One man's troll...

Hi,

It isn't the disagreeing that's the problem, madame. It's the repetitive nature of the back and forth between two or more folks who want to insist on how right they are and how wrong anyone who disagrees with them is.

TruthSeeker began this "innocently" in the Astrology forum. I spotted it quickly enough and suggested that he should adhere to the general "support" nature of the forums, and he turned my replies into threats of kicking him out, etc. This hyperbolic extrapolation of suggestion into threat is characteristic of someone who's just going around to start trouble.

He mosied on over to the Spirituality Forum , where the onslaught of Christianity between him, you, and stofurz became excessive. Since I treat that forum as "debate", I haven't gotten particularly defensive over its status as "support", but, even so, the willingness to attack another who states a viewpoint which differs from yours is pretty evident.

Amusingly, Lapis has apparently been equally effective at baiting, so much so that it rattled TruthSeeker. More amusingly, that's what TruthSeeker criticized about Lapis -- the "blatant ba[i]ting". Yet TruthSeeker ranks among the master baiters (triple entendre fully intended) here at CureZone. Another trollish characteristic -- fails to recognize behavior in himself that he despises in others.

Stofurz has done an excellent job of promoting his pro-USA pro-government views on the Politics Forum , which is also open to interpretation in terms of how "supportive" it must be. So I haven't said much there.

For the most part, we all get a bit excited and overly dramatic in those forums. I'm no angel, either. And Lapis is in many ways becoming what he's fighting, by posting anti-Christian rhetoric with as much gusto as you three were posting pro-Christian rhetoric. But the only thing I can see either in stofurz or TruthSeeker is the attempt to pirate the boards to attempt to drown out alternative views. Any view which is not pro-George Christianity is attacked. We're reminded over and over that we need Jesus. Other religions are ridiculed.

Etc.

You're pretty preachy yourself. Even though your "Parents Responsibility" post is right on, it's still pretty "shame on you!" preachy. I dunno, perhaps there will be some people that appeals to. Then again, I'm sure I've done something similar on occasion. Preachy isn't necessarily wrong, but I prefer my preachy in moderation. *grin*

I can't speak for everyone here, but I can for myself, and the following is true: I don't need or want to be treated that way. Thus, the rule of handling trolls applies: ignore. Now, I've read some of your posts despite this self-imposed ignore order, because I've at least seen you contribute elsewhere without this insane male ego-bashing chest-thumping absurdity. But for stofurz and TruthSeeker... what's the point?

I'm perfectly happy for all three of you to disagree with me on every point I've ever raised. But there comes a point in time where some degree of respect for an individual is expected when visiting another group's area. I don't go to boards on "Christianity" and tell them they're wrong. Then again, I don't think they're wrong. But I also don't go to pro-Bush websites and attack them. I'm guessing most folks here don't, either.

I've been a member of a number of communities on the web. I left them all to focus on CureZone because it's the only place I found where, almost uniformly, the people who are here are here because they want to improve themselves or help others.

You might think that fire and brimstone is helping. But there isn't a person here who came here to find religion. Many have claimed that they found CureZone after prayer, that God or Jesus led them here. We're all for that. But we're not dedicated to one religion, or one sect of one religion. The Wiccans and the Islamic and the Buddhists and the Taoists and the Hindus and the Christians (Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Born Again, Protestants, Catholics, whatever), and even the JohnCullisonists are all welcome here.

Share your views, and you're welcome, too. Insist that your way has to be my way, and my only available choice -- and the only available choice of any who disagree with you, and who value themselves enough to recognize the rightness of their own choices for themselves -- is to ignore you.

That doesn't necessarily make you an "absolute" troll. One man's troll might be another man's co-conspirator and friend. It does, however, make you a troll with respect to those who no longer want to endure the onslaught of "you're wrong!" all the time -- a "relative troll".

=-John-=
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