I don't feel at home in GD. Does anybody else feel this way?

[beam me up scottie]

The christians that attack you because you're atheist is what drove me away. I'm super liberal - believe gays should marry, etc.

I don't feel like going to the DU main board anymore because of the christians who can't handle other people having no religion.

They're too closed minded for me.

I don't care if a person worships cats, I'm not going to turn into some kind of extreme fundamentalist who only believes people should think like I do over it. I consider the christians that I don't hang out on the main board because of, as basically the same mentality as the extreme fundys, and just happen to have a God.

I don't know what the F@# they're doing on a liberal site.

[Solly Mack]

1. I'm just a regular old heathen

I like bonfires and sex... and having sex by a bonfire. I don't really need the bonfire. But I'm not being fruitful and I'm not multiplying...though sex was so bad this one time that it became a word problem.
:)

[beam me up scottie]

3. Heh heh!

I am doing an experiment.
After a bunch of our group's threads got deleted a few weeks ago because we were griping about the way some du'ers target atheists, I foolishly thought that the same rules applied to all groups.
We were griping, true and maybe the threads should have been deleted (I would have preferred locked because there was some funny stuff in them-but that's another story).
Anyway, last week I was jogging around the old du track and I stumbled upon a thread whining about atheists on GD.
After two alerts, it's still there.
So I guess the rules are either suspended or selective and I'm trying to find out which.

Some of us have really been trying to follow the rules and I personally have self censored some of my posts.

Maybe I'm naive but I still believe in fairness. :shrug:

[Solly Mack]

5. Yeah, I saw it

I grokked immediately. I "lurk" all over DU. Read far more than I post.

[beam me up scottie]

6. Maybe I'm just being a bitch

but somebody's gotta do it!
:evilgrin:

They lurk all over this group and I swear some of our posts get smited before we even hit enter.

[Solly Mack]

7. Nah, you're not being a bitch

You have a valid point. A not so recently departed sock puppet made it a daily routine to ah...disrupt in just the way you're describing.

[beam me up scottie]

8. Thanks.

I should dedicate this thread to our late friend.

[Solly Mack]

9. Cheer up, BMUS! That sounded so down :o)

[beam me up scottie]

10. I'll feel better once I'm done mopping the floor

with this minuteman apologist! :eyes:

Damn, they're right, you can't ever completely get rid of cockroaches.

[Violet_Crumble]

36. I've noticed that too...

After a bunch of our group's threads got deleted a few weeks ago because we were griping about the way some du'ers target atheists, I foolishly thought that the same rules applied to all groups.

I saw something similar happen in another group where there was some pretty nasty and totally untrue griping about another forum at DU. The worst post of the lot remains in all its glory, so now I know for sure that the rules do not apply to all groups at all...

Violet...

[beam me up scottie]

37. Thanks.

I'm beginning to realize that, I'm a little dense sometimes.

I also read on another thread that some have heard that it was the atheists who invaded another group thereby causing the tomb-stoning of a member and forcing admin to make the new rules.

How the hell did we end up getting blamed for this?
Oh, that's right, we're EVIL.

I don't know about anybody else but I'm starting to feel like living up to our reputation...

[Zhade]

22. Mmmm, sex with a bonfire.

No, wait, that would hurt.

:P

[fshrink]

2. That's why I'm only here.

And it's not just the discussions about religion. It's all the rest as well. There seems to be plenty of duers who are religious but not vocal about religious matters. Their thinking is still typical: close-minded, obedient, magical, filled with rancid guilt, rigid principles, etc... Religious thinking pervades everything. A trend which actually followed another: the slow but steady institutionalizing of the semi-fascist political power that stole this country in 2000. It seems to me that it reached a peak during the 2004 campaign.

[beam me up scottie]

4. The racism on du seems to actually

be increasing. Reichwing talking points are showing up all over the place.
I believe we need to call Dead Bug Doug to exterminate the roaches.
Raid just isn't enough anymore.

[Taxloss]

11. I'm getting increasingly worried by GD.

It's the occasional Quixotic efforts to "demonstrate" we're a religion like any other ... feared on one side, but on the other there's the idea that we're somehow impervious the the religous right and must be in the forefront of any struggle against them because ... because ... because we don't worry about offending them!

