jamest suspended from ratskep for 6 months

[Seth]

There's lots of ill feeling here. It's stinking out the place.

That's cos we're swamped with wankers that got kicked out of RatSkep (present company excepted. )

Wanker or not, I harbour no ill feeling for anyone. Which sounds odd, given the lynchings I've had.

I think you'll find that the "ill will" you perceive is just on the surface. It certainly is in my case.

Why do so many people hold a grudge against you? Are you a theist?

Some of them think I am because I frequently argue from the theist side of the fence. Others of them don't like me because I refuse to capitulate to their (faulty) arguments and I commonly spend my time analyzing the quality of their argumentation and revealing the flaws in their reasoning, which some of them take as a personal insult, rather than engaging in wide-eyed awe of the awesomeness of their intellectual faculties.

In other words, I don't take any shit from them and I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate, and some of them don't like that because it makes them look like fools.

[Seth]

I actually don't think "racism" is the problem, "culturism" is. That some racial groups are stereotyped and lumped in with cultural groups who engage in antisocial activity is, I think, unrelated to their DNA except superficially.

It's racist to think that all black men are criminals just because they are black, but it's not racist to say that a large number of black men living in particular cultural conditions are criminals. Their being black is not so much causative as it is circumstantial. It's just that we see large numbers of a particular race misbehaving in society, so we quite naturally tend to assign that cultural stigma to everyone who looks the same. The Irish went through the same thing, and so have many other cultural groups in history...like the Jews.

Racism has a very particular definition that doesn't include dislike based on skin tone. That's bigotry. Racism is the belief that one racial group is either inferior to or superior to another only as a function of genetics.

Being a white guy and fearing young black males while driving through East Topeka or Southwest Louisville is no more racist than a black man fearing young Hispanic males while driving through East LA or being an Hispanic driving through Chinatown.

The cultural identification isn't about racial superiority or inferiority, it's about identifying potential threats based on ethnic characteristics in particular locations where ethnicity is an issue, for whatever reason.

That this perfectly reasonable threat analysis is very often improperly applied outside places where the threat may be genuine and quite real isn't necessarily racist, it's just irrational.

Which is not to say that many people are not actually racist.

There's a huge amount here to be agreed with.

Whoa! Somebody get the defibrillator, my heart just stopped...

[surreptitious57]

I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate

Now this statement could just as easily apply to hack and so what is interesting here is how two
who are to all intents and purposes ideological opposites can share an identical modus operandi

[rainbow]

There's lots of ill feeling here. It's stinking out the place.

That's cos we're swamped with wankers that got kicked out of RatSkep (present company excepted. )

Wanker or not, I harbour no ill feeling for anyone. Which sounds odd, given the lynchings I've had.

I think you'll find that the "ill will" you perceive is just on the surface. It certainly is in my case.

Ita Vero.

Feel the love!

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Some of them think I am because I frequently argue from the theist side of the fence. Others of them don't like me because I refuse to capitulate to their (faulty) arguments and I commonly spend my time analyzing the quality of their argumentation and revealing the flaws in their reasoning, which some of them take as a personal insult, rather than engaging in wide-eyed awe of the awesomeness of their intellectual faculties.

In other words, I don't take any shit from them and I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate, and some of them don't like that because it makes them look like fools.

Really? Is that how you see it? I just find your ridiculous pomposity funny. And I quite like you when you let the mask slip and show your human side.

[pErvinalia]

I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate

Now this statement could just as easily apply to hack and so what is interesting here is how two
who are to all intents and purposes ideological opposites can share an identical modus operandi

Well on our side there are lots of demonstrably intelligent and rational people, and on Seth's side there is only him. And I already know what his reply is going to be, he's that simple and predictable.

[Seth]

I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate

Now this statement could just as easily apply to hack and so what is interesting here is how two
who are to all intents and purposes ideological opposites can share an identical modus operandi

Our modus operandi goes all the way back to Socrates. That's why it's so effective.

