Can we get a bit of perspective please

[klr]

I think things are starting to calm down and some people already seem to be drifting away. Whether any perceived negativity from existing forum members has anything to do with that, we'll probably never know. We have to keep in mind that this isn't a private members club, you don't have to be voted in and there is a chance something ike this could happen again. Maybe there won't be such a rush to send lifeboats next time.

But it did make me think... what if we were overwhelmed by a huge influx from another site that we had no affinity with - say a fundie site or a nationalist site? Just wondering what we'd do if we were outnumbered. Thoughts?

Some of us are just plain exhausted from it all ... the wide-ranging drama I mean, not the influx per se.

[Flora]

Elessarina makes a very good point and I totally support what she says.

This place has opened its doors to a bunch of very disgruntled people who have vented their collective spleen. Some of those comments have been abusive about the RDF site admin and linked back to here. Not only are they not at all representative of the RDF membership, they aren't representative of most Rationalia members either. I can therefore completely understand Elessarina's dismay at being associated with it.

In the past, I have been the target of some abusive comments (and lies) on this forum but I know that those comments don't represent the majority view. That's why I joined this place last August (and have stayed here) because I know that most people here value truth and rationality. Please don't drag them into any public sphere to be vilified just because a minority of people posted some OTT abuse directed at Josh. The members here don't deserve that at all and I won't support anyone who just registers because it's convenient and then treats this place as a platform to post their vitriol. Have some respect for your hosts please and if you have let your temper get the better of you (and who hasn't sometimes) please apologise and in future, treat this forum better because it has been generous to you.

[fredbear]

Elessarina makes a very good point and I totally support what she says.

This place has opened its doors to a bunch of very disgruntled people who have vented their collective spleen. Some of those comments have been abusive about the RDF site admin and linked back to here. Not only are they not at all representative of the RDF membership, they aren't representative of most Rationalia members either. I can therefore completely understand Elessarina's dismay at being associated with it.

In the past, I have been the target of some abusive comments (and lies) on this forum but I know that those comments don't represent the majority view. That's why I joined this place last August (and have stayed here) because I know that most people here value truth and rationality. Please don't drag them into any public sphere to be vilified just because a minority of people posted some OTT abuse directed at Josh. The members here don't deserve that at all and I won't support anyone who just registers because it's convenient and then treats this place as a platform to post their vitriol. Have some respect for your hosts please and if you have let your temper get the better of you (and who hasn't sometimes) please apologise and in future, treat this forum better because it has been generous to you.

topsy i said nearly 2 years ago that i never disagreed with a post of yours. i hope time has proved you are a font of all reason. i have admired how you have coped with some pretty rough times and always put ration first. i hope everyone sees what a huge benefit you were for rdf. i am so sorry for the pay back you received. it pains me to see what little respect you and the other mods have received.

[Pensioner]

Elessarina makes a very good point and I totally support what she says.

This place has opened its doors to a bunch of very disgruntled people who have vented their collective spleen. Some of those comments have been abusive about the RDF site admin and linked back to here. Not only are they not at all representative of the RDF membership, they aren't representative of most Rationalia members either. I can therefore completely understand Elessarina's dismay at being associated with it.

In the past, I have been the target of some abusive comments (and lies) on this forum but I know that those comments don't represent the majority view. That's why I joined this place last August (and have stayed here) because I know that most people here value truth and rationality. Please don't drag them into any public sphere to be vilified just because a minority of people posted some OTT abuse directed at Josh. The members here don't deserve that at all and I won't support anyone who just registers because it's convenient and then treats this place as a platform to post their vitriol. Have some respect for your hosts please and if you have let your temper get the better of you (and who hasn't sometimes) please apologise and in future, treat this forum better because it has been generous to you.

Your a gem Tops, and I agree with you. The members of this forum have been wonderful to us RDF folk and I for one will never forget there kindness.

[riddlemethis]

Elessarina makes a very good point and I totally support what she says.

This place has opened its doors to a bunch of very disgruntled people who have vented their collective spleen. Some of those comments have been abusive about the RDF site admin and linked back to here. Not only are they not at all representative of the RDF membership, they aren't representative of most Rationalia members either. I can therefore completely understand Elessarina's dismay at being associated with it.

