ATS and the Culture of Hate

Whist going through my usual ATS knowledge binge the other day I noticed something troubling on the boards and contained within the threads. HATE. The Hate that is consuming ATS it is turning into the preverbal cancer of this grate site.

I recognise that some conspiracies are specific to particular groups in society but I do not think this is an excuse for blatant hatred towards any group in society. Some of the language used one this site would result in prosecution if preached in public, I don’t want to sound like a member of the PC police but the language used on ATS is not acceptable. Just because a minority of people in any group in society commit horrendous crimes does not make them all guilty to do so only fuels a culture of hate.

This culture of hate is most evident when it comes to any thread about Islam, the most common theme in these threads is not about violent Islamic extremism but perpetuating a universally negative outlook towards the Islamic people. There is a misconception that “they”, the Muslims, “hate us all” or support the actions of a minority of their fellow Muslims and it is this view that is promoted on allot of ATS threads. I suspect that this stems from an ignorance of the Islamic community and the phenomenon of violent Islamic extremism. After all we naturally fear that which we do not understand, and this fear is only breading a culture of hate. This could be resolved if the guilty users were to adopt the true motto of ATS and “deny ignorance”.

Islam is not the only victim of the ATS hate culture that is emerging, anti-Semitism is rife among those who suspect a Jewish involvement in 9/11, the banking crisis or whatever other conspiracy one pins on the Jewish community. These anti-Semitic are reminiscent of the rise of the Nazi ideology and must be stopped. Even if there is a Jewish connection to these conspiracies it does not justify persecuting the entirety of the Jewish community on a public forum.

Even sexuality is not safe on ATS, I have seen threads that preach homophobic views, something I for one thought was long dead.

By far the biggest target of the hate culture is anyone who disagrees with almost any conspiracy, I was once compared to a paedophile for saying I was a sceptic who debunks conspiracies. That is to say one who is naturally sceptical of conspiracies and seeks to find the truth behind them. If anyone questions a UFO picture on any thread one has to expect that at least one post directed at them will be overly aggressive and insulting. The same goes for a host of other conspiracies such as9/11 and the NWO. Sometimes if you do not flatly agree with the other posters on a thread you are treated with such contempt it is sickening. I can think of another example were the thread claimed to have debunked the link between Cannabis and schizophrenia, I pointed out the dangers of Cannabis use among teenagers and possible effects of long term use. With some of the response I received you would have thought I had just announced on the thread that I was a member of the Illuminate who likes to kick puppies for kicks. I can think of a number of other threads I read were other users have been subjected to similar treatment all because they voice their disagreement with a thread topic.

The moderators in ATS I have to say do fantastic job of stamping out any of this hate. Almost all of the examples I outlined above were swiftly dealt with but sometimes the odd thread and post slip the net. However we should not have to be relying of the Mods to police ATS when it comes to issues like these we should be abiding by the social code that we would conduct ourselves by in our offline lives. Nobody would start any Islamphobic, anti-Semitic or homophobic views in another public place, no the hate and contempt only comes when they can protect themselves by hiding behind a computer scream.

Debate the post, not the poster....words to live by while browsing through this site. I have been half-tempted to post my thoughts on certain subjects, but the very thing you speak about is what I dont need to deal with. I know that I can, because I've dealt with trolls and ignorant people, I just dont' want the disruption. What you say, my sentiments exactly.

First off, I haven't noticed a specific increase in hate on the boards recently. I have been here for over a year now and it seems to be flowing at it's usual rate, no more, no less.

I think a quick browse of many other discussion forums on other websites will emphasise just how tolerant, understanding and benevolent the vast majority of ATS members are.

Yes, there are instances when a discussion becomes a slanging match and in those instances the MODS tend to deal with them quickly and fairly. This is only to be expected when discussing such important topics as we do on ATS.

But I don't think people need to be taught the obvious lesson that hate is bad and love is good, but just in case...

HATE = BAD
LOVE = GOOD

Okay, everyone?

Good. Now play nice

Amen! I've been treated the same way my friend. If you don't agree with them then they will burn you for it.

"Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled." — The Kybalion.

Love and Hate are variations of the same vibration. The world is in a period of extreme polarity and the convergence will be cataclysmic in every sense of the word.

reply to post by LiveForever8


A experiment you should try go onto a 9/11 thread and tell them that you think there is no conspiracy it can be a infesting exercise for anyone to try.

reply to post by kevinunknown


Well the simple thing to do would be to stop going into the 9/11 Forum, if it bothers you that much. This is why I don't venture into the 2012 Forum or the Religious Forum.

If you choose to go into that forum knowing what the reaction will be then you can simply choose not to in the future, simples

[edit on 12/7/10 by LiveForever8]

For someone who's been here a bit longer, I'd say it's just business as usual (sadly).

Some topics are very "delicate" to some and fuses can be pretty short. The mods are generally really good and (I think) on the whole are doing a great job of keeping things within boundaries. It's just too easy to traverse these boundaries with a decent vocabulary, without technically breaking Terms & Conditions.

Saying that, I've seen a few post from someone this morning that were just outright abuse and pretty embarrassing to read.

We all have our heated moments and we're all guilty of doing this from time to time, some members do make a habit of it though. We should also remember we've got a whole slew of new members, some of whom are settling in and playing nicely, others finding their feet... it's also the school holidays, so let's not forget the basement-dwelling trolls that may have no interest in anything other than trolling for the lulz.

reply to post by kevinunknown


While you are correct that the majority of islamists are not extremeists, in the fact that they haven't strapped on the bombs yet. They are definitely not the first in line to condemn the members of their own religion for doing so. This is quite likely the biggest contributor towards the "hate" of Islam, of which you speak. If members of My religion (which I have none, so hypothetical) were commiting the same acts, I would be out in the streets with billboards and a megaphone, condemning their actions, and trying to convince the world that my religion was not evil, and that these murderers were not spokespeople for my religion. Yet they do not. They remain silent. Makes you wonder.

