Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Jason » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:34 pm

maiforpeace wrote: So feel free to do your due diligence while cower and shake in the corner.
I don't understand what you're saying here. I've been nothing but vocal on this issue.
Pappa chose to play with a dangerous weapon, with different consequences than real life. He pointed it at PZ's friends who have been targeted before, and that was how PZ chose to protect them. One of the accidental shots hit us.
Not from where I'm standing. Pappa made a bad joke, perhaps out of frustration with things that rubbed him the wrong way about the Skepchicks and what they do. He did NOT target anyone of them as the term 'Skepchicks' refers to the group as a whole, including their hangers-on. There was no threat and certainly no harassment. Harassment is the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group. As there there were no Skepchicks here at the time there was no one to express their annoyance and indicate it as unwanted as it was not systematic or continued it was not harassment. As this was a one-off incident it was not a case of harassment. The charge of harassment falls flat on both counts. A threat is an expression of intention to inflict evil, injury, or damage or an indication of something impending. Nowhere in Pappa's joke did he ever even hint that he had any intent of raping anyone or otherwise inflicting injury or damage on them nor did he indicate that any such thing was impending. What did happen is that someone actively searched for the words 'rape' and 'skepchick' and without performing their due diligence (which I did in discovering this little factoid) proceeded to grasp for some suitably emotionally charged defamatory words backed up with scathing invective they could use to create a nice little strawman with only the most tenuous connection to the reality of the situation.
But we are an obscure forum, so all really happened is some people were made to feel uncomfortable by untrue accusations. So how exactly were his actions so much more serious? Maybe he's human doesn't respond rationally under when going into protect mode?
Yes, he was lucky it was kept to internet slagging. The point is that in real life this sort of thing would have very real and very costly legal repercussions for him. It was irresponsible, irrational and just plain ignorant and stupid on his part.

He went into 'protect mode'? That's supposed to be a viable defence for a man who claims to be a rationalist? In the face of no actual harassment or threats, only those imagined by persons who don't have a grasp of the English language, he launches an all out attack against people, including Pappa, that he doesn't know from Adam? No where is this acceptable. The 'protect mode' excuse is a red herring.

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Seth » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:47 pm

amused wrote:
Seth wrote:
amused wrote:
Seth wrote:Ah, schism! This is PZ's equivalent of nailing his screed to the door like Martin Luther.

Religion I tell you, it's a religion!
Oh do fuck off!
Or what? ...
I'm a bleeding heart liberal.

Which means that nothing at all will happen to you.

We fucking love you that much.

:|~
Well, in that case I decline your invitation.
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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by amused » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:48 pm

:sadcheer:

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Seth » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:48 pm

Rum wrote:To have a schism you need an orthodoxy and although Myers may be trying to impose one, there isn't one yet. If there ever is (which I doubt) I certainly will not be part of it.
Oh yes there is, and you already are...
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S

"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth

© 2013/2014/2015/2016 Seth, all rights reserved. No reuse, republication, duplication, or derivative work is authorized.

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Rum » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:53 pm

Seth wrote:
Rum wrote:To have a schism you need an orthodoxy and although Myers may be trying to impose one, there isn't one yet. If there ever is (which I doubt) I certainly will not be part of it.
Oh yes there is, and you already are...
I would be grateful for a bit of clarification. I don't perceive any evidence for there being a god and therefore I neither believe in one nor organise my life around one. I am at the extreme skeptical end of agnosticism if you like. I fail to see where orthodoxy enters into it.

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Thinking Aloud » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:13 pm

Yes, it turns out they're his friends. Concern for their well-being is entirely understandable, but how you go about showing that is important too.

If I was to find a reference to my friends online that I thought came across as potentially or genuinely threatening, I have several options.

I can report it to a law enforcement agency if I feel it's sufficiently serious.

If I was vaguely familiar with the website I could go there first to try to establish whether it really did constitute a threat, and maybe say, "Hey guys, these are my friends - are you aware that some of them have actually suffered abuse in the past, and if they saw this it would open up old wounds and probably genuinely scare them: how about a little tact and thoughtfulness?" I could then judge from the reaction whether it was worth taking further.

What I wouldn't do is post it online, over-exaggerating the content, exposing my vulnerable friends to it without warning, while at the same time maligning a whole group of other people and causing a witch-hunt.

Personally, in a similar circumstance to the one we're discussing, I'd like to think I'd go with the "tact and thoughtfulness" route. It's true that the original post lacked that - I suspect it was written from a point of ignorance on the personal pasts of any of those in the named group - but I'd much rather try to educate and correct that than to inflame the situation and risk hurting my friends (or anyone else) further.

Others may think differently, of course.

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by maiforpeace » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:15 pm

Rum wrote:To have a schism you need an orthodoxy and although Myers may be trying to impose one, there isn't one yet. If there ever is (which I doubt) I certainly will not be part of it.


I would simply like to see Pappa like to see my friend take responsibility for his actions without deflecting them with worse examples of PZ, and I'd like for my friends to do the same. I hold them to the standard they demand from others and in that department they failed pretty miserably I'm afraid.

And frankly, I am pretty disgusted with how much everyone is still crucifying PZ. That says much more about their own character than any dirty details about PZ's shortcomings. What do you think about the way he was bullied out of here? That was fucking deplorable, pitiful and shameful for me - they are friends claiming to want to engage in rational dialogue and didn't think for a moment about how they represented others in that light? I don't want any association that brand of hatefulness and derision. And I actually considered that we could show him a better way. So much for that fantasy.
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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Audley Strange » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:20 pm

Can I ask you something Mai?