In the past, I have been the target of some abusive comments (and lies) on this forum but I know that those comments don't represent the majority view. That's why I joined this place last August (and have stayed here) because I know that most people here value truth and rationality. Please don't drag them into any public sphere to be vilified just because a minority of people posted some OTT abuse directed at Josh. The members here don't deserve that at all and I won't support anyone who just registers because it's convenient and then treats this place as a platform to post their vitriol. Have some respect for your hosts please and if you have let your temper get the better of you (and who hasn't sometimes) please apologise and in future, treat this forum better because it has been generous to you.

Tops/Flora, re underline above; some of them weren't even representative of the people who made them

I don't apologise for insulting Josh except to say I should have stuck to something he has control over, rather than an accident of birth. What Josh did is beyond insult-worthy. As for RD being tetchy about somebody's looks being used as an argument against their actions, well I think klr has pointed out in a thread here somewhere that this is form he should be able to identify with at least (British Airways/stupid face comments). At least I had a 'dog in this fight', what was his excuse?

However, I do apologise for angst caused to the frequent members here by any of my comments & just as I always conducted myself in a reasonable manner at RDF, I will do my utmost from now on to do the same here.

[fredbear]

i would like to add that the quote mined examples such as yours riddlemethis do not in my opinion in any way reflect upon those they are attributed to. in fact they come from some of my most respected members. i feel for you and hope you in no way feel our disapprobation. the mined quotes imo reflect badly on rd. only.
i think they were chosen for the sole reason that they were articulatlely written and out of context were rather amusing. i adore laklak and his is being quoted all over the net as if he is akin to some foaming at the mouth fundie. it's unjust.
i do not believe you need to be eating humble pie. have a drink

[Flora]

Tops/Flora, re underline above; some of them weren't even representative of the people who made them

No, some of them weren't and in the letter we sent to RD and the Foundation Trustees, we referred to them as "quote-mines", which I should have explained in my post above.

[orpheus]

El, don't you see any comparisons to the first schism here? RDF meant as much to me before they removed OT as it does to these people now. It may be a forum but it was far from unimportant, as someone just said, it was a scientific and social resource unlike any other in the world and these reactions are testament to that. Let these guys get to terms with the change the same way we had to, 2 days is hardly enough time to expect people to get over it.

How can our community be special but be unreal?

Indeed. To those (on other websites, blogs, etc.) who say "Come on, just get over it!", I have two things to say: 1) Why are you so invested in my getting over it? How is it inconveniencing you? and 2) Yes, it was a forum. But it was very important to me. I'd been there for four years. I made many friends there, a good number of whom I now have no way of getting in touch with. A lot of resources I greatly valued have been deleted. Now it's been only two days since this was suddenly destroyed. How quickly would you like me to "get over it"?

Hmph.

[fredbear]

El, don't you see any comparisons to the first schism here? RDF meant as much to me before they removed OT as it does to these people now. It may be a forum but it was far from unimportant, as someone just said, it was a scientific and social resource unlike any other in the world and these reactions are testament to that. Let these guys get to terms with the change the same way we had to, 2 days is hardly enough time to expect people to get over it.

How can our community be special but be unreal?

Indeed. To those (on other websites, blogs, etc.) who say "Come on, just get over it!", I have two things to say: 1) Why are you so invested in my getting over it? How is it inconveniencing you? and 2) Yes, it was a forum. But it was very important to me. I'd been there for four years. I made many friends there, a good number of whom I now have no way of getting in touch with. A lot of resources I greatly valued have been deleted. Now it's been only two days since this was suddenly destroyed. How quickly would you like me to "get over it"?

Hmph.

hi orpheus. bout time you told us who drew that etching on the post your art thread!
and told us what was with the bulb parrot thang.

[orpheus]

I also don't deserve to be told off by PZMyers because of things that have been said here that are nothing to do with me. I have been posting here for a year .. now we have all this negative attention. Why should I have to put up with it..?

Why? How about because you can say what you like and so can others?

With regard to PZMyers: if you don't like being told off by him (and I'm not sure he did that - certainly not you, personally) - if you don't think you deserved to be lumped in with others, and you think that's what he did, then tell him so! He's a member here, and so are you. You're equal status.