And that really pisses me off. It's your fucking faith, you sort out the losers wrecking it.

[beam me up scottie]

12. Pointing out that they

expect atheists to do their dirty work for them was brilliant.
If they don't have the courage to speak out against the creationists in their schools, they shouldn't expect us to do it for them.
Are they afraid of what people will think if they agree with atheists?
Time for them to get their knuckles bloodied.

[Taxloss]

13. Exactly!

It's like they want to come in after our Wagnerian struggle and act as the conciliators. Well, it don't work like that, sonny.

[beam me up scottie]

15. *snort*

And how do you think they would treat us after we've saved their schools?

A ticker tape parade, maybe?
Gift certificates?

[Kolesar]

14. I have been missing all of this discord

I have a few forums that I read intensely, like Ohio, Bicycling, E&E and A&A. I pluck off a few threads I see on the latest threads page and follow them. Somehow, I never get drawn into the GD threads that are as stupid as you folks describe.

[Az]

16. I've mostly been staying away because

the general level of discourse seems to have dropped. I don't mind the occaisional attack by a christian (I find it a great opportunity to use their own momentum against them). But in general I find that a serious discussion doesn't seem to take hold unless its confrontational.

This is an unfortunate affect of the nature of this sort of forum. Conversations that require pondering and consideration tend to drop below the first screen before they pick up steam. Meanwhile the more confrontational threads are kept alive by a constant stream of venom spraying every which way.

The upshot thoughtful threads drop fast and angry threads stay alive.

[GOPFighter]

17. I think there are a lot of trolls here in DU

Can't be helped I guess. We now have 70,000 registered members with increasing influence in the Democratic Party, so we are drawing attention.

I'm not too worried about posts that attack atheists and are somewhat racist in tone. I started out in life a religious fundamentalist conservative, and my conversion to a lefty and developing my current philosophy was accompanied by some pretty stupid ideas and comments along the way. The important thing is to counter them with reasoned replies. That's how I learned. I assume many out in GD-land read and think and revise their beliefs as they mature.

[beam me up scottie]

21. Yes, trolls.

I am on day two of arguing with racists on a GD thread.
I was literally speechless when I read some of the posts (insert smart ass comment regarding the inconceivability of me ever being speechless here).

For example one said that muslims are invading countries by immigration.

Another one said we need to deport all of the muslims from Europe and not let anymore in.

Hopefully we can get more of these members to voice similar reichwing ideology.

I want them in the light where I can see them.

[beam me up scottie]

18. Sorry guys.

Read my post #3 before you think I've got toys in the attic.
I tried to edit my subject but it was too late.

[Az]

19. You'r Jedi mind tricks will not work on us

:evilgrin:

[beam me up scottie]

20. Curses!

Foiled again!

[NMMNG]

23. I say let them whine

This is DU, not Talibornigan neoconville. They can't have us banned for being atheists here.

They want to believe in magical beings in the sky....who am I to trounce on their happy little fantasies.

If they try to argue with me because I don't believe in their stuff I will either ignore them tell them to leave me be.

[Gelliebeans]

24. Talk about having to wade through

the mud in GD to find anything worth reading let alone posting.

I try to go from LBN to groups and then the lounge before I sign off otherwise I get really depressed if LBN is the last thing I read. :(

I only feel truly comfortable here, I am completely enamored by the posts in the Atheists forum. Sure, we bitch and moan here but it seems like most posts are well thought out and intelligent. The knee jerk reaction in the(racism)threads you described might be real telling.

It is harder for one to disguise racism or any -ism for that matter when one is jumping on a band wagon or reacting from within without much forethought. Truer colors may be shown sooner and divert a sock puppet fiasco.:crazy:

When I first came to DU, I thought about each post before I hit the send button and I still try and do that. I have been guilty of whining among the safety net here in the Atheist forum but out there in GD unless you are lightning fast on the keyboard with witty responses or can google your facts quick with accuracy (which I do not)
:dunce: participation on my part is limited to offering reinforcements if needed and sitting back and watching the show :popcorn:

Three cheers to the regulars who brave the uncharted waters known as GD.