If you knew something would trigger emotional turmoil in a sexually abused friend, would you happily expose them to it knowing they would be hurt upset and angry?
"What started as a legitimate effort by the townspeople of Salem to identify, capture and kill those who did Satan's bidding quickly deteriorated into a witch hunt" Army Man

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Rum » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:22 pm

maiforpeace wrote:
Rum wrote:To have a schism you need an orthodoxy and although Myers may be trying to impose one, there isn't one yet. If there ever is (which I doubt) I certainly will not be part of it.


I would simply like to see Pappa like to see my friend take responsibility for his actions without deflecting them with worse examples of PZ, and I'd like for my friends to do the same. I hold them to the standard they demand from others and in that department they failed pretty miserably I'm afraid.

And frankly, I am pretty disgusted with how much everyone is still crucifying PZ. That says much more about their own character than any dirty details about PZ's shortcomings. What do you think about the way he was bullied out of here? That was fucking deplorable, pitiful and shameful for me - they are friends claiming to want to engage in rational dialogue and didn't think for a moment about how they represented others in that light? I don't want any association that brand of hatefulness and derision. And I actually considered that we could show him a better way. So much for that fantasy.
The way of the internet it seems Mai. One sees this sort of thing happening a lot. One of the culprits in my view is the sheer volume of words, so that it is impossible for most people to really get a hold of an issue by reading back through the relevant messages/posts/blogs etc. It tends to result in people either going with gut reaction or taking sides out of loyalty. And so the thing spirals.

It is particularly sad in this instance because although there may be differences in approach, method, goals and o on, we all in this debacle have far more in common than not.

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by MiM » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:30 pm

Audley Strange wrote:Can I ask you something Mai?

If you knew something would trigger emotional turmoil in a sexually abused friend, would you happily expose them to it knowing they would be hurt upset and angry?
I am not Mai, but I at least live by the maxim that the ghosts behind my back are far more dangerous than those that are clearly in my view....

... but there is always the issue of how to tell the bad news...
Last edited by MiM on Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by maiforpeace » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:32 pm

Audley Strange wrote:Can I ask you something Mai?

If you knew something would trigger emotional turmoil in a sexually abused friend, would you happily expose them to it knowing they would be hurt upset and angry?
I might also try to give them swift assurance that they were safe. He knows them as friends, so I trust he would act in their best interests. I don't believe he's the ogre he's made out by his haters, any more than I believe he's the beacon of light that his followers think he is.
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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Thumpalumpacus » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:40 pm

maiforpeace wrote:I would simply like to see Pappa like to see my friend take responsibility for his actions without deflecting them with worse examples of PZ, and I'd like for my friends to do the same. I hold them to the standard they demand from others and in that department they failed pretty miserably I'm afraid.
This is fair. A real apology doesn't bring up comparison for the sake of ameliorating judgement.
maiforpeace wrote:And frankly, I am pretty disgusted with how much everyone is still crucifying PZ. That says much more about their own character than any dirty details about PZ's shortcomings. What do you think about the way he was bullied out of here? That was fucking deplorable, pitiful and shameful for me - they are friends claiming to want to engage in rational dialogue and didn't think for a moment about how they represented others in that light? I don't want any association that brand of hatefulness and derision. And I actually considered that we could show him a better way. So much for that fantasy.
He wasn't "bullied" out of here. He was invited to enter into discussion here about this, and chose instead to lob more broadside insults and then not stand and discuss his opinions.

It's clear that the dynamic happening here is the attempted assertion of dominance over a portion of the "freethought movement" on his part, and he's using this in a manner that reeks of political calculation. He's using their butthurt to enhance his status as the Big Fish patrolling his Little Pond, and they're too blind to see this.

If the motherfucker wants to call me a cockroach, let him come here and defend his words. I had little to do with this, only reading of it after the shitstorm started brewing, and I don't appreciate his broad-brushing me, whether it's due to his offended sense of chivalry, his butthurt at his friends being called out for their Groupthink enforcement tactics, or the fact that he cannot separate his emotions from his intellect.

And quite frankly, if he's so fearful that he gets "bullied" out of a forum (where he wasn't a contributing member anyway) because of some posts slagging him, all I have to say is that he doesn't have the balls to represent me or anyone else then -- not that I need representation from a self-appointed blowhard. I'm equally qualified to do that for myself, if those are the criteria. :)
Last edited by Thumpalumpacus on Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Rum » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:43 pm

I'll get my coat..

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by Audley Strange » Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:57 pm

@ MiM. Interesting, I'm not asking though if you would want to know, I'm asking if you would tell them. You make a very important point I think. It is how you approach it.

@Mai. I'm not sure I get you, So you would tell them or not?

edited to Add.

Sorry T/A I noticed you metioned a similar thing above.
"What started as a legitimate effort by the townspeople of Salem to identify, capture and kill those who did Satan's bidding quickly deteriorated into a witch hunt" Army Man

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Re: Those who have come from Pz's blog, aka THAT thread

Post by MiM » Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:04 pm

Audley Strange wrote:@ MiM. Interesting, I'm not asking though if you would want to know, I'm asking if you would tell them. You make a very important point I think. It is how you approach it.
It's a judgement call. Case by case. No general advice can be given. But I usually tend to believe that people are better off knowing the truth, even though it might be unpleasant. I some way that's even in the culture of the country I live in.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool - Richard Feynman

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