AKR Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I spent part of almost every single day for the past 6 years at this one forum. I have almost 19k posts there. Well, after being banned about 8 times for the dumbest shit ever, I got an infraction for calling the Christian god a "war mongering narcissist," and was told it was flame baiting. Apparently, it was ok for me to post verses showing that the Christian god supported slavery, but when I said I left a few other verses in to show how he was a "war mongering Narcissist," I had gone too far. I have said much, much worse about the Christian god over there and no mod batted an eye...but then, at other times, I would get banned for the most unoffensive, tame things. The moderating is absolutely horrible and I was always being reported for the smallest things while other people got away with murder. I would get called a douche bag in about every thread I made. Most of my threads, no matter how civil I was in them, contained about 95% flaming and flame baiting for others. Lots of name calling and personal attacks, even when I remained completely civil and/or ignored them. Yet, my posts would be locked, deleted, edited, and I would get banned, simply because I scared the Christians too much. To prove the bias, I'd start copycat threads of a Christian's thread, and simply change it to make it look like it's coming from an Atheist instead of a Christian. Like, if they made a thread, taunting Muslims or Atheists, I'd turn it around, and insert the word "Christians" and make everything else in the post the same. The last time I did it, the mod that edited my thread and gave me a warning ignored me when I pointed out how he left the Christian version of the thread. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and got the fuck out. It pisses me off that Christians are so god damn insensitive that they have to running like little babies to the authorities, trying to sensor everyone that makes them think hard about how screwed up their religion is. Meanwhile, they're running their mouths off, attacking anyone that wants to discuss difficult concepts of their religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scepticjoe Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Sounds interesting. Tell us what the forum is. I may want to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Sounds interesting. Tell us what the forum is. I may want to visit. Bodybuilding.com. Go to "The Misc" and then the religious and politics section. Bring your flame suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ TexasFreethinker ☆ Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I've found that most christian moderators think of themselves as protectors of the flock or protectors of their god. If you make too many valid points (or write something they consider blasphemous) you get booted. It's happened to me on every christian site I've posted on and I've made sure to always remain polite and civil and never respond to name calling, etc. It says a lot about Ex-Christian.net that christians are allowed and even encouraged to bring their best challenges, but christian boards in general are afraid to do the same for non-believers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I generally stay away from religious debate on forums not set up for it or that appear predominantly Christian, it's usually not worth it. I have left one art forum I was paying for that I was on for a couple of years, because they allowed an anti-atheist piece of art to be posted. I know dang well that any anti-Christian piece of art would have gotten the poster banned and the piece of art pulled. The forum had other issues as well, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back. There were a number of Christians there who would openly proselytize with their art posts and then to make matters worse, there was a voting booth and everyone had to vote randomly. So chances were good that you would get to vote on something you didn't like, and then people complained their scores were low. It basically became a popularity contest for bland pieces of art that had mass appeal. The more the general population on the site liked your art, the higher the score was. So you had to create art that there was a good chance a lot of people would like, and it had better be near perfect or someone would find something to nitpick, even if it was near perfect. As someone who likes art, I find that sort of thing distasteful - the best art makes people think and may not be something the mainstream population likes. Many quality pieces of art got low votes simply because they were black and white photos or drawings, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaPirate Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 <snip> You do have a penchant for appearing more than a little condescending at times, so that might have had something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleLady Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Now AKR, you know xtians don't want to know the truth...that's why they always read fiction (bible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 I generally stay away from religious debate on forums not set up for it or that appear predominantly Christian, it's usually not worth it. I have left one art forum I was paying for that I was on for a couple of years, because they allowed an anti-atheist piece of art to be posted. I know dang well that any anti-Christian piece of art would have gotten the poster banned and the piece of art pulled. The forum had other issues as well, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Yeah, I can see staying away from a Christian majority, but this forum was quite mixed and had a number of outspoken Atheist. It wasn't that the moderators were censoring everyone saying bad things about Christianity, but that they seemed to be singling certain people out, based on how threatened Christians felt by them. I have defended Christians a number of times in there and attacked Atheists for being straight up a-holes. None of that mattered to the Christians, because it wasn't about how I was treating Christians personally, but how I seemed to know more about their religion than them and closed all of their loop holes. Because of this, and the