As for the xians that are sick of the fundies representing them I say it's YOUR house, it stinks and you need clean up the mess.

[beam me up scottie]

25. Don't say that, Gellie

You bring a lot to to the table. Lurk all you want, you know just when to contribute.
I did the same thing-still do.
When Trotsky or Az get on a roll, I just try not to get in their way.

Heh Heh, you were very smart to leave that racist thread alone until today. It was obvious flame bait and I wouldn't have jumped in if I hadn't seen long time DU'ers spouting reichwing drivel. I was the only one still posting on it early Saturday morning before I went to bed.
When I pulled it up on again in the afternoon, it had morphed into a beast, 500+ posts and counting.
I'm pretty proud of the fact I only used profanity in one post (it wasn't easy)
It was great to see a lot of members of this board seem to hate bigotry as much as I do.

[Gelliebeans]

27. I just try to self censor some of my posts

so I won't need to back peddle and apologize later.

I will stick my .02 in occasionally (I'm much more of a bitch in real life than I play on these here Internets hee hee)

I guess what bothered me about that monster post was the "yeah, me too" syndrome on the part of people excusing behavior.

There is no defense for racism. NONE.

[beam me up scottie]

28. LOL

Tolerant, aren't they?
I especially love the
"I had a bad experience with a brown person years ago so I know exactly why you feel threatened" posts.
That's pretty much all they have to justify their bigotry and I'm not buying it.
How many posters have had bad experiences with white christian people?
Do we toss them out of the country too?
(okay, bad example, don't answer that)
You know what I mean!

:evilgrin:

[shrike]

26. A few months ago, I heard DU's Christians make similar complaints about GD

The above poster was right: this is a large site, and it's probably attracting its share of crazies as well as infiltrators. To paraphrase a former acquaintance of mine, the world is full of crazies and we are all doomed to meet 'em one by one.

Sorry y'all are feeling so beleaguered. I myself don't patronize GD much anymore because the posts get dumber every day. Besides, I come here for the news and political analysis, not to debate religion with anyone.

I'm not an atheist but I drop in on this group because occasionally I learn things. For example, I had no idea what "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was about until I visited this group.

[leftofthedial]

29. I don't have a problem with GD

I get in about one religious flamewar a month, almost never when I expect it.

[beam me up scottie]

30. Isn't that the truth...

Of course, Trotsky always starts it! :evilgrin:

I do think most intelligent believers are starting to understand where we are coming from.
And as for the others, if I have to get into a brawl occasionally to get some respect, bring it on.

[onager]

31. Check this out!

A thread started off well, properly slagging Tom Cruise for impersonating a doctor. And spreading his $camintology bullshit about medicine.

Well, in no time, the anti-vaccination, pro-chiropractor whackjobs hijacked it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3727323

Not that I have anything particularly against the whackjobs. I figure the more of them who stick to "alternative medicine" and don't go to doctors, the fewer whackjobs we ultimately have to deal with.

:evilgrin:

They sound exactly like the Fundies who go to Benny Hinn and other faith healers. All anecdotal evidence and tinfoil hats.

[beam me up scottie]

33. Are you fucking KIDDING me?

I bet you anything these people have tin foil ceilings.
I wouldn't even know where to start...I'm speechless, well almost...
Where in the hell do these idiots get their information? That's almost as bad as the islamaphobia thread...at least that one didn't go past 500 posts.
And to insist that their stupidity is not, in fact, stupid but correct because their secondy-fourth cousin on aunt bertha's side told their taxidermist that she knew someone who said it happened... There are no words for stupidity that dense, none.
But this picture might help:



I need to go lie down now...

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. Especially impressive is the poster who insists their links show

thimerosal was in MMR vaccines, when one doesn't mention MMR at all, and the other specifically says the MMR never contained it. Yet they insist, for about 4 exchanges of posts, while people tell them they're wrong, that it did!

[trotsky]

32. :-P

Yeah, right! You're ripe for another smiting, bmus!

[beam me up scottie]

34. But I was talking

about the OTHER Trotsky, really! :P

[Moderator]

38. Locking

Please do not use this group to call out members of DU. Thank you.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=263x4111