Harassment / bullying in a thread

Yes, tell me what I am thinking. Scatter gun? So you think of these discussions in terms of attacks?

 

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The line came from an old Twilight Zone episode... Can't recall the title though, but, it starred Billy Mumy... Will Robinson, from "Lost In Space"

 

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This is a prime example of a thread that would not exist if there were competent moderation in the religion forum.

I feel like I owe this place an apology. I was the one who petitioned for more moderation, but I never anticipated this.

 

Are you familiar with unsubstantiated pronouns, Bells?

 

When I said

it did not mean you were doing the thinking, it meant I was.

I wasn't accusing you of thinking

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No I think of them in terms of religiosity, hypocrisy and sanctimony/supremacy.

 

When I say I didn't anticipate this, I mean I didn't anticipate him. I knew what he was capable of; that's why I left for a couple of months immediately after the decision. Whoever made the decision--or, if James is to be believed, whoever among the moderators suggested him as a good pick--damn well should have. Nothing about his behavior here surprises me.

What does surprise me is the absence of the administration. I know James is prone to disappearing for periods of time, but Stryder is well aware of what's going on. Why has there been no action? Is he actually going to get away with this?

He never should have been promoted. The differences you need to work out are beyond reconcilable, since you guys want (presumably) fairness, whereas he wants to troll the atheists out of the forum.

And at this point, none of us want to hear that he's going to shape up. His behavior requires punitive action. I don't think anyone here will be satisfied if he's still a mod when it's all said and done.

 

Finally we agree on something. Now that you've recognized your problem, you're half way to a cure.

 

In that case let me advance you your kudos before anyone tries to steal them!

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Since you posted the rules that make some of these posts strictly illegal, you've done far better than simply issue a warning. It goes a long way toward reminding posters what the ground rules are here. If the owners wanted a gay-bashing site, they could have done this is in the format of a fundamentalist board, with profits from "flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark" (Bob Dylan). And they wouldn't tolerate openly gay mods and members. My guess is that none of that even occurred to them, that they wanted a board in the genre of science because it potentially attracts such a wide audience. And since the subject matter of the main threads tends to attract folks with that disarming nature of curiosity, it just so happens they will tend to be open-minded and therefore more likely to espouse liberal views and therefore likely to be strong opponents of discrimination in all its forms. You more than any mod I've noticed here almost always pick these kinds of topics when you're just joining in the conversation. And I know why you do it, because I feel the same way. There is a sense of people gloating over the idea of picking on little people--bullying. And that wires you up, as it does most of us. No one wants to let that go unchallenged. So keep it coming Bells. I don't often reply to your posts but I'm out here reading them, and especially enjoying it when you're engaging the haters, kicking ass & taking names.

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It's everybody's problem. Religion enslaves the mind and gives the slave masters their army to ride roughshod over innocent victims. Fundamentalism is a wedge, a dangerous one, built entirely to prop up the low self esteem of miserable people who are dismal failures. Hence they score the lowest in testing. They are increasingly feeling marginalized as the world shrinks and becomes more literate. Gone is the old garde, all of the their whipping posts and their wind-up doll wives. Religiosity in the New Age is their sword and their shield. They wield it to "reclaim the country", codeword for a return to male-dominated white Anglo-Saxon supremacy. They can't simply earn their place in society honestly, so they have to steal it by undercutting others. But what a rush. That power they think comes from God is just hormones from feeding on the injuries done to other human beings. New Age slave masters with a new whip -- new whipping boys -- all that fresh meat to kill, since, once the world had finally agreed to protect minorities and women from their attacks, the LGBT segment of society was just getting off the bus, unescorted by federal marshals. Yeah, let's hit that!

So petty sarcasm does nothing but paint you deeper into the corner. You either came here to tell us that you were commanded to defend "the least of these your brethren" or else to rationalize that Jesus was trumped by Mosaic law. But guess what? Nobody cares. If you're defending the bigots, then it's more than just guilt by association. It's complicity.

 

Aha. I wondered if something drove you off, but I wasn't aware of the reason.

Put him in charge of the cesspool.

It has a chilling effect. I still participate as it moves me, but now that I can't block him like I used to, I just click out of the thread when one of his posts scrolls up. Why ruin an otherwise perfect day?

Yeah it's weird being trolled by a mod. What's up with that? :bugeye:

 

There is no doubt that the police should obey the law, and be seen to obey it. The same thing applies to the moderators, and that has not always been the case with Syne, as I've found out a couple of times. So there are two issues: firstly obeying the rules of the forum, and then doing a fair and reasonable job of moderating the forum. Neither is the case with this guy.

 

Amen, brother!

Normally, I wouldn't bother, but these days...
Disclaimer:
That was paraphrasing and a (probably poor) attempt at humour. It was not meant to invoke any religious deities, directly or indirectly.

 

Briefly

I would suggest the question is erroneously derived, but that's sort of a call-it-as-you-see-it thing, and I'm allowed to see things you aren't. Thus, we're looking at two different things.

While there is no formal arrangement as such, I have long been a very public moderator and supermod, while Stryder has often worked behind the proverbial curtain. While I'm out playing in the political stew we've thrown together, he's often the one looking for new software resources to recommend for improving Sciforums.

What I can tell you is that Stryder is, in fact, taking part in the discussion, trying to facilitate solutions, and otherwise making himself useful without making a public spectacle of it.

I can also tell you that the Administration is well aware of this ongoing conflict in the community. That they are not publicly stumbling through the farce like Rand Paul is probably a good thing. There is a confluence of issues here, some running for nigh on a decade, that also need to be resolved.

 

Tiassa,

Thanks for sharing whatever is appropriate for public consumption. Most of us don't want to be a nuisance but we're also curious when things change. For most of my relatively short time here the Religion threads were completely unregulated to anything I might post there. So when a new rule popped out of nowhere that Religion would be arbitrarily regulated, I was suddenly treated like an enemy of the site, whereas nothing in my behavior had changed to warrant that kind of response. In any case I'm sure you've heard enough of this, and I gather from your remarks that there is more going on behind the scenes, so I'll leave it at that, with hopes that everything works out for the best. If any of you feel I need to be directed to change my tenor or content, please feel free to PM me as you see fit and I'll be glad to comply with any advice you may have for me.

 

I appreciate the reply, but I'm also sick of the vaugeness. Just tell us what's going on. You're not the Pentagon.

 

Indeed, we are not the Pentagon; if we were, Snowden would have already let you guys know what's going on behind the curtain *bazinga*

No, simple fact is is that we can't say much more yet until everything is set in stone; last thing we want to do is start saying things that aren't going to happen

 

A boss of mine at one of the companies I worked for had a word for people like you: contraceptives - you stop anything happening.

 

*snrk* Now now Sorc, not nice

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Funny, but not nice lol

 

Fair enough. And apologies to Tiassa for snapping. I just can't take much more of this.