Remember the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch where everyone tries to one up the others by describing how poor they used to be? It's like that between Christians and atheists, only the contest seems to be over victimization and oppression rather than poverty.
it was a fun diversion for awhile but now it is getting too much, especially when it seems most of the preaching is being done by the atheists, funnily enough
I think it's an artifact of living in the shadow of a big, nasty behemoth -- the Religious Right. The atheists can't see past the word "Christian" and lapse into irrationality, and the Christians have lost the faith that they can follow the example of Jesus and defuse the anger. And they feed off of each other.
Watching the neo-Pharisaic religious right mold the American government and media like so much plasticine is terrifying. Those who are not counted among the Elect find it difficult to escape the fear. It's easier to fight against imaginary enemies on DU than in real life -- when real life is owned part and parcel by a bible-quoting Moloch.
16. Didn't realise discussing issues important to people was your entertainmen
Sorry. We will stop caring about such subjects and comport to topics that are more entertaining. Please forgive our callousness at not taking your leisure time into consideration. :sarcasm:
Yes some issues can become tiring. But that doesn't mean they don't have meaning to those that partake in them. If alternate topics are important to you then introduce some and discuss them. If the issues being discussed continue its likely those involved still have things to work out.
I introduced one this afternoon called "Not Another Religious Thread" or something like that, and I asked for people's opinions about the wisdom or lack thereof of the USA training and arming militia in Afghanistan specifically, but in other places around the world. I got two responses. I guess it wasn't sexy enough. :)
What is going on here is that forums such as this have an identity that we come to know. Sometimes topics turn up that are a little more wooly than the normal discussions. They may be topics that have been simmering or laying low for a period of time. They may not be on everyone's radars. But they explode.
They are issues that are important to many people, if not all of them in the forum. And the sudden uprising of the topic changes the nature of the identity of the forum. Its like a friend suddenly changed on those that are not interested in the topic. It can be a very frustrating experience.
There is a balance between utility and identity that forums such as DU serve. Its tricky. Without numerous positive individuals the forum whithers and dies. But it's intellectual intent is lost if the diverse topics presented cannot explore their full range.
Ironically this reflects much of the problems in society. Change scares some people. They want society to remain how they know it. Thus they see progress and change as corruption. This is the power base of the right. Appeals to the way things used to be.
after the Easter season is over and Terri Schiavo passes. There seems to have been kind of a "perfect storm" over the weekend that got everybody going for a while. I admit I posted my own because I had finally gotten just too, too fed up with the whole circus in Florida and the way the fundies have perverted Christianity. I got it off my chest, and now I'm fine. I'm ready to talk about other stuff now.
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