The trolls know exactly what they are doing. They are extremely brief. Post one brief sentence and you folks respond in volumes. Who are the "chew toys"? Looks to me like they can also make that claim.
They have some of you in endless "defensive mode". You folks just keep posting the same responses over and over and over. The themes are the same.
1. The trolls are stupid.
2. They have no evidence.
3. They are apologist.
4. They don't apply logic or science
5. And how many times are you going to tell them God don't exist.
And on and on. Same shit, different day.
Now, do whatever you want. But it is so obvious they got some of you on a string like a yo- yo. If you are finding some reward in this, carry on. I just think you need to know what it looks like. What would happen if they got no response? At least after the point that you see they are trolling.
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Hmmm...seems to be an inrush of folks all wanting a kind of respectful love fest to happen.
I say well sure...to start with I am in an atheist forum, enjoying a chat with like minded folks, so if you want to discuss stuff :
don't condemn me to a "hell" for not believing your nonsense
Do not tell me you have the only way to whatever you are promising
Do not deny actual history in favour of your made up version
Do not confuse logic with wishful thinking
Do not assume I have never ever heard your arguments before
Do not assume Kalam is in any way logical
Oh and do not assume multiple identities to press the same arguments, it is somewhat obvious.
Don't tell me raising cattle next to striped sticks will result in them breeding to same pattern on the sticks.
Donkleys do not talk, Horses do not fly and serpents are actually good for mankind if you just leave the fuckers alone.
Yes, apart from that I will be as polite as your opinions allow me to be.
Ok. I suspect there is some merit to engaging folks who are here to antagonize you. I just don't know what it is. Lol
If even ONE of them gets a single point made, or rethinks THEIR OWN repetitive, broken-record broadcast of religious drivel, then any amount of responding to the same points over and over again with rational discourse (even sprinkled with a bit of ridicule) is worth it.
Theists tend to make themselves look foolish, and even if most of these people are nothing but trolls, it STILL brings to light the unfounded ridiculousness of a lot of the claims and rejection of actual evidence that REAL theists do engage in all the time. Many of them not even bold enough to post their objections in an online forum.
So I say keep at it. Keep responding - keep looking like the more rational party in the conversation. I see nothing "wrong" with it... don't care "how it looks" in the slightest, and truly believe that if enough of us keep up the tide of resistance to "religious" thinking that it will someday abate. It will become the fringe, and there will be enough negative social response to people trying to "bring religion back" that efforts to do so will be stymied it in their tracks.
I don't see that happening by those of us opposed to religion "staying silent" or "having no response," as you seem to have suggested. This is one atheist who simply isn't going to stop - and I honestly don't care about your opinion on that.
@AM
Acknowledged. I saw the same attitude on the Cattle Forum when activist came on to advocate against animal protein. The only point to clear up is the difference between the folks trolling versus those who sincerely want genuine discourse. I am eager to engage in legitimate dialogue. I just don't let the trolls take me on the Merry-go-round.
From my perspective, a conversation I am having on a public forum is never just about me and the person I am conversing with. Maybe that's where we differ in opinion. I don't care if the other person is just getting their jollies and messing with me - I am being direct, and truthful in my opinions, and cogent, and real - so all they end up doing is caricaturing a position and having me dismantle it - which is something I have no problems trying to engage in with people who are being truthful in origin - why would I treat a troll any differently if I didn't know the person was trolling? Again - it isn't just about the "troll" and me. Not at all.
@Bright Raven
I do try not to engage with trolls, if I realise they are trolls. I sometimes miss the mark, as I did with Joy.
I don't like trolls ,nor theist apologist who keep insisting It's Ok to come here and proselytise. It really gets quite tedious.
Currently ,Jo is back again. Coincidently just after Joy was banned.
I don't know if Jo is a troll for sure**. However, he irritates me, so I do my best to ignore him. Just like other adults here ,I'm perfectly capable of deciding who to ignore all by myself. We also have a pretty good moderator to ban trolls when there is actual evidence.
I think it must also be said that some folks seem to like having Jo around. Some seem entertained, others seem to enjoy the challenge, such as it is. Some seem to enjoy the warn glow of superiority one can sometime get interacting with a complete fool.
