I have a specific question concerning posting threads on similar topics. I was going to post a news source topic thread today on "the real price of Gold". I do a search and up pops a thread named exactly that.It was created in 2003. The lead post has dead and irrelevant links and the discussion there-only a couple of posts is related to those links. Am I going to get hounded for creating a new thread? Should I uselessly tag onto this bad dead thread? That doesnt make sense to me, I would like to get some feed back here. Thank You.

Question answered. Thank you.

[edit on 30-1-2008 by ItsHumanNature]

Originally posted by intrepid
It's that time again. We have to address the conduct in this forum.

Thanks for raising this Intrepid, but it's a shame you had to. The sad fact is - there are a number of threads that as an ATS member I won't post on, because I quite simply don't want to be associated in any way with the silliness. I'm saddened for ATS and the people who have worked hard to make it the excellent discussion forum that it is.

As a freemason who has been on this site a while I've seen a fair bit of nonsense posted about the fraternity, but there comes a point where one has to be circumspect about the whole thing. Sometimes it is better to just "walk away" - no, really, it is, because the alternative is a downward spiral which serves no-one's best interests.

The last time things got this bad a number of members were banned. I am seriously quite certain it will happen again if things don't improve, and then some people who love to post on ATS won't be able to any more. Food for thought.

....K....

Good thing I answered your question. Your welcome, by the way.

Whats this about you getting frustrated on the toilet?

Post bans are a good way to let a member chillax a bit, its always better then an all out ban anyways, and it should let you know "hey I got post banned.. I must be doing something wrong" .. warns should be handed out for posts hat break the T&C .. and Applauses for those who post GOOD posts... I see very little Applauses in this forum, less then others. That goes for both Masons, anti Masons or any other person on the forum.

Originally posted by Cuhail You advanced the OT and made it better than it was before you posted. That's applause-worthy in my book. I look for it, but, I have to look for all the other stuff to.
I'll keep up in the SS forums more. There's a lot to learn for us ignorant to the Genre.

My vote goes to Axeman for his concise and well researched posts in the 'Interesting place to find a Masonic obelisk' thread. Excellent work once again on his part and an example for us all to follow.

Edit to add: I think ConspiracyNut23 deserves some praise as well for his well thought our replies in the same thread.

[edit on 31-1-2008 by AugustusMasonicus]

Being one of the more auspicious culprits behind this problem, I apologise for my own behavior in the SS forum. The personal attacks have been a problem, I'm certainly no exception to it, and it's something I will try refrain from in the future.
Let it be known also, however, that it's a conflict that I will not shy away from, and I will not apologise for my anti-masonic position or threads here on ATS or in any other aspect of my life. Believe it or not, at one point in American History, Anti-Masonry was a noble cause, and a successful political institution, right up to the Civil War that is. History has it's ommissions, and rebirths.

Another rule I think we should look at which is perhaps missing from the OP...
2d.) Forum Gangs: You will not engaged in an organized collaboration with other members to disrupt thread topics or interrupt the flow of normal collaborative discussion. Doing so will result in immediate termination of posting privileges.
I can't imagine a more befitting description of the very purpose and fucntion of this so called noble institution than Organized Collaboration. I submit to you gentle folk that the organizations of Freemasonry are by their very nature, an inherent affront to this rule.
My apologies to all the Freemasons on this board, I despise your institution, but I've been objectionable and personal at times. Sorry.

I beleive it is posts like the above that are exactly the the kind of problem that needs to be dealt with.

Originally posted by intrepid
2) Behavior: You will not behave in an abusive, hateful and/or racist manner, and will not harass, threaten, nor attack anyone.

Contrast that with what has just been said:

Originally posted by twitchy
I despise your institution

Is it little wonder that threads in this forum devolve into what they have?

I really do feel for those who so passionately despise an institution which they have never joined, and has never actually touched their life in a negative way. We live in a world with real evil, with things that are worthy of being despised. These are things both masons and anti-masons agree should be despised: genocide, famine, etc. But yet some would still choose - for reasons beyond me - to direct what almost borders on hatred to an entire institution.

It is ironic that people like twitchy give masons so much power over him. You have imbued members of the fraternity with fantastical power and authority that even the most evil mason could only dream of. In the rush to rationalize your reasons for despising the institutions and by obvious extension we the members, it is necessary for you to not only demonize millions of people, but to make them out to be immensely powerful beyond their wildest dreams.

I must point out this has an interesting parallel. Is there anywhere else in history where people demonized millions of other people based on a single characteristic, and based on this characteristic those people were given immense power in the minds of those who hated them? A people who, thorugh this demonization and imbuing of false power, were blamed for being responsible somehow for a large portion of the world's problems? I'll give you a hint: World War II.

Twitchy, you give the fraternity enough power to frighten even me. But I must confess - I am terrified of you and the sheer passionate hatred you seem to expouse toward the institution and its members. This road is eerily similar to another path taken in the not-so-distant past, and nothing good came of.

[edit on 31-1-2008 by LightinDarkness]

Originally posted by LightinDarkness
I must point out this has an interesting parallel. Is there anywhere else in history where people demonized millions of people based on a single characteristic, where based on this characteristic those people were given immense power in the minds of those who hated them? A people who, thorugh this demonization and imbuing of false power, were blamed for being responsible somehow for a large portion of the world's problems? I'll give you a hint: World War II.

There it is, every time, the association is made that easily. Equating Anti-Masonry to Anti-Semitism... Why don't you just say the word Nazi, post us a link to Anne Frank's Diary, and spare us the ambiguities.


