I’ve always enjoyed the taste of of Polycarp’s medicine. I don’t get why anyone would resent it so much they’d want to angrily feed it back to him.
Hey fuckhead. You can pretend all you like that your cause is a noble one, but you’re not fooling anyone. You’re a self-important, self-aggrandising, crowing, gloating little smear of shit who likes to think he’s a big swinging dick.
I don’t care what **Polycarp’s ** beliefs are and neither should you. As far as I’m concerned, his selflessness and altruism make him a far better person than you could ever hope to be, you pathetic aborted excuse for a human being. I’m not a Christian but I would rather live alongside his gentle Christianity than your toxic brand of atheism any day, and you’re an embarrassment to atheists everywhere.
You’re a sack of putrid shit, and if this was real life I’d say that to your face, you arrogant, jumped-up little fuck.
Polycarp is a very nice guy. That has no effect on whether he’s right or wrong.
Badchad is an asshole. That has no effect on whether he’s right or wrong.
Badchad seems delusional to me. At the very least he has badly misjudged who his enemy is. It’s not people like Polycarp. It’s the people who ten years ago were pushing for a constitutional amendment to allow school prayer, and are trying to put the ten commandments on courthouse lawns today. If badchad were serious about fighting his battle, he would spend his time and effort where it would do some good, like volunteering for the ACLU. His vendetta here is nothing but ego-stroking self-satisfying masturbation. “Look at me! I’m so smart! I’m fighting ignorance!” Pathetic really.
I bet you wouldn’t.
Chad, Baby, you’d lose that bet. If you’d said that shit in front of me, you’d better believe I’d call you on it.
Hey, I’ll call you whatever you want, man!
I am a Christian, and the God for President party pisses me off way more than it does most atheists.
However, I don’t think Badchad is delusional. I think he is just starved for acceptance. Delusion is a pretty narrow diagnosis, and I don’t think he suffers from it. Obsession, yeah. Poor integration and socialization, perhaps. But, mostly, just a bad feedback system that equates public scorn with reasoned disagreement in one direction, and popularity in the other. A lot of Netizens have that problem. Has anyone here actually met him? I would be interested in how well he integrates face to face.
Tris
Can we get a weigh-in, and a CV of fighting skills and experience? 
There is one thing that I can do.
If SDMB Staff has chosen not to remove BC, then I assume they have their reasons.
But I choose now not to respond to anything he says and not to mention him in my posts.
I’ll bet BM in the 3rd.
I disagree. “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions” and all that. If anything, being nice and wrong makes people more dangerous than someone who’s wrong and obnoxious, because it can let them get away with doing more harm longer.
[/QUOTE]
When I was a teenager (and a rampant fundamentalist), I always believed it was the subtle things that would get you in trouble with God. So while the whole world knew that Megadeath would send you to hell, no one was the least bit concerned with, say, Gloria Estefan. And see, that’s something you’ve got to watch out for, right? Therefore, by my estimation, Poly is a Sound Machine.
But isn’t that key to, pretty much, getting something horrible to stop? I realize we’re not talking race relations here, but if there hadn’t been enough people to eventually stand up against the abuse directed at blacks, I shudder to think where we’d still remain in the terms of prejudice in this country. I’m glad that sometimes we take on the often necessary roll of shit flinger too, in the hopes of making the world a better place, than ridding a message board of an anonymous stranger that you somehow have a personal beef with.
Agreed. I may not believe completely the same way as
[QUOTE=Der Trihs]
does (for credential purposes, I’m an agnostic deist), but I agree that he at least doesn’t come across as a ginormous scrotum flaming fungus of dingleberry juice. As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion, I’ve felt myself nodding my head along to his argument. I have respect for that. Personal attacks, not so much. I feel those should’ve been renounced around third grade or so.
[QUOTE]
[Bolding mine.]
Aw come on, don’t be silly. I’m not really seeing that, because I’ve never noticed Eve, DtC, Der Trihs or a variety of others to shy away from their version of How The World Works ™. For just one brief example, that’s exactly part of why I come here – having had the fundamentalist upbringing that I’ve often talked about, the other point of view is refreshing to behold. Not only that, but it isn’t shouted down in a hail of “persecution” complexes or noise about our hell-bent journey that lies ahead. It’s great that we, as a board, are different in this regard and I’m thankful for each and everyone who contributes to that.
[I’m a bolding fool.]
Why? If you (or anyone else) can’t dictate that badchad shouldn’t be abrasive, then why is it okay in return to tell Poly (and whatever others who fly beneath the radar) that he can’t be a Stealthy Christian ™? If his delivery is one of kindness and gentleness, how is that not the flip side of the coin to being an ass? One is fine but the other is not?
ha·rass –verb (used with object) 1. to disturb persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; bother continually; pester; persecute.
