Announcement about RDF Part 3.

[Feck]

New thread picks up from here http://rationalia.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... &start=990 Pluto2

SOmebody just posted this to me on Peter's blog, after an elucidation of Rule # 3 (which contained no expletives, I might add):

hackenslash:

You sound like the liberal idiots that have invaded most college campuses. You know, the ones that decide for the rest of us who can be heard and who can’t. They shout down those with a different point of view, they throw pies, etc. They justify these acts of aggression and censorship by likening the views of their targets to those that “cry fire in a crowded theatre.” That they feel qualified to decide for the rest of us what is and is not “fire” (in regards to free speech) is a clear case of hubris and arrogance. These people probably think they are champions of free speech when, in fact, they are only champions of *their* speech.

You probably think of yourself as objective, clear-headed, and rational. Based on your ridiculous defense of copious swearing, I merely consider you incapable of exercising the self-control necessary to express disagreement in a civil, respectful manner. I can hear what you’re thinking now: those that dare to disagree with any of *your* passionately held positions don’t *deserve* civility or respect — but that only proves my point regarding the hubris and arrogance of those on the net like you. It’s your ilk that make sites such as RD.NET, Panda’s Thumb, etc. the ridiculous pits of vitriol they have become. Anyone with an open mind about issues will think twice before throwing their lot in with the likes of you.

So guess we won't be seeing a lot of him in the 'Fuck' thread then ?

[hackenslash]

My response:

You’ll be surprised to learn that your pathetic attempt at an insult slides off me like water off a duck’s back, and that your opinion of me is of no consequence whatsoever. It is clear from your reply that you are precisely the sort of person I was talking about, unable to separate your response to arbitrary combinations of letters from any content. It’s also clear that you’re basing your opinion on zero evidence, and have never read any of the content I provided on the forum.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, as long as they can base that disagreement upon evidence, something I was always careful to provide when delivering my own opinions, whether laden with explatives or not. I don’t need to use expletives to defeat the credulous, I only need to present reality.

Sorry to burst your little bubble, but you’re most definitely barking up the wrong tree.

[cowiz]

My response:

You’ll be surprised to learn that your pathetic attempt at an insult slides off me like water off a duck’s back, and that your opinion of me is of no consequence whatsoever. It is clear from your reply that you are precisely the sort of person I was talking about, unable to separate your response to arbitrary combinations of letters from any content. It’s also clear that you’re basing your opinion on zero evidence, and have never read any of the content I provided on the forum.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, as long as they can base that disagreement upon evidence, something I was always careful to provide when delivering my own opinions, whether laden with explatives or not. I don’t need to use expletives to defeat the credulous, I only need to present reality.

Sorry to burst your little bubble, but you’re most definitely barking up the wrong tree.

You didn't fucking swear

[Agrippina]

Yp, that was exactly my observation.

[heyjude]

May as well repeat my post to Pharyngula here as well:

I still counsel calm, and I have been a little dismayed at the level of vitriol displayed by some of my comrades. I do, however, pragmatic as I am, recognise that much of that stemmed from very real grievance at the way this situation was handled. However; the response from Richard has also dismayed me somewhat. In effect, he has taken the comments of a few and tarred every member with the same brush. Some of us are still clinging to rationality, hard though that actually is at the moment. Many of us are sporting hard-won battle scars in the defence of reason, and in the furtherance of the goals of the foundation. While the forum in its current form may not fit the vision of the foundation, or of Richard, no indication has yet been given what that vision might be, or whether our visions or efforts lie in the same direction. No useful communication has been entered into in this regard, even with the moderating staff, after repeated assurances that they would be kept in the loop. Not to mention that when concerns about the future of the forum were raised in the recent past, the members were assured that the forum cntent would be retained, and that improvements were 'on the way'. All of this seems now to amount to no more than blowing smoke, with a liberal dose of flannel. Nonetheless, I and several others, injured as we are at the treatment handed down by Josh, especially to the moderating staff, who took a huge amount of flak and heloed to build along with the regular members, one of the premier resources on the net for education in critical thinking and the dissemination of valid science.