Just thought I'd add a thought...
Freemasonry is illegal in many parts of the world. Which parts you ask? Islamic Countries, where by no cooincidence, Finance and Interest and Zionism are culturally frowned upon as well. If Freemasonry were such a noble institution, the world would have embraced it. Instead, indigenous people the world round and all through time have resisted it, often to their undoing. Usuary is not charity, and charity is not so noble when it's employed in the arts of deception and labeled 'giving BACK to the community'. Freemasonry is little more than a Kabbalist good ole boy system, and all those little harmless handshakes and nods and winks has empowered the 'enlightened' few at the expense of the rightful soverignty of the Democratic Principle.

[edit on 31-1-2008 by twitchy]

Originally posted by Rockpuck
and Applauses for those who post GOOD posts... I see very little Applauses in this forum, less then others.

I'd like to know if applauses are even given out in this forum? I spend most of my time on ATS in this forum and the NWO forum, as both of these are my personal areas of interest. The times I do get applauses is when I venture out of these forums.

Seems to me the applauses are more of an ATS click thing than actual rewards for good posts.

[edit on 31/1/08 by ConspiracyNut23]

In response to twitchy:

You see? How can anyone expect anyone to talk with you with this sort of seething hatred? Would you care to describe how it is that your views do not parallel to being Anti-Semitic in nature? In other words, hatred of an entire group of people based on a characteristic, from which you imbue them with fantastical power and blame them for the world's problems?

Do you care to cite a country that bans masonry - any country? And why exactly - if you can find one - do you like that? Do you enjoy suppressing peoples freedom of association? How unsurprising. As for this rant about Zionism and Masonry, your grasping for straws. It's simply factually wrong.

Your composition fallacy is invalid: masonry is truly international, but it doesn't take something being a part of many cultures to give it value. It is non-sensical to think that the only "good" things are the things each individual culture comes up with. I suppose cures for numerous diseases - made by individual cultures - are evil because not every culture came up for their own cure.

Freemasonry is illegal in many parts of the world. Which parts you ask? Islamic Countries, where by no cooincidence, Finance and Interest and Zionism are culturally frowned upon as well. If Freemasonry were such a noble institution, the world would have embraced it. Instead, indigenous people the world round and all through time have resisted it, often to their undoing. Usuary is not charity, and charity is not so noble when it's employed in the arts of deception and labeled 'giving BACK to the community'. Freemasonry is little more than a Kabbalist good ole boy system, and all those little harmless handshakes and nods and winks has empowered the 'enlightened' few at the expense of the rightful soverignty of the Democratic Principle.

I think this has provides a helpful demonstration about why so many of the threads around here devolve. How can you argue with someone like this? In the above statement above you see statement after statement of things which are factually incorrect, logical fallacies, and words used intentionally to bait people. There is NOTHING in this entire paragraph that is factually correct, from the first statement to the last. Twitchy knows this, of course, but he is intentionally baiting because he has already told us that he hates the entire institution of masonry and its members. This is not a case of someone actually interested in finding out the truth, this is a case of someone who is interested in baiting and having his own narrow worldview confirmed.

How can we possibly deny ignorance with people like this?

Small wonder such tactics cause derision.

[edit on 31-1-2008 by LightinDarkness]

Originally posted by twitchy

Believe it or not, at one point in American History, Anti-Masonry was a noble cause, and a successful political institution, right up to the Civil War that is. History has it's ommissions, and rebirths.

Eliminating human suffering is a noble cause.Promoting ignorance based upon Levi and Taxil is far from noble.At that point in time, the common hoaxes may not have been actually known to be hoaxes, so the negative opinions were most likely held because of legitimate ignorance (not knowing facts) on behalf of those involved in opposition to Freemasonry.Today with facts available and any "Masonic mystery" available with a few minutes of google, willingly believing fallacies is just sad.

I can't imagine a more befitting description of the very purpose and fucntion of this so called noble institution than Organized Collaboration. I submit to you gentle folk that the organizations of Freemasonry are by their very nature, an inherent affront to this rule.

So you are saying that you honestly believe that we have some massive Masonic network that collaborates on ATS to post on threads, or collaborates to post on these forums?Thanks for the credit, but in reality I can't get more than 10 people to help with a spaghetti dinner at my lodge, with that level of organization, "controlling" anything is pretty unlikely.

There it is, every time, the association is made that easily. Equating Anti-Masonry to Anti-Semitism... Why don't you just say the word Nazi, post us a link to Anne Frank's Diary, and spare us the ambiguities.

I bet that joke about someone who narrowly escaped the holocaust was
especially hilarious to anyone here who may have had relatives that died in concentration camps.

Just thought I'd add a thought...
Freemasonry is illegal in many parts of the world. Which parts you ask? Islamic Countries, where by no cooincidence, Finance and Interest and Zionism are culturally frowned upon as well. If Freemasonry were such a noble institution, the world would have embraced it. Instead, indigenous people the world round and all through time have resisted it, often to their undoing. Usuary is not charity, and charity is not so noble when it's employed in the arts of deception and labeled 'giving BACK to the community'. Freemasonry is little more than a Kabbalist good ole boy system, and all those little harmless handshakes and nods and winks has empowered the 'enlightened' few at the expense of the rightful soverignty of the Democratic Principle.

More antisemitic rantings from you, what a surprise, whats even more surprising is that you knowingly post false and racist trash on a thread where this is posted above.

1). Posting: You will not post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate.


2) Behavior: You will not behave in an abusive, hateful and/or racist manner, and will not harass, threaten, nor attack anyone.