I Hate. *sigh*, page 1

I've been cruising these forums for quite awhile, been a member for a shorter period. But I keep seeing these threads popping up that ATS is going to Hades in a handbasket for various reasons.

1. Opposing sides of an argument use "Yeah, well, you're stupid." as their argument. Blows me away when I see this happen and it's everywhere, always has been, always will be. You folks need to quit whining about such things. Someone using this or a similar arguments for their own case leaves them looking like idiots to the majority of ATSers and really shines the light on those opposing, making them, in turn, look much brighter than they really are. In short, these people are making the opposing case's argument for them.

2. There's too much religious debate. This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. For most of us, our religion is at the very core of who we are, right down to atheists or agnostics. Our spiritual (or non-spiritual] beliefs influence every aspect of our minds and thought process and have since birth. To expect us to shut down the core of who we are would be to turn this forum into a collection of robots who think only with logic. We already have computers that can do that. Creativity, inspiration, the ability to think laterally, these are all RELATED to our religious views. As a Christian, I can step back and see how illogical my beliefs are, but that makes them no less real for me. That being said, decorum is still expected of ATS posters whether religious views are invoked or not.

3. The government is infiltrating ATS. Well, duh. This is a conspiracy themed website, did you expect all of us conspiracy nuts to simply accept that our research and opinions WOULDN'T be investigated by The Man? Of course we're going to think Big Brother is watching us. If I worked for an alphabet agency, you have NO IDEA how many hours I'd spend on here for the entertainment value alone. Stop with the Government thing. We know they're here.

4. The "Logical" are always right. You can't wade forth into a religious debate about whether or not Jesus was an alien using nothing but logic because logic will not be there to oppose you. Use common sense. The whole of religion is founded on faith and trying to use science to persuade the Believers that you're right and they're wrong will usually only strengthen their faith and turn you into the Antichrist (Or whatever arch-enemy to the particular Messiah you're referring to is). Believers, same goes for you, if someone's trying to shove their science down your throat, flinging your emotional, metaphysical and spiritual knowledge at them is about as useless as trying to ski through a revolving door. You can't win. You can't lose. And for the same reason you don't see trees and rocks waging war.

In conclusion, you're here, at ATS and part of our family. All family members have a snide little brother who just wants to get people to react. Don't be that brother. Provoking others into irrelevant arguments that contribute nothing to your thread or either of your esteem DOES lower the quality of the material, but it also provides a brief respite from hardcore intellectual thinking about the matter at hand. I wish mods would allow some of it to stay on the boards because often, it's quite hilarious, works as a pressure relief valve for those not IN the argument, and further allows the combatants to display their own intellectual prowess which adds to the weight (or detracts) of the their original post.

Stop it with the I Hate threads.
Stop it with the This Site Has Gone Downhill threads.
Stop it with the We're All Being Watched threads.
Stop it with the Religious Smackdown threads (and sub-threads inside interesting threads)

Enjoy this site. I enjoy having you here. A wealth of information can be obtained here... FROM YOU... if you can pause a moment and do some critical thinking. We all have a story and we all have our own views and they're all different. Instead of hammering everyone into line on your point of view, really take a look at theirs. You don't have to agree with it, but it is awesome when you come to understand it. You'll find that it may enlighten you on your own thoughts. Mods, I ask for leniency for some of these folks that break the rules... Hate speech I understand, but political trolling actually has a valid purpose in a political thread. If we don't have the opportunity to engage the emotional side of our opponents, we may never truly come to understand them. Off-topic posts can often be used to the advantage of the thread. Please, reconsider your rules and punishments. I know they exist for a reason, but it might be a good idea to redefine some of what's there.

I do love ATS and believe my requests will not fall on deaf ears. Perhaps things will stand as they are and posters won't take heart and admin won't change a thing. But I do appreciate the time and consideration you've given me by reading this far.

Respectuflly,

Arrow