I agree w/them in this case*. I can’t see how a sig could become “witnessing.” Annoying? Sure. Have you read Shodan’s 
Then again, I must admit I’ve had a lot of fun at his expense for that, even though he doesn’t have a clue – mayhaps you could do the same for the ones that bother you?
*I prefer Paypal to mugs or chocolates.
What if it said “Jesus is Lord, accept Christ into your Heart Today. Ask Me How!”? That wouldn’t be witnessing, apparently. So they say.
Not a democracy, but if we were voting my vote would be:
This is the opposite of political correctness, so on that score I applaud you. I will say that I have seen many times over the years on this board the exact opposite of your position. The idea that “you know it offends me, so if you don’t stop you’re being a jerk” isn’t exactly unheard of.
Right, that’s why I was saying it also depends on what the behavior actually is. For this kind of thing to make any sense, the behavior itself has to be taken into account and so does the response.
It does for me, though I’m not using it on this site, so maybe something on the site won’t let it.
Actually, it’s never out of my way to take umbrage.
You suspect wrong. I could say that I suspect you to be a little paranoid, but then that would be pure conjecture.
Of course the sign-off “Regards” is innocuous. That wasn’t what I found inappropriate.
Your supposition that some people decided that his sign off was irritating simply because they found the poster irritating was inappropriate. You singled him out by name and then were very quick to inform us that others find him irritating.
I think that’s a wonderful idea, Tom! Why didn’t I think of it?
You are often denying that others feel what they say they feel. Examples: “Beyond that, getting worked up over it seems to me to be too much like looking for a reason to be upset.” and “You seem to be going out of your way to take umbrage.” Those are just two from this thread. You can’t possibly know what another person’s real feelings are. It is unbecoming for anyone to declare what feelings are real and what are not. You are very dismissive in that way.
I agree with your thinking and Marley’s on the issue itself. I understand why certain religious statements can get on other posters’ nerves after a while. I believe them when they say they are offended. It’s just part of being on SDMB to have to cope with things that offend us, including a Mod’s commentary. But there’s no rule that says we can’t talk about our feelings in civil ways. This is not a good forum for Mods to tell posters that their feelings are not valid.
Haha. That’s awesome.
That would read me as “stupid bumper-sticker bull-crap.” And those never bothered me beyond the sheer stoopid. Nor would it ever occur to me to ask such a wacko, “how”?
Have better things to do w/my time.
Of course it’s not witnessing. It’s someone saying, “Hey would you like me to witness to you?”
I’m afraid I don’t agree there’s a distinction.
I think I would consider that to be witnessing. It’s much more overt and specific and it literally asks for responses.
How so? It is a fact that many posters find Shodan’s sign off to be irritating. They have posted as much in numerous threads. Furthermore, it is an established fact that some posters find Shodan himself to be irritating. And in the previous discussions of the sign off, it has been described by posters why they feel “Regards” is irritating when coming from Shodan. Seems to me that Tom is simply restating a conclusion that has been previously drawn from the evidence.
That is because that situation is something of the test case for sign offs. It’s kinda like referring to Miranda rights.
First off, Tom didn’t insult anyone here. Second, why do you reply to this as if it was a comment directed specifically at you, rather than a separate remark made by someone else?
Just pointing out that JOSH’s sign-off would not work as a sig file. It’s not just the same automatic sign-off every time, as Shodan’s is; she actually tailors it to the content of each post to include everyone mentioned in the blessings.
And this atheist has no objection to being “blessed.” It is not the same as witnessing.
It is obnoxious in part because it is so blatantly insincere and pretentious.