I regret starting that “Stupid fucks” thread. I beg your forgiveness, even though I do not deserve it. I behaved disgracefully.
I could not sleep last night. I tossed and turned all night and woke up this morning with a sore back and stiff neck, a sure sign I’ve been under a lot of stress. Guilt does that to me.
I do not know how or even if I can patch up my relationships with the rest of you, but I’m going to try my best.
Freyr, Hastur, seawitch, dogsbody, OpalCat and anyone else I may have offended, I deeply and sincerely apologize.
I don’t blame you if you cannot forgive me.
One caveat: I will still remain skeptical of any and all claims of the paranormal and/or the supernatural. I cannot be otherwise. But in the future, I will try to express my skepticism and requests for evidence with more politeness than I did the last two days. (I don’t think I could have been less polite.)
If I don’t, and if the SDMB sees fit to ban me, I will go without protest.
I wasn’t one of the people you offended, jab, but I was one who thought the personal vitriol was over the top. So I think the apology is quite appropriate.
Nevertheless, it did turn into a very interesting thread, and I’m glad the legitimate debate in there has taken place. I understand our resident pagans’ belief systems much better than before, and it seems to me as if some people on both sides have had to re-examine their own beliefs, which is always a good thing.
Why do I feel like breaking out into a round of “Kumbaya”?
I wouldn’t expect you to eliminate all skepticism - none of us should do that. I know that there are issues where you and I will probably have to agree to disagree - as long as we can do it with respect and good humor, I’m just fine with that.
If you’d like to ask any questions or discuss anything, please feel free to contact me either via e-mail or by posting. I will be unavailable via e-mail between 4/30 and 5/8, though I may get some sporadic time to post.
I promise if I get scientific proof of the supernatural you’ll be the first to know.[sub] Well, right after Randi. Unless you post prize money, too.[/sub]
Apology accepted. Thank you, Jab1, that’s very manly of you to do so.
You’re also right, of course, to not accept anything that smacks of supernaturalism without evidence. At this time, I have none to offer, but I do hope you’ll read the books I’ve recommended. They offer some very interesting defenses of magic and definitions for it. Please check them out.
Again, the titles are:
Real Magic, by Isaac Bonewits, last re-published in '86.
Magic, Science, Religion & the Scope of Rationality by Stanley Tambiah. I heartily recommend this one for a treatment of magic and how Western Culture has treated it.
No, really, I, to an extent but not enough to cry about it, mean it. This is how this little society we have formed keeps from exploding. We’ve got a lot of viewpoints, and a lot of us can express them very well. And loudly.
And, if the thread is as enlightening as people say, I might actually read it. I started to the other day, but it started getting nasty, and, well, you know. But I like enlightenment. (I’m slowly working my way through the GD thread on the Trinity from last fall. Rough going.)
I am also a skeptic, although I’ve seen some WEIRD shit in my time. I’ve said some tactless things about Wicca, too. And thought more that I DIDN’T say. Maybe we can all come out of this a little smarter.
jab, and here I thought no one was paying attention to me in that thread. Apology accepted. Although I for one was less offended than frustrated.
Along with Freyr’s suggestions, may I recommend Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon as another interesting book on Wiccanism/Paganism. It’s kinda thick and fairly scholarly, but a worthy read anyway.
Jab, you now know first hand that the subjective experience is far more meaningful than the chemical reaction. Such is the beginning of wisdom. You’ve apologized. You’re forgiven. Be at peace.
I’ve been lurking in Freyr’s GD thread and in your own Pit thread, jab1…
Wow.
What I’m tryin’ to say here, is that I don’t know what set of yer guilt-o-meter, but that starting this thread has to be one of the most humble things I’ve seen on this board. I’m actually touched. Thank you, jab1, and bright blessings.
–moi
Yes, that thread was a bit over the top. But it’s done. Good show with the apology.
Having said that, I know exactly where you are coming from, and I know, based on some interactions on another MB, that you have spent much time lately defending rationality, reason, and science to those who choose not to listen.
By the way, I had some thoughts I wanted to email you on some threads, and you don’t have your email turned on, either here or at the Parlor. If you are so inclined, please email me. marshorizon@yahoo.com
Let me get this straight…you are apologizing to people that you are debating to because you offended them, pissed them off, said some harsh things, and you ended up not being able to sleep all night from stress due to a guilty conscience? Have you ever met these people before? All I can say is: get over it. That is a pretty sad way to live if you get all fucked up over what people say in a forum and can’t handle it. If you cannot handle this, then how the hell do you handle people face to face?
As for everyone else: get over it too. If you can’t, oh well. At least I will never have to hear your bullshit.
I had nothing to do with the little scuffle described above, but I have sent out my share of apologies for things I’ve said on the boards.
The point of the OP is that while we are a community of sorts, we rarely, if ever see each other in person. Your posts are essentially statements that cannot be taken back. You can’t see the person you’ve offended, nor can you go through the computer lines and see how badly you’ve wounded them.
I think it shows a lot of class to apologize here. Even more so, since you actually have to make the effort to think about what you’re saying, and then type it up.
That being said, you are just being a jackass, with absolutely no compaasion or understanding.
Let me get this straight, sojourn… you think that it’s okay to be rude to people just because you can’t see them?
What a load of freshly-felched goat semen. If you don’t want to hear our collective “bullshit” (as you describe it), I suggest you find somewhere else to post, because here, people generally don’t act like fuckwads, and it’s frowned upon when they do. Note the use of the word “people”, jackass. It doesn’t matter what medium is used for communication (most people learned that at age 3).
