What is wrong with ATS?

Frankly, I do not care what you are, who you are, or where you are. If you can give me a good debate, I will enjoy it. In fact, if a person is able to get me to change my mind or at least get me considering it, THAT is a good debate. Show me research, show me solid evidence, and I will gladly debate with you any day. Show me a belligerent wall, and I will ignore you. :3

reply to post by HarlequinRaven


How can there be "solid" evidence on any of this??? It wouldn't be conspiracies if it was proven!:bnghd:

reply to post by nycfrog27


There has been much negativity here in the past and was is one of the reasons I took a rest from ATS. It is not just against Christians (I am a Pagan), but other religious and spiritual views and non views along with political and other alternative views.

The problem is from a small group of people who seem to want to shout down other voices instead of a good debate with the facts at hand. I will be more cordial and accepting of others views now, and will just ignore the trolls.

Just remember this: It is not because you are a Christian (or any other perspective), it is because some people like to be nasty to others and the anonymity here lets them get away with it.

reply to post by kidflash2008


Thank you. This has been a good post for me so far. I have come to the realization that there are some cool people on here. Like I said before, I'm not trying to get all Kumbaya-ish or all soft or anything like that. I just think we should ALL treat each other with the respect that we deserve. We are all entitled to it.

reply to post by nycfrog27


You have some good points. If what you say is true, and you do not impose your beliefs on others or spout some sort of testimony, then you are being unjustly criticized. However, a lot of the people that come to this website are ex-religious people looking for a better answer than the ones give a couple thousand years ago. MANY of these conspiracies directly correlate with religion and control of the masses. If you look deep into history a long with anthropology and archeology you will find that there are too many unanswered questions and contradictions that bring into question our modern day religions.
So all I can say is that if you are a christian or whatever and you come in tell people that on a post or thread, then you better be tough and ready for some debate. As for name calling, there should be NONE of that.

reply to post by dplum517


It's not like I'm quick to say, "Hey, I am a Christian". A lot of times, like you said, a post will be intertwined with religion and someone will say what they are. I'll say what I am, and then it's open season on the Jesus freak! I mean, really. So, I have one thing to say to people who try and discredit my belief b/c they say that it's all "man made up"...you believe in some of these theories (obviously)? Well, aren't those man made up? At least until if/when they get proven, right? Isn't it sort of the same thing?I think a lot of distrust and.or hatred to Christianity is b/c none of us were alive back then. We humans have a hard time, nowadays, believing something UNLESS we see it. Back 2000+ yrs. that wasn't the case. People believed what they heard as well. Maybe this is the difference, no? Maybe b/c it has been 2000+ yrs people feel like "Well, it's been this long. Ahhh, told you it was all BS..." I don't know. It remains a mystery.

I wasn't meaning you dplum517, necessarily. Just people in general.

Thank you for ur reply

There is bashing on Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, you name it...

It comes with the territory of religious discussion...ESPECIALLY in religions that espouse the "I am right, you are wrong, so you are screwed" mentality of many of them (such as those mentioned). Makes it difficult for either side to engage in a debate...

That said though, discussion should always be civil, and personal attacks, are a violation of the Terms and Conditions. This protection does NOT extend to ideas or beliefs, such as God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, etc. (and you can bash away on them, at the risk of your own immortal soul perhaps, if we are to believe their adherents...)....

In opposition to your claim though, I can think of MANY Christian members here, who post very well-supported arguments and defend their claims very well.

reply to post by nycfrog27

THEORIES. CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Oh don't be silly ATS is a place to argue about politics, religion and if UFOs exist or not. I mean 9/11 gave people some material to work with but how many more theories on JFK can their be?

reply to post by Gazrok


Ok. I see that you are a moderator for ATS. Let's be real, though. With all due respect, none of you (ATS staff) uphold any of your terms and conditions and frankly, I think it is condoned by ATS (sadly).

My religion is NOT grounds for attack. This statement is simply inflammatory, sir. I'm disappointed that a staff member would expect there members to act accordingly. *shakes head*

Any religion (including Atheism) is a THEORY and an IDEA, regardless of the fervor of its believers. As such, of course it is open for discussion, and an attack from ATS members on different sides of the issue. As for us not upholding the terms and conditions, we are all volunteers, and despite some claims to the contrary, quite human...and as such, we are not omniscient, so of course we will miss things.

