BrainGlutton doesn’t think so. Quite frankly, I feel badly that he feels that way. I’m no saint, by any means, but I’ve tried to do what I think is right in this world. I pay my taxes. I give to charity. I try to treat people with respect, regardless of whether their views are different from mine. I believe that people can be well-intentioned, even if I disagree with the conclusions they come to. I realize that hyperbolic, sweeping conclusions about people based on one opinion on one controversial subject are often irrational and unfair. I would never call BrainGlutton a person who is not good and decent, certainly not based on his opinion about abortion, which I do tend to disagree with.
But to him, I am not good and decent, and not because I think all abortion should be outlawed, because I don’t, but because I can’t agree with “whenever and wherever.”
By saying these things about myself, I am not in any way trying to imply that I am a better person than others here…certainly, I’m not. I’m only trying to illustrate the absurdity of deciding on who is good and decent based on this one contentious issue.
Does anyone else here sometimes feel that the SDMB is a rather unfriendly place?
To say that your political opponents are unquestionably not “good and decent” does look like intolerance, and does not lead to a devate where both sides can at least listen to the other side.
(I would take a very similar position to BrainGlutton on abortion, but I suspect that most of those opposed to legalised abortion are good and decent people, even if misguided on one or two issues).
I think anybody who is in favor of abortion when the woman did not want it, but a doctor thought it was medically necessary is hypocritically beyond belief.
The funny thing is, I have already pretty much given up posting there. I was just reading the thread when I came across that post. So, BrainGlutton clearly was not referring to me in particular, but I wonder if he realizes or thinks about who he was referring to.
It’s a VERY unfriendly place sometimes. Even for those who are in general agreement with the majority of the boards viewpoints (which, sadly, I am not), all it can take is one slip up and the sharks start circling. For someone who’s views aren’t in line with the board…well, sometimes you can cut the hostility with a knife depending on the subject of the thread you are posting in. I’ve seen a lot of examples of this, and I think that some posters have actually been driven away from the board because of it, on occasion at least.
FWIW I wouldn’t fret about it. BG is…well, he’s BG. He’s often hyperbolic and over the top, and holds a very skewed view of the world. He’s not as abrasive as, say, Der Trihs (he’s also not QUITE as much of a loon as DT is on political subjects), but you should take his comments about you with a rather large grain of salt. From memory your own political stances aren’t exactly in line with his own…and he tends to take that rather personally sometimes, attributing all sorts of unsavory things to folks who simply disagree with him and his world view.
That’s something else you will need to get used too…there are a lot of folks (on both sides of the isle, though more on one side than the other around here) who tend to demonize the other side. And do so quite seriously (i.e. you are ‘stupid’ if you don’t believe in Universal Health Care, etc etc).
I am pleased to see that there are still delicate blossoms of shy reluctance amongst American womanhood, I was beginning to get the impression that they had vanished, leaving only those I’ve known, who can and *will *rip your ass nine ways from Tuesday.
Yet still, there are islands of demure propriety, and we have them both.
Well, I wouldn’t describe myself as demure, but what’s the point of ripping anyone’s ass nine ways from Tuesday? This particular issue isn’t worth it to me. I’m more baffled sometimes than anything else.
Don’t worry about it. His statement “I’m in favor of abortion whenever and wherever the pregnant woman wants it and/or the treating physician deems it medically necessary, which is exactly the position of all good and decent people. Without exception” is just plain wrong.
It would imply (based on this statement alone, and not having read any of his other posts on the issue) all “good and decent” people supporting abortion one minute before birth for no other reason than “the pregnant woman wants it”. Not only is the position wrong (which we don’t need to go into this thread), but also the statement that all good and decent people hold this position is factually false (unless, of course, his definition of “good and decent” is a tautology involving only people who hold this position)
It’s unnecessarily hostile on some issues. There are so many smart and knowledgeable people that it is a shame and a waste of potential for this board that some discussions never get off the ground because people don’t want to bring up some topics because of the types of responses they’ll get (Of course, a varied set of issues do get brought up and discussed, but I think more people than just the “regular crowd” would participate and more issues would be brought up if the environment was different)
Always. Though, for my own part I tend to thrive in this unfriendly environment we have here. I actually LIKE this board…so, that probably doesn’t say good things about me, ehe?
Still offering hugs?
Well, from your link I take it you mean on the abortion issue. People tend to get very worked up over it…and yeah, they tend to get to the ass ripping aspect fairly quickly.
Frankly I see this as a bread and circuses issue…though in all honestly I also tend to get a bit worked up when the anti-abortion crowd starts to toss out stuff like ‘pro-abortion’ and such.
Wanting your personal views to be enforced on someone elses body does tend to tip the scales towards the jackass side of the equation, but theres certainly a whole lot more to being good and decent person than your misguided views on abortion.
So are you saying that BrainGlutton believes that sometimes it shouldn’t be the woman’s choice, but rather the doctor’s? Interesting. Do you have a link for that?
Thanks! After providing cite after cite after cite for you, it’s nice to see you are starting to see a pattern.
I could go into a long digression, but I simply ask you to think about what he means by ‘or’, and why the second clause is even necessary if it’s only about the woman’s choice.
As somebody who’s totally pro-choice, it appears that BG and Dio both went off the deep end in that thread. I have no idea why; there wasn’t even a debate going on in that thread, just a bunch of pointless discussion about irrelevant Church teachings and whether ex cathedra statements of the Pope aren’t official RCC policy.
For someone who’s views aren’t in line with the board…well, sometimes you can cut the hostility with a knife depending on the subject of the thread you are posting in. I’ve seen a lot of examples of this, and I think that some posters have actually been driven away from the board because of it, on occasion at least.