I log in on a sunday afternoon and all I can say is

[Heddi]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

TOLD YOU SO

hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha

I should read DU more often...

3 down...3 to go

[uriel1972]

1. As it was said in "Aliens"

"We should nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

[Warpy]

2. It's been a very gratifying day, that's for sure.

Makes me want to party!

Unfortunately, they'll all be back, sooner or later. Trying to convert all the godless Democrats on the site is just too tempting for them to forgo for long.

[skepticscott]

3. Except that at least two of them

Will find it impossible to hide who they are. They have the same tired old shtick, repeated endlessly, and they won't be able to change.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. If their pals are on MIRT when they return they will have protection..

Last edited Mon Feb 11, 2013, 02:33 PM - Edit history (2)

... with posts like "atheists aren't a protected class on DU" - actual quote in MIRT from a MIRT member and former religion host in response to a thread about a (since banned) troll who signed up only to bash atheists in the religion forum.

Or "I don't see anything wrong with the post" when humblebum showed up on MIRT's desk with his post taking the side of the NRA regarding the infamous "Obama's kids hypocrisy ad" - same MIRT member.

[cleanhippie]

5. Amazing! How can they be so "out" about things that get a member PPR'd?

[dmallind]

6. Maybe my glass-is-half-empty nature; maybe my lack of worry about "trolls", but a more sanguine take

None of these people, or any other of whom I am aware, was booted for antagonism towards the non-believing community, or antagonism towards science, or for overt proselytizing. They were PPR'd for more taboo biases against choice or equal rights. Now I suppose I get the relief of being spared a few gadflies, but let's be honest they were exactly that trivial in annoyance, and it is not our annoyance that was given the slightest consideration in banning them, so we risk celebrating a trivial relief that was entirely coincidental to the cure. While comparing victim status is not my bag either, it's another indication that the most vitriloic bile against atheists is not worth shit compared to a minor slight towards gays or women in DU terms. Celebrate the departure by all means if you like. I get the idea, really. Just don't think their rabid anti-atheism had anything to do with it, or hope that rabid anti-atheism alone will ever be a banning offense.

[trotsky]

7. There is nothing wrong with noting that.

And you are absolutely correct, those 3 were particularly nasty toward non-believers and were responsible for some particularly vile posts directed at them, but unfortunately none of that weighed into the equation. So you can bet that some other bigoted creeps will rise to take their place, and we'll have to wait until they criticize one of DU's sacred cows before anything will be done.

[Heddi]

8. I agree with what you write

and it's particularly frustrating when there are Religion hosts and members of MIRT who see nothing wrong and, in a way, carry the water of anti-atheist bigots because these hosts/MIRT members have no issue with wagging their finger at non-believers the minute a snarky cartoon is posted, but are never seen and certainly never wag fingers at posters who compare Atheists to Stalin. Who state that Atheists are responsible for more deaths than any other "religion" combined. Who state that non-believers are unable to show compassion to the dying or are unable to console the dying.

They're just not there. And they don't finger wag. And they don't chastize these recently banned posters. In fact, these recently banned posters frequently got the GOOD POST, GREAT POINT award from one of the most egregious finger-waggers.

I notice that as of yet these folks who happily carry the water of these bigoted, homophobic, anti-atheist posters have yet to come forward and say "gosh, non-believers, you were right when you all collectively and individually pointed out the trolling tactics of these recently banned posters. You were right when you implied or stated that they were not interested in civility, they were not interested in building bridges between believers and non-believers. WE WERE WRONG. You were right. And we're sorry for not coming to your defense when they attacked you and your non-belief. WE WERE WRONG when we did not bar them from the Religion forum for being bigoted against Atheists. WE WERE WRONG and WE ARE SORRY."

None of that has happened. It will never happen. Because that means saying they were wrong and I think that the admitting of wrongness is kryptonite for some of them (at least one of them that I'm certain of. I think that person's hair would fall out and they would shrivel like a raisin to say "I WAS NOT 100% RIGHT AT ALL TIMES IN MY LIFE&quot

I'm glad they're gone. I'm glad that Admin was able to clearly see their bigoted and hateful stance against GLBT'ers. I wish they were just as open to seeing the bigotry they've shown against atheists and other non-christians for YEARS. I wish that kind of attitude got people booted, as well.

[trotsky]

9. Because there are those who must lurk in this group and read everything we write,

I know they will see this. And while I know it won't change anything, what you have written is so very true and needs to be acknowledged by certain individuals who sadly never will. Because when they write that they're all about dialog and listening to each other, what they really mean is that atheists need to sit down and shut up, because their opinions on religion are not welcome.