Again, I regret the comments of some of my fellow forum members, and I do ultimately recognise that the vision for the future of the foundation rests with Richard, but the reactionary way this has been handled, particularly in the treatment of the staff, has left a sour taste in many mouths, especially given the input of those people in the furtherance of the aims fo the foundation.

hackenslash

Wonderful words hackenslash. I think particularly coming from you - anyone that is familiar with your style of debate will understand how much this means. You have been incredibly powerful with your use of strong profanity on rd.net. But you NEVER aim it at a person, your deft fingers use it more to make a point about language and how we have given words power way beyond what they deserve, and I must say, you lift it to a form of poetry at times

I think as soon as we start to use this as our method of argument, we lose the strength of the point we're making, but there is no doubt that it's obvious there is so much hurt and dismay behind all the outbursts. Just as we can see Richard Dawkins is obviously disgusted and emotional about what he perceives, it is a shame he can't take that little leap further to recognise that something must have *happened* to cause so much upset. If there had been not a single insult swung at Josh, I wonder what his reply would have been. It appears as if that is the only thing he is upset about, and is not addressing any of the other issues.

I don't think we will actually hear anything more. I think he is done with it.


p.s. I'd say that guy on Peter's blog is a fucking cock-tard.. but that would be hypocrital of me.. so I wont. Actually... he probably just needed to have 'that crazy uncle' who said 'shit' and 'damn' when he was kid to introduce the idea that words are harmless..

[HughMcB]

Eh... did we ruin Rationalia for everyone else?

I'm really very sorry!

[goodboyCerberus]

I'm disappointed with PZ Myers' dispassionate response.

[riddlemethis]

Wow. Things moves quix in cybernetz, don't they. I'm loving being branded an undesirable & the reason the Josh torched the RDF forums in what I can only describe as some of the most incredible confabulation I've ever read. Quote mine much Josh (oh, I still reckon you're ugly & your mum dresses you funny ).

Anyway, just to prove I'm not the crack-pot that two hot-headed posts have me branded as, I'd like to recind something of what I have written here at Rationalia.

Specifically I am refering to my suggestion of a silent protest when Richard takes the stage.

I reflected on this some in the past 24 hours & realise (yes, I can be slow on the uptake sometimes, I know) that the only people this would hurt are the amazing, hard-working people who've put together the Rise of Atheism Convention. People similar in dedication, intent & passion to those who were the Mod team at RDF. I have no desire to belittle the efforts of these fine folk, or put any of their hard work in jeopardy. Out of respect for these folk I realise that the Convention is not the place to air such greivances & I certainly will not be. I also hope that anybody else thinking along similar lines to my original suggestion is able to put that aside for some good people. After all this will be an amazing event & RD is but a single speaker on an extremely talented line-up over that weekend.

So, crying in our beer it will be. My head is well and truly pulled in.

[truthinScience]

Eh... did we ruin Rationalia for everyone else?

We did kind of barge in here like we own the joint with our bloodlust convictions.

Actually, it reminds me of South Park. Something happens and the town flocks to the mayor's office screaming, "rabble, rabble, rabble". By the way, to warn the fine folks here at rationalia, I may tend to frequently reference SP. Sorry, minor character flaw perhaps.

[hackenslash]

On the upside, the video I made for information purposes is the first of my youtube videos to break 1,000 views.

[ozewiezeloose]

There is no link that I know of. I just saved the web page to my hard-drive because Thinking Aloud said he would only be hosting it briefly. I can email the files in a zip if you want to read it, and can pass it one to someone who can host it. I've just sent it to ozewiezeloose who can hopefully confirm if it works or not.

It does. If anyone else wants it, PM me.

S.

[ozewiezeloose]

Eh... did we ruin Rationalia for everyone else?

I'm really very sorry!

I hope we didn't.

[MissingNo.]

There is no link that I know of. I just saved the web page to my hard-drive because Thinking Aloud said he would only be hosting it briefly. I can email the files in a zip if you want to read it, and can pass it one to someone who can host it. I've just sent it to ozewiezeloose who can hopefully confirm if it works or not.

It does. If anyone else wants it, PM me.

S.

Maybe if the file is small enough, you should upload it to a fileshare website like zshare and post the link. I wasn't a member of the forums and I have no interest in the files (unless they pertain to this particular incident because I love drama) so maybe it's a bit silly of me to suggest this but I'm sure for those who are interested in obtaining the files, it will be easier than PMing the files to each individual and it would be appreciated.

[hackenslash]

There is no link that I know of. I just saved the web page to my hard-drive because Thinking Aloud said he would only be hosting it briefly. I can email the files in a zip if you want to read it, and can pass it one to someone who can host it. I've just sent it to ozewiezeloose who can hopefully confirm if it works or not.

It does. If anyone else wants it, PM me.

S.

ISend it to me. You have my contact deets, don't you? I'll seed a torrent.

[ozewiezeloose]

ISend it to me. You have my contact deets, don't you? I'll seed a torrent.

Done. It's in my bittorrent folder as well.

S.