fact that I posted a lot, they complained about every single thread I did, and were constantly going around the forum with their mouse over the report function. I think some mods simple got tired of getting so many reports that they would come after me instead of getting to the root of the problem. Some of the mods liked me, but others, not so much. I'm not sure of the religion of the last mod that got on my ass for the "war mongering narcissist" comment, but he gave the worst argument ever, which makes me wonder. There were a number of Christians there who would openly proselytize with their art posts and then to make matters worse, there was a voting booth and everyone had to vote randomly. So chances were good that you would get to vote on something you didn't like, and then people complained their scores were low. It basically became a popularity contest for bland pieces of art that had mass appeal. The more the general population on the site liked your art, the higher the score was. So you had to create art that there was a good chance a lot of people would like, and it had better be near perfect or someone would find something to nitpick, even if it was near perfect. As someone who likes art, I find that sort of thing distasteful - the best art makes people think and may not be something the mainstream population likes. Many quality pieces of art got low votes simply because they were black and white photos or drawings, for example. I have found the same thing as a musician. There's a lot of people out there saying "how can I please the most people in order to make money from my music ?" Art is tainted when it is tailored to the audience. There's nothing wrong with considering someone's critique, but after considering their perspective, it should come down to what you think is best for the art piece - not what is going to get you the most votes or most recognition. Btw, I love some b+w stuff. It's a good way to make people focus on other elements besides the purty colors. I've found that most christian moderators think of themselves as protectors of the flock or protectors of their god. If you make too many valid points (or write something they consider blasphemous) you get booted. It's happened to me on every christian site I've posted on and I've made sure to always remain polite and civil and never respond to name calling, etc. It says a lot about Ex-Christian.net that christians are allowed and even encouraged to bring their best challenges, but christian boards in general are afraid to do the same for non-believers. The thing is, some of these mods aren't even Christians. I think sometimes, they're just bad moderators. They see me getting reported more than almost anyone because I'm one of the longest standing/outspoken members with a good knowledge of the Bible, so they bring down the ban hammer without even properly investigating. You do have a penchant for appearing more than a little condescending at times, so that might have had something to do with it. Oh, I'm totally condescending sometimes, but I feel that I'm only like that once I sense that someone is speaking from a position of dishonesty and/or ignorance. Or I feel that they are pulling an attitude on me in the first place. If someone doesn't sound like they know what they're talking about, I'm going to tell them to educate themselves on the topic before standing on a position, or I'm just going to respect them less for opening their mouth when clearly, they don't know what they're talking about. If I feel they are taking a position because of emotional reasons and I think they know they're wrong, I'm going to pull a bit of an attitude for that as well. I'm a blunt person and I don't pull punches. A lot of people can't stand that, but I'm not gonna sugar coat things. If someone shows me respect, I'll show them respect, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna get a little aggressive. As long as I feel people are shooting straight with me, not being a dick to me, and sound like they've actually researched their argument, it's all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaPirate Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Oh, I'm totally condescending sometimes, but I feel that I'm only like that once I sense that someone is speaking from a position of dishonesty and/or ignorance. Or I feel that they are pulling an attitude on me in the first place. If someone doesn't sound like they know what they're talking about, I'm going to tell them to educate themselves on the topic before standing on a position, or I'm just going to respect them less for opening their mouth when clearly, they don't know what they're talking about. If I feel they are taking a position because of emotional reasons and I think they know they're wrong, I'm going to pull a bit of an attitude for that as well. I'm a blunt person and I don't pull punches. A lot of people can't stand that, but I'm not gonna sugar coat things. If someone shows me respect, I'll show them respect, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna get a little aggressive. As long as I feel people are shooting straight with me, not being a dick to me, and sound like they've actually researched their argument, it's all good. I think it shows character to be respectful at all times, regardless of whether you're right or wrong. Just something to think about. You're still young...you'll learn that condescension can get you into trouble. It did me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Sounds interesting. Tell us what the forum is. I may want to visit. I can't stop you from going there, obviously, but I would ask that, if you do, you avoid any mention of ExC. Board wars aren't anyone's friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaPirate Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Uh oh. Red text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 That's just my mod voice. It's not meant to be indicative of punishment, I just want to nip any potential for problems in the bud before they manifest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Board wars do indeed suck. I mod at another board, and we unwillingly got pulled into a board war with this board that was full of the nastiest trolls imaginable (one or two of them are probably future death row