I agree. I’ve never seen so many people wear their mental illnesses on their sleeves before. You get the impression that every member of the board is clinically depressed, bipolar, in an emotionally abuse relationship, has an anxiety disorder, has at some time been sexually assaulted, self-mutilates, has an eating disorder of some kind and hyper sensitive about their religious and political beliefs. I don’t know maybe thats just everyone in America. I’m not making light of any of the above situations it just seems to be over represented here.
Oh, what lovely curves!
I don’t even OWN a TV.
(yes I do. i feel so inferior.)
Isn’t she that chick from Desperate Houswives?
(Or is she the daughter of that Bob guy from the Chritmas Carol?)
Yeah. That’s what I thought. I can’t say that word.
I can’t believe someone would take seriously that it would be a bad thing to admit not liking sports on the Dope. I mean, this place is like the trauma ward for victims of dodgeball and other jockish endeavors. Admitting you don’t like sports here is like admitting you like beer at an AA meeting.
Those are three of the most irritatingly controversial posters so someone might get criticized for coming out and saying they think they contribute to the board being an overall better place.
Curse you, dropzone!
shakes fist in helpless rage
Autolycus never struck me as controversial exactly. Thought-provoking, yes. But maybe I don’t have the same idea of controversy as other people.
Or “Thought-provoking” apparently…
Hmm. I must have slipped over his name. I don’t think of him in the same class as **Der Trihs ** either.
No, I don’t self-mutilate.
Regards,
Shodan
Either you don’t have the same idea of thought-provoking as I do, or we’re not reading the same threads.
While he’s mellowed out quite a bit lately, Auto was quite the center stage attraction at one time. (And let me say that choosing a few to pick was quite the exercise in restraint.)
I would suggest that if you can get your own thread shut down because of TMI on The Dope, you definitely qualify for the controversial category around here. Certainly not all of us are capable of that.
**
Autolycus**, sorry bud, didn’t mean to bring all that up again. But she asked and I didn’t want to leave her hanging.
As to the OP:
I’m not sure what the point of the OP is.
Are you saying that you’re upset because people are pretending that there are unique pet issues on The Dope? If so, I disagree with that. Saying certain things here will get you a different reaction than at most message boards.
Or are you saying that people are pretending that some issues would create so much negative attention that they’re afraid to say them? If so, I only partially agree. I think the thread started out as a tongue-in-cheek type thread and many people played it that way. But it later turned into a hodgepodge of serious and tongue-in-cheek (kinda like many Pit threads) and became very disjointed.
Well, he’s provoked a fair number of silly jokes, at any rate. And he’s a good sport, which is thought-provoking in that such a quality is conspicuously absent in many people, especially internet users.
And who says I asked? I can’t make a throwaway remark? Every other Doper seems permitted to do so.
Oops, sorry. Never know when those throwaway remarks really are just throwaways. 
The trash cans circling under them to make the catch ought to be a clue. 
Autolycus is definitely thought-provoking. Every time I see a soup ladle, I find myself having some pretty bizarre thoughts…
(FWIW, as Telperien says, he’s a heck of a good sport, and has definitely won a place in my cold, hard, leguminous heart.)
That is, in fact, what I was saying, although I certainly may have been drastically misunderstanding everyone’s tone.
After some thought, I guess part of my beef is this: While it may seem cute and kind of funny to inflate SDMB consensuses into SDMB sacred cows, I think it might actually be counterproductive and even (in a teeny little way) dangerous to do so. Sure, lots of people on the SDMB like Lord of the Rings. And if you want to point that out, well, go right ahead (although I don’t quite see what your point is… it’s not like people haven’t noticed before or discussed how popular LotR or Buffy are here). But the moment you start referring to them as Sacred Cows, even jokingly, you’re being divisive, you’re setting things up in an us-vs-them, “the-people-who-like-A-are-a-group-who-dislike-everyone-else” way. And even if you’re joking about it, it’s the kind of joking which feels like you’re winkingly acknowledging something that everyone knows is true. We joke about how Buffy can’t be attacked because, well, we all KNOW what happens to the people who attack Buffy, wink wink, nudge nudge. And all that does is put everyone a bit on the defensive, a bit in a hunker-down mindset. And on the flip side, if all the people who don’t like Buffy start thinking that the people who DO like Buffy are an organized cabal and talk about that, even jokingly, that can become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Spend enough time mentioning the Buffy Cabal, and it begins to exist solely because of your belief in it.
On reflection, I can’t really believe I’ve spent so much time on such a minor little topic… but I do think there’s an important kernel of truth to what I’m saying… the SDMB is NOT a place where people can’t disagree about matters of aesthetic taste. It’s NOT a place where people can’t disagree about politics or religion. There is NOT a group of 200 Der Trihses who savagely eviscerate anyone who dares mention their belief in God. It is NOT a place where admitting that you voted for George Bush will get you ostracized. We sometimes act as if it is, but it isn’t.
Okay, I’m over myself. Now what?