2. to trouble by repeated attacks, incursions, etc., as in war or hostilities; harry; raid.
Naw, I’d hope that no one would make any personal attacks in a forum where it is clearly a violation. I also think that calling another’s belief system (of course, I’m of the opinion that applies to everything across the board that isn’t typically accepted here… scientology, flat earthers, etc., all because respect is just the right thing to do), as in the now famous badchad utterance of “Christ is a cunt.” is not a wise thing to do. If the goal is changing minds, I can’t imagine a worse way to go about it. But hey, maybe that’s just me and a, seemingly, whole bunch of other people.
Dammit! No matter how hard I try, I somehow always fuck up the coding somewhere. Kingdom meet edit meet five minutes. :mad:
Absolutely, without a doubt, untrue. Hell, I’d even listen to any opinions you or RedFury (::: gasp! :: have to offer because I basically think you’re both decent human beings doing their best. Despite us having tangled in the past, I don’t see y’all singling anyone out for stalking purposes and I often find you [general] in other threads that have different subjects then perhaps your favorites. You [again, generally speaking] may be a dick from time to time, but I’ve never felt that you [ditto] light into a person, on an individual degree, because of their views. You [yadda] certainly think they’re wrong, but I also don’t think I’ve ever seen you [yadda] fight back unless you felt provoked (kinda like Poly in that way, I guess). You [yadda] attack the system not Doper A.
Also, his viewpoint/content is pretty standard for here and doesn’t bother me at all. It’s his fuck-all aproach to other humans and life in general that I find deplorable.
Sometime you might find it conducive to fight your own ignorance in the way of human discourse. Usually we see this offered in the homilies of Robert Fulghum, but if you’re not so inclined to pursue him, perhaps in first grade primer could hook you up. (And yes, before anyone mentions it, I’ve gotten to the place where I so despise this guy that I’ve apparently abandoned my own code of conduct in how I should treat others. Something I should work on, I know, but as I’m no Christian, I feel occasionally compelled to say “Fuck off!” to such chains." Sorry.) And exactly what stones does Poly throw? I understood that was your basic problem with him… he doesn’t take the approach you believe he should (IE: as a biblical literalist) and therefore is a hypocrit. However, you basically say above you attack him for the very things he doesn’t do, but better because than he’s not staying true to the only form of Christianity that matters. Does that make sense in your world? :dubious: I too would like to know why your “translation” is the correct one and everyone else’s isn’t because they’re just translations? Wha???
[ol]
[li]Sometimes folks succumb to being poked. Why? Because even when you walk away, they follow you. They obscenely call you late at night. They make threats and start rumors. They’ve at least once broken into your house and fucked with your stuff. They constantly call you out in public and you fear for the safety of your loved ones. In other words, they make your life a living hell and there’s absolutely no way you can prove any of it. That is when you explode and amazingly get called a shit for doing so, even from those who have witnessed the whole thing. Sometimes it’s just enough, you know?[/li][li]About this stalking thing that badchad has admitted to; are we allowed to do that as well? Put signatures of his with posts decrying our opposition to whatever he said? Can we do this on masse? If no, is he allowed to continue? Why? TPTB consenting to him doing that is just bizarre, in my humble opinion. I don’t want to start up any campaigns or nothing, but if another feel strongly about this, I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with grass root movements. :)[/li][li]Finally (I know, y’all are all so happy), I do indeed don’t look forward to the day that the inevitable (probably) happens. I’ve never quite understood the whole “Well now he’s a martyr for our cause!” business, but I definitely get it now. When (and if) that ever happens, it will simply validate the so-called oppression of the few folks who believe it is happening to him. Because isn’t there another pit thread going on right now where other atheists and agnostics see no such prejudice? Therefore, I’m feeling these guys (generally speaking again) have a bit of paranoia going on, as well as a smidgen of the ‘tormented’ complex.[/li][/ol]
I feel badly for the many, many brilliant, moral, respectable, respectful, good hearted atheists on this board whom I’ve come to know over the years. I’m glad they’ve already taught me, and showed me by their examples, that this latest string of kooks is not representative of them. We had our His4Ever, and now they have their Badchad (and a couple others.) Pity.
To borrow a phrase recently used by **BC
**
Pure poetry.
Made even better by it’s right between the eyes accuracy.
I don’t follow GD all that much. That’s all HangingChad has? Cryptic taunts and ego? Wow, what a hollow victory… 
Because although certain people are trying very very hard to pretend that if they say it often enough it will be true, it’s not his stated goal. Read Badchad’s quote in the OP. The whole of it. While not trying desperately to read it against him. It doesn’t say what people are saying it does.
