# If you oppose the inflammatory bigotry of December's posts, why answer them? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098 "2002-08-09T04:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ethic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/977dab/32.png) [@ethic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/1 "2002-08-09T04:22:16Z")
I very rarely post in the Pit, but enough is enough. Anyone who claims that December is not inflammatory in his attitude is blinded by misplaced tolerance. I have yet to see December engage in any useful dialectics with posters who do not hold his opinion on geo-political issues. Sparc complimented December by claiming he argued in ultrumque partes. Personally, I see no evidence of such high end rhetoric. Decembers claims are outlandish and inflammatory. What I find great about this board, especially GD, is that you can engage in meaningful discussions with well informed people from various fields who do not necessarily share your world view. Although many of us are very convinced of our various opinions most of us maintain a constructive civility and are willing to consider the other side of the argument. December, in my opinion ruins that spirit with his simplistic and speculative commentary in the guise of well researched and reasonable claims. I stay away from any thread with the world Israel in it since I know December will just drop his bigoted remarks about tyrannical blood thirsty child eating Arabs. Now my question is: is it right of me to stay away or should I engage December in a hope that a crack may eventually open in his hermetically sealed skull? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/2 "2002-08-09T04:31:58Z")
You can stay away all you want, it’s a free message board. I view him as a good look at the other side. And he’s more rational that a few other people. Plus he made me modify my profile, no one else can claim that! ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/3 "2002-08-09T04:42:33Z")
I don’t usually engage december with the hope of actually beaming a thought through the aluminum foil covering. I engage him so that those who might be interested in the issues he “debates” will not get a one sided view. Some folks will read his posts and just shrug, but there might be others who think “we’ll no one is arguing with him, so he must be right.” Isn’t preventing that what this board is all about? ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/4 "2002-08-09T04:45:54Z")
**Sparc** said **december** did not argue in utrumque partes. This thread seems unnecessary since you could have posted in the **december** “bashing” (sort of) thread from which you misquoted the utrumque partes stuff. I think **december** defends a postition that many people - especially here in the U.S. - believe in. Debates without a worthy opponent are best conducted in front of a mirror. Therefore, two threads in the pit devoted to one thread in great debates which was merely an example of using erotema to build a pysma resulting in a pathetic epiplexis seems excessive. Perhaps all of this has caused the OPer to have a borborygm, in which case I understand. We all need to vent sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/5 "2002-08-09T04:51:48Z")
I have mostly stayed out of any GD thread with “Israel” in the title. I know what I’m getting into when I read it, plenty of posters whose opinions on that topic I consider tiresome. The debate has been done to death, IMHO, but that’s not for me to decide. Aside from **december** ’s apparent decision that a request for a cite about Palestinian “atrocities” could be met with a link to a website called [jewishjournal.com](http://jewishjournal.com), I don’t really mind the fact that he holds his position. I don’t care for his presumptiousness recently that anyone who doesn’t agree with him holds an inconsistent opinion, as if he could just claim that everyone who doesn’t agree with his opinion is sharing identical beliefs in opposition to his. Still, he can do as he pleases and use whatever arguments he wants to, there are plenty of people in those threads to call him on his points if need be. Anyways, go ahead and stay away from certain threads, but be sure that if you mention staying away to link your aversion to a _topic_ rather than a _person_. The latter might be construed as “implying who is on your ignore list,” which is a no-no. For instance, I freely admit that I never read a thread containing a discussion of the general morality/immorality of the medical procedure called abortion. If I name a particular person who I consistently ignore _because_ of his views on abortion, that’s considered (as I understand it) going too far. I am relatively new here and may misunderstand this, but I thought I’d issue that advice just to be on the safe side ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/6 "2002-08-09T10:22:40Z")
I don’t post to try and correct him, as it is obvious that he has his worldview and nothing will change that. I post to put my view of events to counter his for anyone reading the thread. I suspect that everyone else does this also. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/7 "2002-08-09T13:26:18Z")
If we do not answer them, the bigots will have won. Silence does not equal assent, but it’s easy to interpret it that way, and it’s best to prevent that misinterpretation right up front. This place is about _fighting_ ignorance, not ignoring it and hoping it will go away. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/8 "2002-08-09T13:30:43Z")
