On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 6:18 PM, Maureen wrote: > I guess this means the attack cadre has won the battle for the list. > Too bad, because it has been fun sharing ideas and opinions over the > years >
Unfortunately, I think that the few unreasonable and borderline abusive people on this list have scared away a great many people over the years. The ones of us who are left either have very thick skins or ignore those threads. I find it useful to remember that among the people who remain here, I agree with many of them on many things. The people I have the most opposite view of (Sam, Rick) are so indoctrinated and invested into their view of the world that no amount of discussion will change their mind. These are people who may have a very hard time getting along with other people in real life as well. It's easy to feel like you have to defend sanity, logic, and the good in the world and try to convince them to change their minds. But you are just talking to a brick wall. It's a waste of time. They have made up their minds and their mission here is only to agitate and troll you. They are not attempting to have an intellectual productive conversation. It's easiest just to ignore them, and/or be amused by them. Likewise, remember that none of us are speaking in a forum of impressionable young minds here. They are not influencing or harming anyone with their viewpoints but themselves. They are not swaying anyone's opinions. Don't feel like you need to defend anyone. None of us are fooled if their statements go unchallenged, we all see them for who they are. No matter how much he tries, Sam is not convincing anyone that Climate Change is the largest conspiracy ever known to man, and Rick is not convincing anyone that beating your spouse is okay "if she deserved it". I know that Rick's posts may feel very personal to you, especially since it sounds like you have been a victim of domestic abuse before. I imagine that they feel like (and may actually be, psychologically speaking) actual abusive attacks, especially with the recent devolution into name calling and disrespectful comments. I don't advocate violence unless there is a real reason for it, even against Rick. This is a silly comparison I know, but I can't help but be reminded of the third episode of The Walking Dead, an episode called "Tell it to the Frogs" where Carol is being abused by her husband and Shane jumps in to defend her, beating Ed within an inch of his life for his abuse. I know you are strong and capable of defending yourself, it's just a scene that I think of when I imagine that like Ed in the show, what a miserable person Rick must be like in his real life, and how this group would jump into action if we were all standing around in person and he felt the sudden need to beat ANY person "because they asked for it". Especially a woman. Anyway, those are my random thoughts. I do hope you do continue to lurk and contribute at times. -Cameron ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:372515 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