[orpheus]

El, don't you see any comparisons to the first schism here? RDF meant as much to me before they removed OT as it does to these people now. It may be a forum but it was far from unimportant, as someone just said, it was a scientific and social resource unlike any other in the world and these reactions are testament to that. Let these guys get to terms with the change the same way we had to, 2 days is hardly enough time to expect people to get over it.

How can our community be special but be unreal?

Indeed. To those (on other websites, blogs, etc.) who say "Come on, just get over it!", I have two things to say: 1) Why are you so invested in my getting over it? How is it inconveniencing you? and 2) Yes, it was a forum. But it was very important to me. I'd been there for four years. I made many friends there, a good number of whom I now have no way of getting in touch with. A lot of resources I greatly valued have been deleted. Now it's been only two days since this was suddenly destroyed. How quickly would you like me to "get over it"?

Hmph.

hi orpheus. bout time you told us who drew that etching on the post your art thread!
and told us what was with the bulb parrot thang.

Hi fredbear! Nice to see you.

I wish I remembered which etching I posted. Of course, now I can't search for it. Can you recall what it looked like?

Re bulb and parrot: nothing special about it. Just found it on teh interwebz one day and thought it wonderful. Cute, nonsensical, and threatening all at once. You don't see that everyday.

[eXcommunicate]

I also don't deserve to be told off by PZMyers because of things that have been said here that are nothing to do with me. I have been posting here for a year .. now we have all this negative attention. Why should I have to put up with it..?

Why? How about because you can say what you like and so can others?

With regard to PZMyers: if you don't like being told off by him (and I'm not sure he did that - certainly not you, personally) - if you don't think you deserved to be lumped in with others, and you think that's what he did, then tell him so! He's a member here, and so are you. You're equal status.

Well, Ratz is a rather tight-knit community. I don't say that in a bad way. I like it like that, even. In the entire world of Internet forums where it is dog-eat-dog, Ratz is a welcome respite. Any insult against Ratz is felt collectively. The site is paid for, for the most part, in a collective, if elective, manner. Many of the forum members have met in real life because of this forum. So, for Elessarina to feel personally slighted when Ratz is slighted, I can understand where she is coming from. Hell, I'm (comparatively) not that active of a member, but I still feel an affinity for the place. Maybe I will one day take a wife from its female ranks, then have all kinds of Ratz babies!

Anyway, the writer in me gets carried away sometimes! tl;dr: Ratz is tight-knit. When Ratz as a whole is impugned, its members feel it personally. When joining a new community, one should learn its culture.

[laklak]

i would like to add that the quote mined examples such as yours riddlemethis do not in my opinion in any way reflect upon those they are attributed to. in fact they come from some of my most respected members. i feel for you and hope you in no way feel our disapprobation. the mined quotes imo reflect badly on rd. only.
i think they were chosen for the sole reason that they were articulatlely written and out of context were rather amusing. i adore laklak and his is being quoted all over the net as if he is akin to some foaming at the mouth fundie. it's unjust.
i do not believe you need to be eating humble pie. have a drink

Nah, it's not unjust, but I thank you for your kind words, FB. I adore you too. I actually am a foaming at the mouth fundie in my own way. if RD wants to quote-mine little old me he's welcome to it. He's behaving like the petulant child he accuses us of being, and my respect for him as a man is literally nil, though I certainly respect his intellect and work. After all, you can be a dickhead and still write a decent book. As for his and Josh's feelings, if they can't take the heat then they shouldn't have blown up the fucking kitchen.

That said, my apologies to anyone at ratz that was offended by my characterization of Josh. I certainly mean no disrespect to anyone here. I absolutely do, from the bottom of my crude heart, mean disrespect to Josh and his Sith Lord Master. Their duplicitous, weaseling, cowardly actions were unforgivable.

[FBM]

Wow. I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the developments. Would someone please link me to where Ratz, specifically by name, has been insulted in an outside medium?

[Xeno]

Elessarina complains that her name is impugned, at least implicitly, through no action of her own but from remote association with the acts of others.

I know exactly how she feels, except in this case she is the one doing it.