Hey, ethnicallynot! Can you give me an actual example of a remark by December that you consider “bigotry”, with some explanation as to why it falls in that category? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/9 "2002-08-09T15:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ethnicallynot \* > \*\* I have yet to see December engage in any useful dialectics with posters who do not hold his opinion on geo-political issues \*\* What the……? december posts his opinions in a forum labeled “Great Debates” and then invites people to debate them. What exactly is **your** idea of engaging in useful dialectics? Some sort of fustian circle-jerk where all participants immediately gravitate to the most moderate and least offensive possible position and then proceed to oil each other down with self congratulatory adulation? Granted, an attitude of “….can’t we all just get along….” Is highly commendable and virtually flame-proof; but it didn’t stop the riots in LA and I seriously doubt that it’s going to solve the problems in the Middle East. Debating alternative positions is both legitimate and acceptable. > [@](#): > > **…….most of us maintain a constructive civility……** Does your idea of constructive civility include: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Collounsbury \* > \*\* December’s “Good Massa” complex is not solely reserved for blacks – he kindly extends it to sand niggers. > > In December’s world, I rather would imagine the lazy Irish should have been glad that my dear English forebears extended them the courtesy of allowing them to work the estates as manual labor. > \*\* or > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ethnicallynot \* > \*\*…………I know December will just drop his bigoted remarks about tyrannical blood thirsty child eating Arabs. \*\* When it comes to inflammatory bigotry, december is a lightweight. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/10 "2002-08-09T15:41:10Z")
Whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/11 "2002-08-09T16:17:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*If we do not answer them, the bigots will have won. > > Silence does not equal assent, but it’s easy to interpret it that way, and it’s best to prevent that misinterpretation right up front. This place is about fighting ignorance, not ignoring it and hoping it will go away. \*\* No; for a lot of people, this place is about hopeless ego-centrism. And the ridiculous notion that what they believe = intelligence; what others who disagree believe = ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/12 "2002-08-09T16:22:26Z")
Munch, I caught that, too. After the fact, as usual. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/13 "2002-08-09T17:30:13Z")
So what’s the “whoosh”? (That the title is a play on december’s GD thread? It appears to be a serious thread). Fill us in. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ethic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/977dab/32.png) [@ethic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/14 "2002-08-09T17:34:48Z")
Inflammatory bigotry belongs in the Pit, not in GD. **zigaretten** , you obviously have a pathetic and flawed view of what it means to be a moderate, equating it with rosy-eyed stupidity. If I want to debate, I go to GD. If I want to flaunt, I go to the Pit. December obviously does not know the difference between the two. He thinks the difference is that in one forum, vulgar vernacular is more permissible. There are those in the world that engage in debate to resolve things. There are those, like yourself, who engage to show how big their balls are. Fine and good. Let each have their forum! I’m not looking for a fucking rub down, I’m looking for someone who can say “you’re wrong, you’re out of you’re fucking mind as a matter of fact, because as shown here…”. Decembers debating is more along the lines of “you’re wrong because the very well respected Johnny told me so and Jean told him and Tommy told her, and Tommy was told by the very well respected Johnny. Ergo, my point is clearly demonstrated”. If I want to engage in that sort of useless debate, I’d go hang out with White Supremacists and have a field party. There’s a difference between fighting ignorance and whacking yourself in the head with a steel bar… ---
**Author:** ![WV\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@WV\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WV_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/15 "2002-08-09T17:51:17Z")
Grow up. Off topic somewhat: am I the only one who thought December was a woman? Sorry, man. Not that think you’re girly and all, I guess I just equate December=femininity for some nutty reason. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/16 "2002-08-09T18:01:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > Can you give me an actual example of a remark by December that you consider “bigotry”, with some explanation as to why it falls in that category? I guess he can’t. Or won’t, but I am inclined to think the former. Pending such evidence, I assert that this OP (as well as subsequent posts along the same lines) is “outlandish and inflammatory”. Quite possibly “simplistic and speculative” as well. “hermetically sealed skull”? Can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/17 "2002-08-09T18:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ethnicallynot \* > \*\* …Decembers debating is more along the lines of “you’re wrong because the very well respected Johnny told me so and Jean told him and Tommy told her, and Tommy was told by the very well respected Johnny. Ergo, my point is clearly demonstrated”… \*\* Damn…As much as I hate it when people do this… Cite??? I’m genuinely curious here. ---
**Author:** ![ethic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/977dab/32.png) [@ethic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/18 "2002-08-09T18:10:19Z")
Just so no one acccuses me (erroneously) of parody, this is where I got the title of this thread from: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=129239](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=129239) This thread is, however, not a parody. It’s simply trying to expose how December’s bigotry is cloaked in “legitimate debate”. ---
**Author:** ![ethic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/977dab/32.png) [@ethic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/19 "2002-08-09T18:17:40Z")
IzzyR, Here’s an example of December’s bigotry: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2162290&highlight=muslims+homosexuals#post2162290](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2162290&highlight=muslims+homosexuals#post2162290) ---
**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:** [August 9, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098/20 "2002-08-09T18:19:11Z")
IzzyR, the “whoosh” is on zigaretten, who mistook Collounsbury and ethicallynot’s comments as racism, and not the parody of december’s writting style that it was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-oppose-the-inflammatory-bigotry-of-decembers-posts-why-answer-them/123098.md?page=2)