All we can do, and indeed, all any man can do, is simply strive to do the best one can....

reply to post by Gazrok


Im sorry but i have to side with nycfrog on this one. As a scientologist people can more or less get away with saying anything attacking me . There have been posts that just get a *snip* where if they were talking to anyone else about anything else it would have been an off topic or t&C violations sticky. I refered to as a scientologist homosexual (not the exact words but it think you can put it together).
www.abovetopsecret.com...&mem=Kryties
Internos said if i used the alert button anymore i would be banned, so yeah im in full agrement that the mods here only enforce the T&Cs when it suits them.

well, when i allow myself to be my true sensitive self, i feel exactly the same as the op, except substitute "atheist" for "christian."

so that tells me that it's likely both sides (of any issue) that feel persecuted. it's human nature to be irritated when people don't believe the way we do despite knowing, intellectually, that we should listen to others and respect their viewpoints, even if different. and irritation and frustration, i think, can result in cries of unfair treatment, bias, etc. (not to suggest, of course, that people aren't treated unfairly at times).

they say (though i don't know if it's really true) that the firmer you are in your beliefs, the less you are effected by opposition, influence, conflict, etc. so i just try and flood myself in thoughts of why i believe what i believe and make sure i do. then, it really is easier for me to let opposing views (particularly if they are uninformed, in my view) roll off.

There have been posts that just get a *snip* where if they were talking to anyone else about anything else it would have been an off topic or t&C violations sticky.

My apologies if that is your experience, but in my years of modding here, I've seen that most mods tend to uphold the T&C without much bias. There are always exceptions, and we're only human, (and some mods have been de-modded for acting in such ways over the years), but for the most part, I'd like to think most are fair in this. Heated discussions tend to cause more abuse of the T&C, and hence, more punitive actions.

Personally, I could care less what race, faith, sexual orientation, etc. someone is (and all of that is rather a guess over the internet anyhow)... I just try and stick to the violations, and ask myself, "If I was a member, and I got warned on this, would I understand why?". That simple question works wonders.

Since it has been several days since I've posted this thread, I have noticed quite a bit more respect from members when they reply to threads. This is great! I have been "roaming" around, going from thread to thread, and I would like to at least think that I may have brought to light a problem that affects ALL people of ALL religions/beliefs. I know I can't change people. I am not trying to, nor do I want to. I just think that we can all be more respectful towards one another. This is simply just being humane.

At least the "seed" was planted. Now can you help me water it ATS mods and members?

I appreciate everyone's replies. I've have since changed my overall view/beliefs about ATS; there may actually be some hope for us all.

It's kind of cyclical too, so keep that in mind...
Over the years, it's easy to see the trend.

Expect it to get nastier in the water during times such as Spring Break, Summer Break, Holiday Vacation, etc....

reply to post by Gazrok


Ive toughend my skin more, so to speak. I used to be gullible and fall into the "trap" that some people would set out w/ their replies. Since, I've taken into consideration the advice of some members to just "tune it out".

So, if it's cyclical....Does that mean that ATS is plagued with Seasonal Manic Depressive people, or just some antagonistic young people?

Originally posted by Gazrok
It's kind of cyclical too, so keep that in mind...
Over the years, it's easy to see the trend.

Expect it to get nastier in the water during times such as Spring Break, Summer Break, Holiday Vacation, etc....

hmmm, that's interesting. i wouldn't have expected that ... at least not the one-to-one correspondence.

Originally posted by nycfrog27
reply to post by Gazrok

 

Ive toughend my skin more, so to speak. I used to be gullible and fall into the "trap" that some people would set out w/ their replies. Since, I've taken into consideration the advice of some members to just "tune it out".

So, if it's cyclical....Does that mean that ATS is plagued with Seasonal Manic Depressive people, or just some antagonistic young people?

hiya frog:

i've seen you around enough to know, on some issues, we are diametrically opposed, but i still want you around 'cause i appreciate your view and you seem to be nice enough and earnest. sometimes you have support where you least expect it. don't ever let "'em" get you down.

i've seen you around enough to know, on some issues, we are diametrically opposed, but i still want you around 'cause i appreciate your view and you seem to be nice enough and earnest. sometimes you have support where you least expect it. don't ever let "'em" get you down.

Hey Hadrian.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I try to take into consideration other people's viewpoints as best I can. I know that I cannot agree with everyone's views, likewise, everyone cannot agree with mine. And this is cool with me. I try to keep an open mind. Yes, I know someone will try to degrade me because they disagree with me. This is sad but true. Oh well.

I have seen you around the threads, too. I got to hand it to you; some of your analogies and educated guesses bewilder me (not in a bad way, mind you!). Sometimes, I don't understand some of the in-depth descriptions members like you and others give in your responses. This just fuels me to broaden my knowledge of said thread at hand. It's awesome to know that we have some brilliant minds here on ATS. I'm sureley learning a hell of a lot. So, I say keep it up. My signature (below) pretty much says it all....thanks again.

Is it really like that here?
line two here.