And fuck it all, we were RIGHT about humblebum. We were RIGHT about Lared. They were hateful, bigoted creeps who betrayed their true personalities every time they spoke about atheism or atheists. The writing was on the wall for years - but bigotry against atheists is not only invisible, it's fucking APPLAUDED, even by self-proclaimed tolerant believers and sympathizers.

[Heddi]

10. Well 2 of them have me on ignore but I know that they log out to read things

so this will either be read while being logged out, or it will be pointed out to them by one of their nosy little toady BFF's.

I don't care. Can't stand the heat? Awesome. Don't carry water for hateful bigots. Don't applaud them. Don't stand up for them. And most importantly, don't wag your fucking finger in my face when I call them out for being hateful bigots. Don't accuse me of not wanting to build a coalition between believers and nonbelievers. Don't say that anti-theists are just as bad as anti-atheists. Don't do it.

[trotsky]

13. "carry water" - an EXCELLENT choice of words, Heddi.

That is all I will say.

[Heddi]

14. I think back to this post and I think it illustrates my point precisely

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1218&pid=67127

'People can carry water intentionally or not.
There are many areas on DU where people are divisive and, imo, perform a service for those who want to keep us divided and harm the causes which we all support. Religion is just one of them.... I am not accusing any individuals of being a shill or disruptor, but I am not entirely convinced that some people here may not be just that. The existence of such people has become glaringly clear during the recent debates on guns. Many have been banned"

cbayer made my point quite well there, didn't she?

[trotsky]

15. She did indeed.

Amazing just how well she did.

[skepticscott]

12. +1000

And I'm sure they're all reading this and saying "no...not me!!" Denial is mother's milk to them.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Unfortunately, you are right on target.

I would hope that in the future, that MIRT would understand that the treatment of non-believers is just an indication of the other hatreds that they have hidden inside of them. We have to keep up the fight against poor treatment. Well, you will have to, since I refuse to bother with going into Religion. I will only fight for it if they come here.

Good luck.

[rexcat]

16. Unfortunetly...

I don't think it will happen anytime soon. The three weren't banned for being anti-atheist. At least that is the way it looks for two of them (banned for being homophobic than anything else); just not sure about the third. It took me awhile to figure who the third person was who was banned. I could never understand what the one was trying to say (the third one). The other two were really obvious but it takes a brick to my head at times to figure things out.

[Heddi]

17. The third one you're speaking of (the first to be banned)

always reminded me (when I read their stream of consciousness, what is "is", psychobabble bunky bullshit) of the time I took bad acid and sat with a friend who, when they took acid, spoke in a stream of consciousness, what is "is", psychobabble bunky bullshitty way. "No no, it's not "who are you," it's "who is WHAT, man, that's the question....the purpose of a question isn't the answer, it's to question the question...". Yeah, okay. I get it. You listened to some Tim Leary and forgot it's 1994, not 1964. That person also talked like that when they weren't stoned and 9 out of 10 people they knew couldnt' stand to be around them for more than 2 hours because they were such a fucking bore. It became evident after a few minutes of convo that this person (both my real life acquaintance and our recently departed friend) had no interest in ANYTHING you had to say, your opinion, or your thoughts. They only wanted to talk more and more, throw out some of those "deep questions about life and living that i'm the only one intelligent enough on the planet to think of...AND ANSWER!"



Just because you say something that *sounds* deep and mystical and intelligent doesn't necessarily mean that it's deep, mystical, or intelligent. I find that highly intelligent people don't talk like harried gurus. They talk like normal people.

[Rob H.]

19. That one was an anti-vaxxer, too, which is a whole other kind of crazy

I got called "another true believer with Spanish Inquisition Fetish" (LOLwhut?) by that one for pointing out that anti-vaxxer Bill Maher had no place at the Reason Rally. (I think Maher's since backed away from those views.) S/he also used the phrase "pseudoskeptic cryptoreligionist," whatever the fuck that means, in that same exchange.

Just because you say something that *sounds* deep and mystical and intelligent doesn't necessarily mean that it's deep, mystical, or intelligent. I find that highly intelligent people don't talk like harried gurus. They talk like normal people.

Yep, people seem to forget that plain-spoken words can be profound, even poetic. As much as I hate postmodernist language (shut up with the bafflegab and just get to the goddamned point already, postmodernists!), I was tempted more than once to post something from The Postmodernism Generator just to see what kind of response I would get from that poster.

[Evoman]

18. I'm disappointed. I always found it so fun and enjoyable seeing you guys trash those guys.

Yes, they make DU suck, but DU sucking can be so much fun sometimes, lol.