyone is interested in buying a cheap electric guitar, I have two Takeshi.
posted by cortex at 11:24 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


I take issue with YHWH getting all the best chicks with blonde highlights.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 11:41 AM on December 20, 2006


I will take old issues of Swank and Gent if you have any.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:00 PM on December 20, 2006


Here, Alvy, take some tissues too.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 12:02 PM on December 20, 2006


So, what do you all think about atheism?
posted by languagehat at 12:23 PM on December 20, 2006


We have the worst holidays evar.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:24 PM on December 20, 2006


The internet saved me the trouble of abashedly buying Swank at my local 7-11, and for that I remain eternally grateful.
posted by maxwelton at 12:25 PM on December 20, 2006


So, what do you all think about atheism?

It's a little fruity.
posted by cortex at 12:41 PM on December 20, 2006 [2 favorites]


But with balance lent by subtle notes of woodsmoke and spices.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:43 PM on December 20, 2006


woocha.
posted by loiseau at 12:43 PM on December 20, 2006


You guys have lent?
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 12:49 PM on December 20, 2006


No, but we have donated.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:51 PM on December 20, 2006


"Neither a lantern nor a burrower be."
posted by cortex at 12:54 PM on December 20, 2006


"I know not what others may say, but as for me - give me Librium or give me Meth!"
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:43 PM on December 20, 2006


Now is the winner of our incontinent
Vainglorious portait by this elephant;
And all the clouds of flies about our house
Dine by the deep ocean of piss, unmoved by art.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:54 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


They invented quotation marks for a reason.

I think you mean "discovered"; God invented quotation marks.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 2:07 PM on December 20, 2006


In the beginning was the Word, and everything since then has been pretty derivative.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:11 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


So, what do you all think about atheism?

Ha, smite his meat, saith me. It shame his MeTa.

I shat me.
posted by Durin's Bane at 2:13 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


Man, however, created summary quotes.
posted by cortex at 2:21 PM on December 20, 2006


This is what happens when people get too uppity about the sacredness of the askme threads. We hear so often that it's wrong to say anything that doesn't directly answer the question, that we end up with ridiculous threads like this. If I had been in Brandon's position, I would have just responded in the askme thread. But let's be honest; if he had done that, his comment might have been deleted.

More discussion should be allowed in askme threads.
posted by bingo at 2:43 PM on December 20, 2006


This is what happens when people are happy with themselves. They celebrate their brilliance. Get a little religion in BB's life and maybe he wouldn't be so damn happy.
posted by yerfatma at 3:40 PM on December 20, 2006


More discussion should be allowed in askme threads.

Awww, just shoot your mouth off and let God sort it out. The Claw chooses who will stay and who will go. The nothingness will read your deleted post and might even agree with you.

(Cosmologists have proved that there exists an "antinet" where everything deleted from the internet goes, as well as lost socks. I'm actually the most favorited user on moc.retlifatem. Or rather, suoiciLMX is.)
(Not as cool as anagrammed usernames, admittedly.)
posted by XMLicious at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2006


What gets me, though I won't post so in the Green because I don't want to piss off Jessamyn three times in two days, is that this person is employed by a school, perhaps as a teacher, and can't spell "atheist" correctly. A T H E I S T. Please make a note of it.
posted by davy at 4:13 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]


"athiest" is, to be fair, a very common misspelling.
posted by cortex at 4:22 PM on December 20, 2006


Remember folks, it's "i" before "e" except after "Christ."
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:24 PM on December 20, 2006


I'm certainly the most athy person in my circle of acquaintances.
posted by LionIndex at 4:39 PM on December 20, 2006


Is there a place where I can buy random witty comments?
I unfortunately being somewhat slow cannot make my own and I fear if I try and fake it will seem stilted and forced.
posted by Iron Rat at 4:43 PM on December 20, 2006


I buy my comments wholesale from Random House, Inc. You'll have to ask someone else about the witty.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:53 PM on December 20, 2006


but scody invented "the rabbit ears of forced irony".
posted by hovercraft at 5:00 PM on December 20, 2006


Heh, heh. "Random House."
posted by cgc373 at 5:08 PM on December 20, 2006


Um, if people REALLY wanted their kids taught about Jesus in school, wouldn't they send their kids to Jesus-based schools?

And in 7th & 8th grades we had an English teacher (English language, not from England) named Ms. Nelson, whose grammar, spelling and punctuation I was always correcting. (Not that mine is all that great, but nobody's paying me to teach.) This helped me decide to drop out of 8th grade and devote myself to low-grade juvenile delinquency.

What our kids need from public school is less Christianity and more competence, dammit.

/rant
posted by davy at 5:55 PM on December 20, 2006


But someday all schools will be Jesus-based.
posted by smackfu at 6:35 PM on December 20, 2006


I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in taking issue with a teacher not being able to spell 'atheist' and the redundant use of the suffix '-ic' as if the longer word makes it more official.
posted by geekyguy at 6:55 PM on December 20, 2006


If I had been in Brandon's position, I would have just responded in the askme thread. But let's be honest; if he had done that, his comment might have been deleted.