Some people seem to have a hidden sign on their back which others can often see. It says "Please don't kick me",or like Jo, "Please don't kick me". So of course, there will always be those who can't resist. It's such a BIG sign ,and he's such a twerp.***
(((((((((((((((((((((((((9)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
**If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck--------Jo does an inordinate amount of quacking.
***oooh, just made a discovery! There are only three words in the English language beginning with 'dw'; dwarf, dwell and dwindle . (well, according Jed Bartlett in The West Wing" ) I think I just discovered a fourth , "twerp". It means a silly, annoying person. BUT, although pretty much a redundant word, I think it might be slang . Pity ,it's a fine word. Sounds great and is reasonably precise.
There was a guy (Username was FLOUNDER, all capitals) on the cattle forum who would repeatedly post about mad cow disease. [Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of the disease the cow becomes unable to move.]
He advocated that we stop raising cattle because of the harm we were doing. When I saw his Username on a thread, I swear on all that is sacred, I never opened it. Other Users would spend all their time on the board bantering with this guy. I don't know who was more annoying, him or the ones that kept him entertained.
@Bright Raven: You might have a point. If we all stopped responding to your UTTER nonsense, you might go away. After all the grass is greener on the other side of the pasture. Look over there! Bye!
@Cognostic
Is that UTTER nonsense or UDDER nonsense?
@Bright Raven: Exactly! Will leave the lame puns to you.
@ Bright Raven
"Is that UTTER nonsense or UDDER nonsense?"
LOL (can't remember the last time I used that appalling acronym) .
The clip below is not puns, but Milton Jones, a Brit comic, King of the one liners, and some great puns. ---I find him very witty . I guess it's wit I appreciate, not just puns or one liners.
Have no idea why I laughed at your pun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTfnsdUehfI
@BR
Glad you have it all figured out. Very cool man. Keep it real.
If only everyone was like you, what a world it would be.
@Bright Raven:
RE: "You folks just keep posting the same responses over and over and over. The themes are the same."
When the idiots come up with some new evidence or arguments, the responses will change to meet the challenge. Perhaps you have something new. Why not try and contribute to the forum instead of sitting about flagellating BULLshit into the air. Imagine what the forum would be like if you actually had something constructive to say.
Tell you what... Why don't you do better than the theists and come up with a great, yet unheard of, argument for the existence of god, and see what happens?
Trolls come in all flavours and sizes. I usually identify them because over time, because they can’t help themselves.
Usually “they” will use the term “you” as in “all” and make general statements that are negative to excite a response.
They then, most often, offer their superior position or “no evidence” to back their statement.
Usually, the threads they start are self-serving and will illicit “no real conversation”...but will keep the posters’ attention focussed on the narcissistic individual.
Yah...sometimes it takes awhile before a person “jumps to judgement” - and us’all older folks like to usually give someone the benefit of the doubt first.
@OP by Bright Raven
If I get tired of bantering with trolls and/or theist apologist that do not listen to anyone but themselves, I simply ... do not reply.
A quote I seen a few times around here lately, that I agree with fairly strongly, badly paraphrased by me:
If theist (especially theist apologist that visit an atheist debate board) were open to reasonable, evidenced argument, and could leave their biases behind, there would be no theist.
@LogicFTW
I have a characteristic. On all these forums, it goes back to my sense of justice. Even if I don't agree, if I see mob mentality, 9 times out of 10, I side with the underdog.
To be clear, if they are only intent on mischief, I can see ganging up on them but some of what I see looks like mob mentality.
@Bright Raven: Even if I don't agree, if I see mob mentality, 9 times out of 10, I side with the underdog.
Where in the world, apart from here, are the religious underdogs? The world seems to be full of entitled Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
I think we offer them a valuable educational experience by challenging their beliefs, accusing them of immorality, and treating them as eccentric.
@Algebe
I use "underdog" broadly in that sentence. Examples would be bullying, ganging up on someone, etc. Religion has nothing to do with it. I don't judge whether it is deserved. I react out of a sense of justice. Reminds me of a mob mentality.
I doubt they see coming here as an educational experience. Lol
@Logic FTW
@OP by Bright Raven
"If theist (especially theist apologist that visit an atheist debate board) were open to reasonable, evidenced argument, and could leave their biases behind, there would be no theist.'
Expressed perhaps a bit more pithily by a fictional character; "If you could reason with religious people there wouldn't be any" (Dr Greg House)
Ah!
Thanks cranky47.
Sad part is, House MD is one of my favorite tv shows, and the episode of house vs god is one of my all time favorites. And I still could not get it right.
Although I would not be surprised if the writers of the show borrowed that from somewhere else.
@logic FTW
"And I still could not get it right."
