Effective Posting Styles (And Suggested Improvements)

I really think it depends on the opponent. It seems as though no matter what someone posts, how they post it, or how many facts and substantiation is provided, some "opponents" just don't get it. I have seen, on too many occasions, where someone will go to great lengths to compose a wonderfully worded, straightforward and well thought out post, only to have the other person respond to one sentence and/or go on as if they hadn't read the words. I would also say that alot of times it boils down to people being set in their ways and will not see a different point of view no matter how well thought out the post is.I also agree with Coyote in that posts that are too long tend to go unread. Perhaps (and I speak solely on my own behalf here) it is due to the internet in general. I have acquired somewhat of a case of ADD. Yes, I feel terrible about it. However, if I go on reading the thread that contains the " Ph.D. dissertation" and find it to be referenced excessively, I do go back and read it in it's entirety. Yes, I think so. I assure you that much of what certain individuals type is seen by some as simply condescending, when, in fact, it is spot on. If you type something stupid, you shouldn't be offended if you get called out on it. We shouldn't have to hand hold or coddle idiocy. I think they both have their place and time.

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I, personally, think the term has been thrown about on this board waaayyyy too much recently and has since lost it's effectiveness. Now that Buz has started using it as his catchphrase of the week, it is effectively a worthless term on EvC. That's just my opinion though.All one has to do to find trolls is go to yahoo answers. Therein lie the trolls of the trolls. "How is babby formed?" Those people are the trolls. Trolls are not just "members I dislike" or "members who are mean to me". And since I am the main target of the troll accusation, I can say with certainty that I could not give a shit less. Especially since it is Buz that is continuing the trend. That makes me care even less. I just read it and laugh.

If the only people who dislike me are those who believe in a cosmic zombie jew, I don't care in the slightest. That means I am doing my job as a loud mouth atheist. I never once thought I would be in a position to win the hearts and minds of stubborn religionists or even those on the fence. I stand by my position of being very anti-accomodationist in that I feel religious moderates deserve just as much of my vitriol as their fundie brethren. I would much prefer religious beliefs of all kinds are treated the same as astrology and alchemy. When my posting style or attitude starts to offend those members here I actually respect, then perhaps I will contemplate either changing my style or consider not posting at all. But since the only individuals that are laying this charge against me are those whose opinion I regard as vastly unimportant, I see no problem. After all, I don't give a fuck if religious people don't like me. I don't like them either. That comes with the territory.Is it effective? Probably not. But there is a time and place for tact and an internet forum is hardly the place for it.

Of course not. And for good reason. Do alchemists and astrologists have a stranglehold on progression? Are they entrenched in politics? Do they try and shoehorn their way into the science classroom? Do they fight against the rights of others? Is there a substantial amount of the population who believe these things and are people met with backlash for daring to speak out against them?Is it political suicide for someone to come out as NOT believing in astrology or alchemy?{abe}
And as a matter of fact, whenever someone I know does mention something about their star sign or some shit, I am right on it calling it out as bullshit. This even includes my mother. I've never met an alchemist though. I doubt anyone I know even knows what alchemy is....Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Do I? The only intentional disrespect I lay is towards those who deserve it and positions that deserve it. I don't treat positions I see as irrational with kid gloves no matter who holds them. People who cling to bronze age myths do a great injustice to society, IMO. These same people are more than willing to place the claim that morality stems from invisible sky jews. That doesn't sit right with me.I'm not sorry that you find my disdain for all religion and blind faith unreasonable. There is just no place in modern society for active belief in fairy tales or things not based in evidence.

It is difficult to gauge the attitude of the lurkers, and the creationists that do post here are either Poes or, if they are seriously as stupid as they act, none of us is going to change the way they think, no matter how calm and collected and polite you are. They don't accept logic, reason and rationale. They think intellectualism is a dirty word. So I would prefer to just move past this and be post-atheist and treat them how I feel their beliefs are: fucking retarded. If one can simply point out how idiotic a belief is by saying "you believe that shit?" and very bluntly pointing out how stupid it is, then all the better. I just absolutely do not feel in the slightest that religion should, any longer, be given the free social pass that it has. Religion and irrational belief had it's time: it was called the Dark Ages and is now currently Islam.It's time we move past where people think it's ok to walk into a crowded theater and say "and if I hear that anything is said against the holy Prophet Muhammad, I will hunt you down" or where it's ok for a state representative to call a 16 year-old girl "an evil little thing," a "clapping seal" and a "pawn star" just because she is an atheist who fights for the constitution. Beliefs in god are pervasive and need to be stopped because they cloud the minds of good people.Jut look at this poll and tell me I am being irrational.Here is a pic in case they end it or something: So, if I'm not effective, so be it. I'll do my damndest to make you feel stupid for believing in a mystic jewish sky fairy that likes to watch you jerk your dick. Which is exactly where I think our society should be: embarrassed to believe in the supernatural.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