inmates), and it really really sucked. At least back in the Dark Ages you could round up your d00dz and go and burn down their fortress and slaughter their d00dz in a surprise sneak attack. Now... all you can do is batten down the hatches and hope that their moles don't figure out anybody's work/home address or get their filthy paws on anybody's personal photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Sounds interesting. Tell us what the forum is. I may want to visit. I can't stop you from going there, obviously, but I would ask that, if you do, you avoid any mention of ExC. Board wars aren't anyone's friend. Yeah, I don't advocate a board war, nor the mentioning of my username. You'll instantly raise the hackles of half of the forum. And if there's one board you don't want to get in a war with, it's bb.com. Trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 It pisses me off that Christians are so god damn insensitive that they have to running like little babies to the authorities, trying to sensor everyone that makes them think hard about how screwed up their religion is. Meanwhile, they're running their mouths off, attacking anyone that wants to discuss difficult concepts of their religion. The veneer of delusion is fragile and cannot endure interrogation or introspection. Church and other meeting places are like gardens of thought. The sermons and discussions are a mental pruning process. Weed the undesired thoughts and nourish the desired ones. It really should not suprise us so much when they find people planting weeds and these people are tossed outside the garden. Not only do religious folk aggressively weed their fragile gardens but they also want to eradicate certain plant species. They are completely unaware of how that would affect the planetary eco-system and yet they persist in permanently modifying the natural order. They seek to shape and design their mental and emotional landscape with their constant pruning, weeding and copious use of fertilizers and manure. Gardening technique is very important to them. They love to debate all the to do about peaches and the abomination of growing zucchini. Out of arrogance and ignorance, they transplant their native species to other continents and destroy fragile domestic ones in the new lands. They organize and arm their like minded gardeners to ensure that distant gardeners don't plant foreign thoughts. They band together to establish gardening standards to ensure that only approved and certified beliefs grow in their thought garden collectives. The melon gardeners rejoice when pumpkin gardeners give up and buy melon seeds. Some people insist on growing rutabega and however unpopular it may be, these folk keep their small plot growing and dream that the world will one day will understand the great truths about rutabegas that no one else but them can grasp. As much however they dispise gardeners whose cultivation standards do not match their own glorious methods, there is one common enemy to all thought gardeners. Those individuals that gather their mental sustinence from the wild are their solemn enemy. The gatherers or anti-gardeners as they might be addressed, travel inbetween the gardens, collecting and nourishing themselves on any wild notion or thought they find in their reach. They explore the wild and test the value of ideas that grow naturally for that terrain. Some are foul and others poisonous and others still are marvellous delights. When one looks at the history of thought gardening, we find that all fruit and vegetables that gardeners cultivate came originally from the wild. As gatherers discovered new ideas and liked them, they sought to feed their friends, relatives and especially their offspring the same way. Over time they realized that they could grow their ideas into abnormal and unnatural porportions if only they cultivated them in a confined space and weeded out all competitors. With modern travel and communication we now find that our society is a patchwork of thought gardens. Gardeners don't really like this. The potato farmers want their neighbours to plant potatos too but now they find that the seeds from the flower gardeners blow onto their plots and cucumber vines from the cucumber folk crawl into their neighbours plots. To make things worse gardeners seem to be moving freely from one thought garden to another to seek out the ideas that most easily grow and blossom in the soil of their minds. As they transition from one thought garden to another they must traverse the domain of the gatherer. Mor and more these days... people are becoming gatherers. They like the freedom to think unfettered by rigid rules of thought grooming. Thought gardening does not seem to abate however, it merely evolves. New seed types develop and new techniques are constantly developed to entice people to nourish their thoughts with fertilizer and prune their thinking. Most people seem to think that thought gardening is solely the domain of moralists - religious folks. This could not be further from the truth. Today corporations and governments of a great variety seek to remove unproductive thoughts from your mind and plant other ones. That these new thoughts are in the best interest of the corporation or government rarely dawns on most people since they love to consume the fruit of the thought Marketer's labour and idea salesman's toil. The thought gardener's credo is summed up simply: "Control your thoughts and you control your destiny". The master gardeners however... seek to enjoy a stupendous harvest as harvest they calmly chant to themselves, "Control the thoughts of others, and grow rich"! Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatG Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 You need that stickied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QuidEstCaritas? Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Mongo, your Gosu is great bro. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Sounds interesting. Tell us what the forum is. I may want to visit. I can't stop you from going there, obviously, but I would ask that, if you do, you avoid any mention of ExC. Board wars aren't anyone's friend. Agreed. Please avoid the Board Wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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