Better yet, lets's stretch the imagination, and wonder if this site had existed in the early 1940's. I guarantee you there would be many, many, posts condemning the Nazis. Would this have been considered "hate speach"? I dare say that some would take it as just that. There comes a time, when thinking people, if they see a threat to the world as a whole by a specific group, should by all means speak up, and point out the truth. Perhaps if we had the means of communication we have now, and had specifically called out the Nazis, it would have been caught early, and the hollocaust would never have occured. Some information will always be "hate speach". Though don't discount all of it because it may cost us far too much as a people to be PC all the time.

reply to post by kevinunknown


I am the cancer!!
lol no...
Anyways, one of the problems i have seen on ATS (as well as every other board) is this type of thread. People get this idea that anyone who does not share their views is suffering from some form of hate or brainwashing. This becomes very evident in the Middle east threads.

I don’t want to sound like a member of the PC police but the language used on ATS is not acceptable.

I agree with you on that one, there seems to be a double standard on this issue. It looks like people can name call and riddicule people of certian groups and get away with it all the time.

Even sexuality is not safe on ATS, I have seen threads that preach homophobic views, something I for one thought was long dead.

That im affraid i have to disagree with you on. From what I have noticed any one that does not "like" homosexuality auotmatically gets labeled a homophob. Just yesterday in a thread talking about aids i pointed out that it was a major problem in san fracisco and that it used to be called grids. I was then accused of being homophibic and then called a homosexual, at which point the mods did step in and gave him a T&Cs violation sticky.

Sorry, but it's an nwo ptb thing to stamp out 'hate'. Nice try.

Perspective.

Only two generations ago (40 years), there was a natural union between people. Perhaps it was fallout from WWII or something, but if you took the time to look at those people who were adults (45+) in the 1960's, you would find that they depended on friendships that lasted a lifetime. Those folks are now in their 80's and, if they are living, STILL depend on those self-same friends for a social life.

That ended somewhere along the way.

I'm the generation after them... a boomer (or zoomer, if you want to be specific). My life, and those of millions of westerners like me, was 'different' because I moved around a lot even after I was married. I went to 3 seperate public schools and 2 highschools. I became detached from anyone I came to like as a friend even though I tried to keep up with them. Usually it failed and those people disappeared off my radar. I can think of hundreds if I tried.

So... where am I going with this in relation to the topic?

Today, no-one bothers with friendships anymore. We cocoon like crazy, immersing ourselves in a virtual world of websites, games and headphones... oblivious to anything real around us. We've lost contact with actual people and focus on those we meet online. Sure, we might have a huge list on our cell-phones, Facebook or even ATS that we constantly relate to, but they're just as unreal as your conception of myself. You likely have NO idea what kind of person I am or even what ethnicity and gender.

Today, we have a generation of children that can't even go outside and play without adult supervision. It just isn't done anymore because we're all scared to death of the creeps who might be lurking out there behind every bush.

Want to know what makes people hateful? It's fear and we're all full of it.

The true irony is that those veterans who lived through WWII don't live in fear. THEY let their kids play without that constant fear and valued the friendships that came out of it.

We hate what we don't trust and the fact is that no-one trusts anyone anymore. We see a stranger and tremble at the risk they present to ourselves and our immediate families.

sp edit



[edit on 12/7/10 by masqua]

Originally posted by LiveForever8

But I don't think people need to be taught the obvious lesson that hate is bad and love is good, but just in case...

HATE = BAD
LOVE = GOOD

Okay, everyone?

But you keep saying you hate me...

Hypocrite

I should maybe have made this clear the think that really annoys me about this culture is not personal attacks against myself rather it is the way in which entire groups on society are being judged based on the actions of a few. Such as violent Islamic extremism, for example saying that because 19 men flew jets into buildings automatically assuming this action is supported by the entirety of the words Muslims.

I often feel icky about some of the jingoistic, racist far-right conservativism on here, and didn't want to associate myself with that sort of thing, so I just lurked for a long time here. But then I realized if I wanted to disassociate from that crap, I'd have to stay away from the internet altogether. Look at all the racist, completely off-topic comments on youtube videos of kittens or pandas, and you'll see what I mean. Every opportunity to comment on something online is nothing more than an opportunity for people to rant about Muslims, Obama's birth certificate, the "myth" of human impact on the environment, and illegal immigrants ruining pretty much everything. Sometimes it seems like a concerted effort at disinformation, just to take up space so that nothing important or useful is heard.

Anyways, as websites go, it's still worth it to pick through all the seeming disinfo regurgitations on ATS for the little gems of knowledge in between them.

Originally posted by burdenofdreams

Anyways, as websites go, it's still worth it to pick through all the seeming disinfo regurgitations on ATS for the little gems of knowledge in between them.

Yeah, that's the bits I like.

reply to post by burdenofdreams


Don’t get me wrong, they type of hate i am talking about is rife over the internet. But just because it is does not mean it is right.

reply to post by davidmann


Are you accusing me of being a agent of the NWO. I have to ask because i get that allot.

Originally posted by kevinunknown
I should maybe have made this clear the think that really annoys me about this culture is not personal attacks against myself rather it is the way in which entire groups on society are being judged based on the actions of a few. Such as violent Islamic extremism, for example saying that because 19 men flew jets into buildings automatically assuming this action is supported by the entirety of the words Muslims.

As a person who believes in history it repeats itself and doesn't lie. It is true though that Muslims in the western world don't hate us,but in the heart of the Islam country they do hate us.