[Seth]

Some of them think I am because I frequently argue from the theist side of the fence. Others of them don't like me because I refuse to capitulate to their (faulty) arguments and I commonly spend my time analyzing the quality of their argumentation and revealing the flaws in their reasoning, which some of them take as a personal insult, rather than engaging in wide-eyed awe of the awesomeness of their intellectual faculties.

In other words, I don't take any shit from them and I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate, and some of them don't like that because it makes them look like fools.

Really? Is that how you see it? I just find your ridiculous pomposity funny. And I quite like you when you let the mask slip and show your human side.

What makes you think it's a slip? And I'm glad you get (one of the) point(s) of pompous bloviation. Now, if you could just distinguish between that and carefully reasoned argument. No worries, you'll learn how, you're doing quite well for an Atheist. Most of them never learn.

[DaveDodo007]

There's lots of ill feeling here. It's stinking out the place.

That's cos we're swamped with wankers that got kicked out of RatSkep (present company excepted. )

Wanker or not, I harbour no ill feeling for anyone. Which sounds odd, given the lynchings I've had.

I think you'll find that the "ill will" you perceive is just on the surface. It certainly is in my case.

Why do so many people hold a grudge against you? Are you a theist?

Some of them think I am because I frequently argue from the theist side of the fence. Others of them don't like me because I refuse to capitulate to their (faulty) arguments and I commonly spend my time analyzing the quality of their argumentation and revealing the flaws in their reasoning, which some of them take as a personal insult, rather than engaging in wide-eyed awe of the awesomeness of their intellectual faculties.

In other words, I don't take any shit from them and I call them on their bullshit all the time and hold them to a high standard of reasoning and debate, and some of them don't like that because it makes them look like fools.

I'm similar in some respects except fuck if am going to put any real work into what I do. I come from the other side of the fence as I'm a atheist/sceptic. What makes me laugh is the mocking and ridicule of the religious while they will use the very same fallicies and squiming to defend their own sacred cows. 'We all have something we are not sceptical about' shouldn't be in the sceptics lexicon. You are a sceptic or you are not but you don't get to make fun of the religious whilst following your own ideology. That is both pathetic and laughable still it is all good sport to me.

[hackenslash]

Our modus operandi goes all the way back to Socrates. That's why it's so effective.

Errr, no. The attitude toward the modus operandi of the ancients is precisely the difference between us, as can readily be seen by your idiotic argumentum ad antiquetatem. Of course, the other difference is that you think you aren't a total fuckwit, while I know better about both of us.

And that's setting aside the fact that it's extremely doubtful that Socrates even existed.

[jamest]

The quotes are fucked-up in your previous post, Dave.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

The quotes are fucked-up in your previous post, Dave.

THere! I knew if you hung around long enough, I would agree with you on something!

[Seth]

Our modus operandi goes all the way back to Socrates. That's why it's so effective.

Errr, no. The attitude toward the modus operandi of the ancients is precisely the difference between us, as can readily be seen by your idiotic argumentum ad antiquetatem. Of course, the other difference is that you think you aren't a total fuckwit, while I know better about both of us.

And that's setting aside the fact that it's extremely doubtful that Socrates even existed.

Doesn't really matter, socratic dialog is an effective method of stimulating debate.

You're right however in saying that I don't think I'm a total fuckwit, I know I'm not a fuckwit at all. You? Not so much.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Our modus operandi goes all the way back to Socrates. That's why it's so effective.

Errr, no. The attitude toward the modus operandi of the ancients is precisely the difference between us, as can readily be seen by your idiotic argumentum ad antiquetatem. Of course, the other difference is that you think you aren't a total fuckwit, while I know better about both of us.

And that's setting aside the fact that it's extremely doubtful that Socrates even existed.

Doesn't really matter, socratic dialog is an effective method of stimulating debate.

You're right however in saying that I don't think I'm a total fuckwit, I know I'm not a fuckwit at all. You? Not so much.

Guys... just step away from the abyss, if you would?

[jamest]

The quotes are fucked-up in your previous post, Dave.

THere! I knew if you hung around long enough, I would agree with you on something!

Shit, I've just missed-out on a potential thumbs-up (as per ratskep). I might have to start campaigning for a like-button here.