There there, (pats shoulder empathically) I know, I know. When one gets old, one becomes forgetful and easily confused with some
things--- Such as remembering the name of the latest troll or indeed the name of a person one met 30 seconds ago .
--Last week I joined a [current affairs] discussion group. Pretty sure I'm the youngest member. There, are nine of us. We had a go round so people could introduce themselves. By the time we got to number six I'd forgotten the names of the first four. I did pretty well overall. There are two terminally stupid members, and I don't much care for the chairman. However, I neither hit nor insulted anyone. Next meeting is on Monday.
--Don't let any wanker tell you " 70 is the new 60" because it fucking well ain't. It's still 70 and it's old .
@Bright Raven
Yeah I usually root for the underdog too.
Atheist are the underdog most everywhere.
We have people that visit these forums, (usually they use other tools available on this website,) that seek help, as they can be literally fearful of their lives if word got out they were atheist.
Many others that face near total, or total loss of all family/friends/community if the word got out.
Even in the US, where we had Obama as president for 8 years, I do not expect to see an openly atheist/agnostic president within my life time. Where as a female president, or a gay president, I would not be surprised if it happens in 2020 or within a decade or two.
Irreligion (adjective form: non-religious or irreligious) is the absence, indifference to, or rejection of religion. According to the Pew Research Center's 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population is not affiliated with a religion, while 84% are affiliated.
Is their representation of 16% in politics/decision makers? Not.. even... close. Certainly not in the USA.
Saw another statistic say that atheist only represent 2.4 of the world population compared to the 16 percent for irreligion.
In some senses it is quite hilarious that so many people feel so threatened by 2.4% of the world population that has almost zero political representation. Even heard some say they were getting "attacked" by these atheist.
Meanwhile religious motivated conflict, (against other religions mostly,) continues world wide.
@LogicFTW
I was on a couple cattle forums. I revealed that I am atheist. Stop for a minute and consider that rural America is solidly Conservative/Christian. Hell, they even hate Catholics. I revealed my atheism in about 2015 not long after I joined. From that day until I was permanently banned about a month ago, I fought the good fight. I don't whine, I don't go into defensive mode and I ain't no quitter. Even my enemies will confess to that. I have a skill for just staying under the threshold for being banned. But they finally got me. Lol
I think that also plays a role in my sympathies for the one being ganged up on, I was all alone and had hundreds of Conservative/Christians gunning for me. I know the predicament.
@Bright Raven
Dang, while I cannot fully relate, I can some.
Before I spent a lot of time here, I used to visit the few theist discussion boards, well, the few that would allow anyone to sign up and participate, I felt similar, it felt like me versus the world.
The most frustrating part of it for me back then, was I would write long, detailed post that explained my position, only to see my postings deleted and my account banned. And on those types of discussion boards, I made a point of being very polite, never swearing, never name calling, etc.
I got better with practice, but it seemed almost without fail, if I was making any progress in getting people to consider that blind loyalty to whatever god idea they were in, may deserve a critical 2nd look at. Bam! I was banned. Sometimes the forum software would even go through and edit any and all post I made on the account to "banned" instead of what ever I wrote. It was not all bad though, more then once some of the community would question mods etc why I was banned.
I gave all that up, when I found discussion groups like this one, where I was not badly outnumbered, the mods would not ban me unless I broke a written rule, and I could make friends with folks that think similar to me on this subject.
@LogicFTW
Your experiences are similar.
On the last Cattle Forum, I reserved myself mostly to technical topics. I have a deep and detailed knowledge of cattle vaccines. To the extent that I have connections to the Veterinarian and PhD research customer service personnel at Zoetis which is the largest US animal drug company. I was very active on the animal health boards with in depth information on vaccination and immunization of cattle. I also have in depth knowledge of cattle genetics and reproductive physiology. I provided most of the responses to questions on those topics. As long as I reserved myself to those topics, I didn't have any issues. But if I went on any of the general discussion boards, I was always censored especially on religion, politics or social issues involving homosexuality or sexual preference. I certainly am not homosexual but I am liberal on social issues. That always put me in opposition to 99 % of the forum. I don't mind being the lone voice and I can hold my own with anyone, that seemed to annoy the Moderators. I was warned several times to stay off the general discussion boards. It's a long story. I dodged a lot of bullets. They finally simply banned me. No explanation.
You would be amazed at how crude rural Americans can be when same sex marriage or homosexuality comes up on a Cattle Forum. I pushed back. I knew the end would come and it did.