There’s a reason Badchad hasn’t been banned: he’s come close to the line, but he hasn’t been a “jerk” within the technical meaning used on this board, and he is not a troll.
Read Lib’s quote of Badchad again. My emphasis:
It is utterly clear to me that “fuck his shit up” is not a reference to Polycarp’s life in general but to his superstition. The very next sentence makes it clear that Polycarp’s “shit” in quesiton is his beliefs and in particular his superstitious beliefs. Badchad’s final comment in the quote again makes it entirely clear that it is Polycarp’s superstition (ie theology) that Badchad is proud of placing under so much pressure that Polcarp has gone quiet on the subject. If one chooses to advance or talk about one’s superstitious beliefs in GD those beliefs are fair game. Even if you’re a really nice guy.
I’ll segue from that into this: there are those that say that Badchad is a jerk because he’s going after the lovely and moderate Poly, instead of the board’s real superstitious extremists of the His4ever/Lekatt mould. Badchad’s reasoning appears to me to be sound and, as someone else said, essentially noble in purpose if not execution. The His4evers and Lekatts are idiots and ignoramuses. Going after them is like going after the Mafia by arresting a few airheaded gangster’s molls. Badchad chose to go after someone who had the knowledge and smarts to argue back, and who did not have the obvious and easy-to-mock personal faults of a Lekatt or His4ever.
Finally, “troll” is an easy and increasingly overused term to throw about, but if you think that Badchad doesn’t believe in what he says and is only out to get a rise (which are the characteristics of a troll) you are just plain kidding yourself.
Whether Badchad has in fact defeated Polycarp in debate, whether he (Badchad) is a dweeb who thinks he’s a swinging dick and (most importantly at least for me) whether his harshness does more harm than good are moot points.
However, those of you who seem intent on propagating the “Badchad is a troll running a vendetta on the life of another poster” meme need to take a deep breath and run a fact check. I know you’re wrong. You need to take a good long hard look at the words under Badchad’s name and realise why I’m so confident I’m right.
I’ve seen no indication from Polycarp at all that his religious faith or beliefs are “under pressure.” What did he say that has implied that his beliefs have been in any way shaken or changed or have come "under pressure’?
It wasn’t the beliefs that were wounded. It was Polycarp.
I’m glad you’ve taken the position you have, partly because you’ve expressed it with some eloquence and are therefore an example to others who might attempt to defend Badchad. But also because you’ve illustrated a point I’ve been making: namely, that science is not suited to test all things. This, for example: whether Badchad is a troll, and whether he trolls Poly.
It is not a matter of observation and replication of some falsifiable theory; rather, it is a matter of interpretation of the evidence. Demands of scientific evidence for faith are equally as misplaced as demands would be for scientific evidence of Badchad’s intentions. It’s the interpretations of the words and deeds that formulate people’s decision about it, not how it mixes with oxygen or how it’s measured on the Pritchard scale.
You’ve also been kind enough to supply a word for scrutiny: superstition. Neither Badchad nor you nor anyone else has made a reasonable case that Poly’s faith is a superstition in any sense of the word. A superstition is (1) “a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like” or (2) “irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, esp. in connection with religion” or (3) “any blindly accepted belief or notion”. (Cite.)
Surely, no one will argue that Poly’s faith is uninformed as per definition (1). Nor is God’s significance ominous to him; rather, it is auspicious. He does not fear anything unknown or mysterious about God as per definition (2). And he has not blindly accepted anything as per definition (3). A great many faithful test their faith against reason and experience. I know that I do. And I know that Poly does.
But most telling of all was Badchad’s expression of pleasure about Poly’s revelation that he no longer felt at home here. The place he once enjoyed so much had become a place of misery. Badchad’s delight in hearing this betrays a Mengelean cruelty that has nothing to do with the mission of this board.
You miss my point. I’m discussing here Badchad’s methods and behaviour. I don’t know whether Polycarp’t beliefs are under pressure. I am pointing out only that Badchad’s purpose was to place Polycarp’s beliefs under pressure. Whether he achieved that or not is not something I know, nor is it relevant to my point.
If Polycarp has been “wounded” well lots of people who come to these boards get wounded. Those with beliefs in 9/11 conspiracy theories, and astrology and particular views on the etymology of “the whole nine yards”. What would you have us do?
I’ll deal with your post tomorrow Lib, it’s nearing midnight here and my young boy is not going to let me sleep in any later because I spent the night debating you, sadly.
Fair enough. Good luck with the youngster!
But when you return, please explain why targeting Polycarp (or his beliefs, if you insist) to the near exclusion of all else differs from one-note-Johnny behavior traditionally defined as jerkish and resulting in more than one ban.