They allow for the preservation of the fundamental believers. Although, on a personal level, I can converse with them just fine but when it comes to discussing religion, I will be just as vitriolic. Personal beliefs do gauge how people act; good or bad. When they hold one irrational belief, where does it stop?The thing is: it's NOT necessarily the people who keep their beliefs to themselves that I take issue with, per se. But they DO make it that much more difficult to stop what fundies do because the moderates are the ones saying "but MY beliefs don't harm anyone. You can't tell me I can't believe this or that" and that plays right into telling the fundies the same thing. If we can't chastise the moderates (who themselves are silent in regards to the fundies) how can we rightly abuse the fundies??? Come one, come all.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

Really? Who? Catholic Scientist and jar? If there are other moderate christians at this site who actively participate in those threads, I never see it.Besides that, so what? EvC means diddily in regards to the big picture. For example: even the self professed catholics here have a VERY hard time bringing down the pope and admitting the vatican's hands are filthy in regards to the child abuse scandal. On a bigger picture, if moderates are not so silent, why oh why is the entirety of the race for the republican primary individuals who wear their religion on their sleeve? Someone had to vote for them. Someone wanted them in office. I never consider deists of the purest sense. The only one I can think of is RAZD anyways and he may as well be an atheist because he argues like one and when someone pushes "god" that far to the side, you may as well stop saying "god" altogether. But to each his own. Perhaps. But they still defend their belief in god because when it comes down to it, they DO still believe in the same god, just in a different way. Plus, how hypocritical is it for moderates to tell fundies that their way of reading the bible is wrong, when they themselves have their own individual way of reading the same book? If this book is sooo open to interpretation, there is no way it was inspired by anything more than a bunch of goat hearders in the desert ~2k years ago which is precisely what we see when we view it through an evidence based lense and not with rose colored jeebus glasses.

This is more true than I'd care to admit. Not only do schools barely teach world history, we don't have BBC or Al-Jazeera to tell us about the world. When mainstream media DOES report on the world, they tell people what a fucked up scary place it is and America is #1!. It really boils back down to our poor poor poor education system. Hell, Americans hate education so much, WI has it out for teachers who make too much money and are more than willing to go the route of ALL private schools....

Artemis has, on a few occasions, spoken out in threads that spoke ill of catholic priests diddling little kids. Have I made it a secret that I think people who believe in zombie jew fairies are fucking retarded??? It is damn near impossible to get ANY of them to agree on faith based shit that it almost certainly has to come down to the defining characteristics of christians. Didn't realize you were a christian. I suppose if our paths cross in faith and belief thread and you are on the other side, I won't spare you the rod. However, I haven't seen that so much from you......yet. You do seem a little soft on religionists the more I read your posts and I admit it to be a little disheartening given your intellect. But that's my opinion and I'm the only one who cares about my opinion.Edited by hooah212002, : No reason given.

That very well could explain my "style" I guess, or at least my sort of atheism. I tend to listen/read more of the in your face "new" atheists. Hitchens, Dawkins, P.Z. Meyers, Matt Dillahunty and Chariots of Iron podcast are my top favorites. All of which have a very "fuck you very much" attitude. That suits me. If you were to listen to The Non-Prophets, their style HAS converted people (in absolutely NO way am I implying that I could ever even hope to do the same) so it's not unheard of for people to realize the idiocy of religion when you actually confront them with the idiocy of religion.

Well I'm glad PD supports your off-topic bullshit. Good show purpledawn.p.s. your bias is showing again.

Do you realize that 9 out of 10 topics you post this stuff in you are off topic? Do you realize what the topic of this discussion is? Did you also realize that this topic is not about floods or exodus's or any of your other conspiracy theories? Do you realize that this is a thread for pointing out and discussing ways to effectively communicate ones position?If you want to talk about moderator bias, you should talk about the bias in your favor.