# Don't be a J person **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804 "2002-07-19T14:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/1 "2002-07-19T14:10:27Z")
I’m shocked and stunned and stunned by this board’s discriminatory behaviour against people who they choose to label as ‘jerks’, how acceptable would it be if they said ‘don’t be a Jew’ or ‘Don’t be black’. In fact I find the term ‘jerk’ offensive and inflammatory; why must we label people? One person maintains an identity and posts sensibly, another posts drivel through a collection of sock puppets, who are we to judge what’s right and wrong? OK, I suppose there are valid demographic groupings, so how about we call them ‘J People’? Hmmm? That’s all I have to say on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/2 "2002-07-19T14:17:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I’m shocked and stunned and stunned by this board’s discriminatory behaviour against people who they choose to label as ‘jerks’, how acceptable would it be if they said ‘don’t be a Jew’ or ‘Don’t be black’. \*\* Being a jerk is an attitude issue, not an ethnicity or a race. There’s nothing wrong with chastising someone because of their own personal behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/3 "2002-07-19T14:21:30Z")
So it’s alright to chastise someone for, say, their _sexual_ behaviour? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/4 "2002-07-19T14:23:36Z")
Yes it is. So take that cockring off now, mister. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/5 "2002-07-19T14:27:57Z")
Well, not always - but that’s a more apt comparison than “Jew” or “Black”. If you flame someone because they’re gay, for example, you’re usually doing so based on your own stereotypical notions, generalized idea of how that person really comports him or herself. But when you flame someone because they’re behaving like a jerk, you’re doing so based solely on their own actions. Discrimination is the key element here, I think. If you had a gay person who was behaving like a jerk, they should be flamed for their bad behavior. If you flame them specifically and solely because they’re gay, then that’s a bad idea. [Man, hope that made sense.] ---
**Author:** ![lionel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@lionel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lionel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/6 "2002-07-19T14:38:35Z")
OK, consider me whooshed. What is this a parody of? Link? ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/7 "2002-07-19T14:44:06Z")
No one can “help” being a Jew or being black. Race, especially, is not a choice. People make the choice to be jerks. It’s something they can control and it’s fair to ask them to change it. This is about [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=126157). I think Mangetout is feeling jumped-on. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/8 "2002-07-19T14:48:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > \*\*No one can “help” being a Jew or being black. Race, especially, is not a choice. > People make the choice to be jerks. It’s something they can control and it’s fair to ask them to change it. > \*\* I think it’s more than just choice, though. One can choose a sexual orientation, right? But it’s not one’s sexual orientation that makes one a jerk, it’s their attitude and behavior, which of course can be changed. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/9 "2002-07-19T14:54:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\* > > One can choose a sexual orientation, right? \*\* Uh, no. You cannot choose what sexual orientation you are, but you can choose whether you **act** on the desires you have. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/10 "2002-07-19T14:56:53Z")
Ok. Don’t want to change the subject; my impression was that there have been arguments on both side of that particular issue. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/11 "2002-07-19T15:09:05Z")
Sure there have been. My opinion is as stated above. My impression of the “arguments” is that the scientific community has come down pretty firmly on the side of orientation being predetermined, while fundies are still hopping up and down trying to get more chumps to join “Exodus” and/or submit themselves to aversion therapy. I’ll put down my hostage now- I’m done hijacking. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/12 "2002-07-19T15:14:41Z")
To the posters taking this seriously : sexual orientation or race/ethnicity don’t make you a ‘bad person’ _per se_. Being a jerk, by definition IMHO, means you are displaying some form of irritating or unpleasant behaviour. Beyond that : wasn’t this supposed to be satirical? Or have I been double-whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/13 "2002-07-19T15:19:32Z")
But you can choose to be a Catholic/Methodist/Atheist/etc. But that’s not the point. If the Chicago Reader decided that they didn’t want anyone who posted in a Catholic manner on the board, that would be their right. However, they’ve decided that they don’t want anyone that posts in a jerkish manner on their boards. It is discrimination, but it’s not world crumbling, we’re-all-gonna-die, hell-in-a-handbasket, I’m-gonna-sue discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/14 "2002-07-19T15:19:51Z")
It was supposed to be satirical. Check out the link posted above. I just felt like arguin’. Heh heh heh. 😛 KFL is spoiling for a good fight ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/15 "2002-07-19T15:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > \*\*Uh, no. > You cannot choose what sexual orientation you are, but you can choose whether you **act** on the desires you have. \*\* Well sure, but you can’t choose whether you’re a J person or not, only whether you act on your inherent J desires. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/16 "2002-07-19T15:23:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > **OK, I suppose there are valid demographic groupings, so how about we call them ‘J People’? Hmmm?** I think they prefer to be called “people of jerkitude”. At least that’s what I was told last time I was in one of their neighbourhoods. (I got lost. I stopped to asked for directions, but could I get a straight answer out of a single one of those people?) I’m not Jerkist, BTW, some of my best friends are Jer… I mean, people of jerkitude. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/17 "2002-07-19T15:25:37Z")
Oh, so the wording should change to “Don’t act like a jerk”. Hopefully a step towards creating a community more friendly to inherent jerks who just can’t help it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/18 "2002-07-19T15:26:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > **To the posters taking this seriously : sexual orientation or race/ethnicity don’t make you a ‘bad person’ _per se_. Being a jerk, by definition IMHO, means you are displaying some form of irritating or unpleasant behaviour.** Pardon me, but I find that terribly subjective, suppose someone finds the natural behaviour associated with my sexual orientation or ethnicity irritating? (I have heard of this sort of thing happening). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/19 "2002-07-19T15:29:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gary Kumquat \* > \*\*Yes it is. So take that cockring off now, mister. \*\* Dammit! you have no right to tell me this! ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804/20 "2002-07-19T15:35:18Z")
Well, if it was a parody, perhaps a link in the %@#%@!#% OP would have been nice. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-be-a-j-person/119804.md?page=2)