Ya, some of the my comments were deleted in another thread, so I was probably overthinking exactly how askme works. Back to the drawing board...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:22 PM on December 20, 2006


Yeah. I wouldn't feel bad BB. It is kind of a gray area (no pun intended). AskMe should be useful, so it shouldn't have people calling each other asshats and insulting one another's mothers, but it is a place where a consensus is built through differing viewpoints (wisdom of crowds and all that) and I think that that can be done through people civilly discussing a topic. I think that the internet in general can make one lose sight of the fact that two people can disagree on a subject, and discuss their differing viewpoints, in a respectful and informative manner. "I think 'x'. Here is why". "I think 'y'. Here is why, and here is why 'x' is wrong". Unfortunately the level of discourse in our culture has deteriorated a great deal. I think that the internet magnifies this because of the anonymity of it. Anyway, were a disagreement between two people to occur in AskMe that was civil and on topic and helpful, then I think that it should stay in AskMe. If it turned into a cockpunching contest, then it should be moved here so it didn't interfere with what AskMe is about. Like I said, that is a gray area, and you may have blown this one call, but I think that you get the idea and will do better next time.

Let's all go get a snowcone.
posted by ND¢ at 7:40 PM on December 20, 2006


If it turned into a cockpunching contest

Oh, the money we could make!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:02 PM on December 20, 2006


Sorry, davy. I was typing too quickly. I asure yoo im a good spellr and so are my studants.
posted by PhatLobley at 11:16 PM on December 20, 2006


And geekyguy: Redundant? Other than one atheistic, which I misguidedly used to convey the message that I'm not a complete atheist in the sense that I feel 100 percent sure of it, when did I overuse that suffix? Public? Perhaps you mean redundant within the word. Point taken. There are certainly more eloquent ways to convey the impression of my slight agnosticism.

All of my students were compelled to sign a "pledge" this year stating that they are proud to attend a school that "practices zero tolerance and violent behavior." My sloppy language is hardly the worst my students face at school.

Sorry if I'm taking things too personally, but I've just been out drinking to celebrate Christmas/ Winter/ Holiday break.

And, Davy, note made.
posted by PhatLobley at 11:33 PM on December 20, 2006


Other than one atheistic, which I misguidedly used to convey the message that I'm not a complete atheist . . .
I believe the word you were looking for is atheisticaloid.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:12 AM on December 21, 2006


"Atheish"
posted by cortex at 6:29 AM on December 21, 2006


cortex, have you fallen from the wagon again?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:48 AM on December 21, 2006


The wagon, my man, has fallen from me.

Also, Jimmy succumbed to tuberculosis somewhere back near Chimney Rock.
posted by cortex at 6:51 AM on December 21, 2006


He did? Now I really feel bad.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:15 AM on December 21, 2006


It's my fault, really. I should never have specced the trail to "grueling" and "subsistence" for more than a week or so.
posted by cortex at 7:34 AM on December 21, 2006


Someone said something about some school that "practices zero tolerance and violent behavior."

See? White people CAN play sports!

(My voices told me that was witty but would take too much explaining, but I said it anyway.)
posted by davy at 2:58 PM on December 21, 2006


there are larger issues, such as education.

Only if he lets it.

Your wilful disregard of people's right to work without being pressured, excluded, favored, etc on religious grounds is totally ridiculous, Brandon Blatcher. Laughable, actually. Have you never heard of the concept of 'respectful workplace,' the separation of church and state, harassment in the workplace?

I wonder if you would overlook sexual harassment so easily, as long as it didn't "hurt the learning of the children."

Get a clue, dude. NO, you can't pressure people to participate in religious ceremonies in the workplace. Period.
posted by scarabic at 4:25 PM on December 21, 2006


it got me refocused on the kids, the real reason I'm at the school in the first place

This is fine. It's great, actually. But you have rights in the workplace and shouldn't just surrender them. You're not doing the kids a favor, necessarily, by allowing this environment of harassment to continue, or burying your own frustration over it.
posted by scarabic at 4:28 PM on December 21, 2006


Your wilful disregard of people's right to work without being pressured, excluded, favored, etc on religious grounds is totally ridiculous,

Na, just coming at it from a different perspective. Yeah, the principal is outta line and the environment isn't comfortable.

But a head on assault won't change these people, especially the principal (as the original poster mentioned, she's just unreasonable about all sorts of things) Being an excellent teacher that the kids love and learn from might.

He's outnumbered, outgunned and low on the totem pole in a government job. He could win with a direct assualt, but it'll cost him. Far better to lay low and concentrate on the job and doing it well. That'll speak volumes and probably help keep him sane.

Lots of people keep jumping up and down, screaming "they're breaking the law, they're breaking the law, omg, get the ACLU" But there are always gray areas and I'm inclined to let people be a little religious if it makes'em feel better. They're hardly hostile (though that potential is there), just annoying and somewhat amusing.

And the guy isn't getting harmed, he just feels bad. No one can make you feel bad without your permission. Never give your day job that power.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:45 PM on December 21, 2006


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