Hate vs. Hate

Not sure if it's the right place to post this...mods move it if it's not please.
I belong to another forum, that only deals with guitars, and they are strict about being polite to others, no politics, religion, drugs etc and it's avery nice to be. I've lurked here for quite awhile before joining but I've noticed a few things here.
Is it not possible to have adult conversations here withiout all of the personal attacks, name calling, and in general the need for people to try and show their superiority to others when answering a thread?
If you post anything in a negative light against Muslims....you are a bigot, racist and don't understand the "real" problems and history of whatever the topic is. Some extremeists do want to cause as much death and destruction as possible, no getting around that. Does that mean all Muslims are bad....no, but the ones causing the problems sure are.......what does that have to do with Christianity, the bible, Jews, or reptilians? Nothing. So why does it always turn into that.
If you post anything negative about homosexuals, it automatically turns into a Catholic bashing fest. Yes, the Christians feel a certain way, but what does it have to do with pedophiles and priests, there are gay people all over the world and in every culture. Seems alot of generalizing goes on there. I personally don't care if you're gay or not, but I do have a problem with the gay agenda being taught in schools and children being used to further their agenda.
If you post something about the troops, automatically someone has to come along comparing all troops to nazis....ie baby killers, murderers, rapists. Again not a conspiracy, just a way to antagonize people from the safety of your keyboard. If you only live to troll here, why post at all? Offering a differing view of things is really not that hard to do without all of the name calling and flaming that goes on here.
I'm not even gonna get into the hatred of Israel here........I just can't believe people who are so narrow minded have the audacity to say some of the things they post on here.
I guess, in a way what I'm saying is............it seems alot of people hate people for the very reason they themselves are hated. Funny isn't it. I think alot more dialog in a more adult fashion, without the name calling could be more usefull. If you think you can educate someone on your point of view, doing it in an adult manner is probably gonna be alot more effective then the name calling and holier than thou attitude I see expressed on here so often. Thoughts?

[edit on 29-12-2009 by adifferentbreed]

Unfortunately, some here believe debate means that they are going to change your way of thinking to agree with theirs or else demonize you. Another problem is the, sometimes difficult to avoid, use of generalizations. I wish I had a solution for you. All I can say is, I am trying my damndest to not be one of those, about whom you speak. Although, I haven't always been successful.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by WTFover]

reply to post by adifferentbreed


We do not know you as a person, and everyone is who they are for the life they have had, and also there genes.

On boards like this you have to take the rough with the smooth.

I have been here for nearly 7 years now, and its the best board on the net and you can talk pretty freely about nearly all subjects.

For my experience, you will not find a better board, but if you do not like thats upto you.

Stay awhile here and see if you like it, if not, than there are plenty of other boards to go to.

In a word, it's called "tribalization."

Everyone has an opinion...typically they're strong opinions. People's beliefs are shaded by their upbringing, their education, their perceptions, their friends, and their source of news.

Tribalization is quite natural.

Just try to ignore all the zings and enjoy yourslef...the real adults will communicate without spewing hatred.

reply to post by andy1033
Oh, I'm not going anywhere, actually there are some pretty interesting people on here. I just don't get the certain few that feel obligated to be as confrontational as they are.

reply to post by adifferentbreed


If you don't have as thick of a skin as you have on the tip of your fingers (from playing the guitar), then i say spend more of your time on the music forums. Here we have a critical mind about issues/topics in the world that are way more important then how you may sound on stage. You have stepped into an arena of shattered hope and dreams due to deceptions beyond your imagination. This is a den full of injustice collectors, that collectively know more about reality then the average joe, and this alone merits most of the anger and resentment that you have observed here, so the last thing we need is someone cheerleading for censorship. ATS has had as much censorship as it could bare... it is the freedom to speak one's mind that has made ATS what it is today, a uniquely invaluable resource like no other.

[edit on 29-12-2009 by The Blind Eye]

I'm not cheerleading for censorship..........and yup, I'd say I'm pretty thick skinned. I was just pointing out that some people on here really seem to have nothing to offer other than hate, the ability to be a pompous ass, and a hollier than thou attitude. Honestly they have a right to spout off, but it really doesn't seem to help the thread in any way, and in alot of cases kills the thread by dragging it so far off topic, and becoming a flame war between 2 or 3 people.

It is not hate, that is just an easy way to describe what is far more natural for the common man.

Quite honestly much of it is stupidity, laziness, lack of education or interest in learning, or some combination.

In truth, there are many ideas that are worthy of scorn, ridicule, and contempt. I am not, and have never been, unwilling to label those ideas as they are although I do meet an earnest debate with an earnest response.

Some people just haven't learned that they don't know what they don't know. Some people are just petty little people that need to be laughed off any intellectual stage.

Having passion about a subject matter or confidence in your conviction shouldn't be interpreted as liabilities, just the contrary. These are in part some of the characteristics of a poster that make a thread interesting and enjoyable to read. So what if people push each other around as they work their way through a topic/issue, who does it hurt? "More grist for the mill" i say. The only downside i have seen is where a group of people of the same myopic narrow mentality tag-team a thread to the mat, through numerous underhanded tactics.

The sad tragedy is that HATE (+-/x) HATE will never equal LOVE.

The same as WAR(+-/x) WAR will never equal PEACE.

This world is filled with too much HATE and WAR. There is even HATE and WAR going on inside ourselves.

reply to post by adifferentbreed

Hate vs. Hate [OP]

Very acute observations, all. It has become just all too obvious that we have become quite a thin-skinned society as a whole, with little or no tolerance for opinions not our own and absolutely no idea how to debate issues without hurling insults.

As for those communication skills... or the lack thereof?

Some of this stems from our politicians, who have spent nigh the last three decades teaching us how to spit on those whom we disagree with. But another point may be that we have forgotten how to communicate effectively on a personal level due to the sterile, impersonal nature of both the internet and cell texting.

Good subject, S&F for your stones in bringing it up for discussion.

EDIT: Typos


[edit on 30-12-2009 by redoubt]

As for Israel. Well, in my opinion... Israel deserves all the bad names it gets. I have nothing against the Israeli people, or even the Jews or Hebrews or what have you's. It's the government. Just like most don't like the government of America, or Canada, or Cuba or the UK. Israel is a horrific government and I truly feel negativity towards them. This could be for multiple reasons, but the main reason is their weapons program, and their unjust treatment of the Nuclear Whistleblower, who made it clear to the world that Israel has weapons of mass destruction. Including nerve gases 'which have no antidote', which are worse than sarin gas. Okay whatever, I don't care if Israel has a weapons program like that, but WHY is there no restriction? WHY is there a constant 'search' for WMD in IRAQ? WHY NOT ISRAEL? Because we don't want to get labelled anti-semites? It's probably far deeper than that as some here will tell you and I, but the fact of the matter is, Israel is a secret government and secrecy (as we have continually witnessed in the CIA, FBI, KGB, SAS etc) promotes corruption, and corruption leads to... what we have now.

So yes. Whatever, go ahead and call me a nazi, an anti-semite, a baby killer and what have you. I honestly dont give a ****. Israel and all who support Israel are, in my eyes, uninformed and promoting evil.

reply to post by LususNaturae


I think alot of people don't speak up for fear of being labeled "something". When did labels become soooooo scary? I don't agree with you 100%, but this is a little OT.

[edit on 30-12-2009 by adifferentbreed]