I'm not saying I'm trolling, I'm only trolling when they get all defensive.
When they don't get defensive, all we did was telling the truth.
@Flatland
Hang in there old buddy. I admire a lone warrior.
@BR Re: "I admire a lone warrior."
...*perplexed look*... Warrior?... Flatland???... A warrior?.... Seriously???... *totally perplexed look*... Personally, I have KNOWN, FOUGHT WITH, AND BLED WITH many, many true warriors in my life. Even on this site, I have gotten to know a few folks on whom I would proudly bestow the title of warrior. However, based on what I have seen so far in regards to the behavior of Flatland, I have yet to detect ANY characteristics that would clasify him as a warrior. But, hey, if want to get all comfy-cozy with him, be my guest.
As for the "lone" part, I am really beginning to have strong suspicions even about that. But, hey, maybe I'm just too quick to jump the gun, right? And as for underdogs, I have ALWAYS been in the cheering section for the underdogs. Hell, for that matter, I have often BEEN the underdog... *chuckle*... Quite honestly, I actually prefer it that way most times. Again, though, I am still not convinced good ol' Flatland even falls into THAT category. Still, I suppose you are totally right, BR. I really SHOULD get out of that nasty and annoying habit of trusting the instincts that kept my sorry ass alive all those years on patrol and during three combat deployments. But I'm afraid the sorry bastard in me simply can't help it... *shrugging shoulders*...
@BR Re: Flatland, your warrior-hero
Ya know, after I made that last post, it dawned on me that you would not recognize a warrior nor an underdog if one were to come up and bite your ass. (Yes, I know. I can be a little slow sometimes.) And then something interesting occurred to me that got my Spidey senses tingling. So I did a bit of backtracking....
On 02/24 you popped into my thread about my cousin's teenage child and made some vague non-commited comment about the OP at 0524hrs. Then, within thirty five minutes of making that post, you posted your own thread (Tone for Debate) at 0559hrs. And within that thread, not only were you criticizing me for my "debate tone" (about which I give less than two shits, by the way), you were incredibly quick to place Joy in a "victim category" and defend her and the sickening views she expressed within my thread. (By the way, Joy was a malicious and malignant TROLL, in case you didn't notice.)
Interestingly enough, along comes Flatland fresh on the heels of our dearly departed Joy. And you wasted little time jumping in to defend this guy who has already openly admitted he is trolling. Granted, Flatland is quite harmless (so far) and is even mildly entertaining. So his continued existence here is of no big concern to me, to be honest. On the other hand, what IS of some concern to me is how you would consider him some type of valient "lone warrior", especially in light of how you set yourself up as some form of "protector" for the likes of Flatland and Joy. Hmmmm....
Anyway, as I said, I doubt you are capable of recognizing a real warrior or underdog. However, if you are interested in seeing an absolute textbook example of BOTH, please go back and read my thread about my cousin's child. Because, as far as I am concerned, that scared, defenseless, confused teenage child is a TRUE underdog and a TRUE warrior.
You see, there are many people who know me well and have often told me how brave they think I am because of the things I have done over the years. Okay, fine. Whatever. I usually just shrug it off, because I do not consider myself any type of hero. And, besides, most of the shit I encountered was typically due to a direct or indirect deliberate choice I made. Plus, I was an adult and highly trained to handle the situations I encountered. Eric, however, had ZERO choice for his Dad to die. Eric had ZERO experience or training on how to handle all the shit that was being shoveled on top of him. And Eric (being a child) had no other options but to stay with his mother, surrounded by family who treated him as an embarrassment and an abomination. Yet... ERIC NEVER GAVE UP. ERIC CONTINUES TO FIGHT AND LIVE HIS LIFE. ERIC CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN HIS HUMANITY AND HIS CARING FOR OTHERS. NO horrors I have ever faced during all my years can even come CLOSE to matching what that child has endured in just his short amount of time in the world. You want to know a TRUE HERO? You want to know a TRUE WARRIOR and a TRUE UNDERDOG? Then go back and read that post. Because THAT sixteen year old child is MY hero and lone warrior.
Good day to you, sir.
@Moderator
A rose by any other name------
"I'm not saying I'm trolling, I'm only trolling when they get all defensive.'
You lack the bottle to remain true to yourself? I think that's a bit piss weak and rather sad.
If 'they' means we on this forum, that makes you a troll who I hope is soon banned.
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